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| The Yaris Sedan is sleek in its subcompact class, although its design is not for everyone. (Photo: Canadian Auto Press) |
When I'm planning a weekend away, there are a few things I like to take with me to make life a lot more fun. First, I need a reliable car like the 2010 Toyota Yaris Sedan, which has great fuel economy, generous people and trunk space and a decent stereo system. Check. Two, I need a couple of girlfriends to laugh, sing, dance and have a blast with. Check. And three, a destination that has both great food and lots of shopping. Check.
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| Few rivals offer a B-segment sedan, other than Chevy, Hyundai, Kia and Nissan. (Photo: Canadian Auto Press) |
Early, and I mean really early Saturday morning Carrie, Blair and I hopped into Toyota's popular-selling sedan and headed south. Yes, it was early but with the help of a decent stereo system and an auxiliary jack, we woke ourselves up by listening to our favourite songs on our iPods; enjoying the company of each other in our neat little four-door.
Since the Yaris has a very modest engine, a 1.5L, 16-valve, DOHC, 4-cylinder engine with 106 horsepower and 103 lb-ft of torque, it was just dandy for our trip. And harnessing the 106 horses was the optional 4-speed automatic transmission ($1,000), making both my city and highway driving relatively effortless. What's also just dandy in the city and on the highway was its agreeable front MacPherson gas struts and rear torsion beam type suspension, delivering up decent handling and pretty good ride quality. Furthermore, the easily maneuverable rack-and-pinion power steering made parallel parking a breeze, especially in tight spots.
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| The centrally-mounted primary gauges take some getting used to, with some liking them and others abhorring them. (Photo: Canadian Auto Press) |
As I was driving for quite some time, it gave me the opportunity to acquaint myself with the Yaris' cabin. I'm still not crazy about the instrument cluster being in the centre of the dash, but it does make for amazing visibility out the windshield. I also familiarized myself with the very straightforward centre stack. No guess work needed here. It's simple in composition to just about anything else, and plain in presentation. And because the Yaris didn't receive any interior updates for 2010, I'm hoping to see some soon. That way, it can keep current with all its competition.
