2024 Toyota Yaris ZR: Quick Review

Toyota was among the pioneering Australian brands to shape the trajectory of small car positioning. The decision boiled down to either offering an inexpensive, stripped-down vehicle or equipping it with essential safety features to meet ANCAP's requirements, inevitably raising the price.

Ultimately, the brand introduced a facelift for the Yaris range in 2020, resulting in a nearly $7k price hike, pushing it far beyond the sub $20k category it once comfortably occupied.

This update introduced a completely revamped model with a plethora of additional safety features compared to its predecessor.

Fast forward to 2024, and the Yaris is now exclusively available as a hybrid, signaling yet another price increase. Let's delve into what the most feature-full Yaris available has to offer.

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Pricing and features

The Yaris range starts at the SX grade for $30,190 before on-road costs, with the ZR coming in at $33,260 ($3070 more).

Drive-away pricing lands the car at almost $39k based on a Melbourne postcode. That's almost double what the Yaris was at its previous generation starting point.

The Yaris range includes 15-inch alloy wheels, a 7-inch infotainment system, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, active cruise control, leather-accented steering wheel, fabric seats, keyless entry and start and LED headlights and daytime running lights.

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The ZR add everything the Yaris range has to offer:

It's a zippy little runabout that sips just 3.3L/100km. That's one of the lowest hybrid fuel consumption figures in the country. It outputs a decent amount for the size of the car at 85kW and 141Nm.

In terms of choices, Yaris buyers have the choice of 11 individual colours with eight adding an extra $600 to your drive-away price. Two-tone options will set you back $1400.

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Safety

The Toyota Yaris was awarded a five-star ANCAP rating with testing conducted around launch in 2020.

This is constituted by an 86% score for adult occupant protection, and 87% for children.

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All variants of the Yaris receive 8 airbags and plenty of additions in terms of safety.

The Toyota Safety Sense suite of features is available across the range, including active cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, intersection turn assist, lane keep assist, lane-departure warning and fatigue reminders.

You'll also get additional safety such as blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert.

Key rivals

As the small car segment diminishes in scale, driven by the rise in popularity of small SUVs and the general trend towards larger vehicles, several brands have opted to withdraw from the segment, leaving a smaller pool of contenders.

Among the remaining players are the well-established favourites:

• Mazda 2
• Suzuki Swift
• Volkswagen Polo
• MG3

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Should I put it on my shortlist?

For drivers both new and old, the Yaris stands out with its great ramge and small convenient size. But it does come with a hefty price tag compared to similar cars, many of which offer regular petrol versions rather than more expensive hybrid powertrains.

This gets trickier in a market where some competitors are priced under $20,000 drive-away. Before, you could opt for a cheaper petrol version with just a slight difference in fuel efficiency, but that's no longer an option.

Still, taking it for a quick spin shows off its fun driving and solid safety features. If you're ready to splash out, the Yaris might just be the ride for you.