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Thanks: Toyota Plaza Sonkar Test Car Specifications Model tested: Toyota C-HR 1.8 Hybrid Excel Pricing: £38,150 as tested (C-HR starts from £31,290) Engine: four-cylinder petrol hybrid Transmission: eCVT automatic, front-wheel drive Power: 140hp Torque: 142Nm (engine) 185Nm (electric motor) CO2 emissions: 108g/km Fuel consumption: 0-62mph: 9.9 seconds Top speed: 108mph Boot space: 388 litres Styling The C-HR really does live up to Toyota's promise to give it concept-car styling. While the old C-HR was chunky and handsome, this one is really quite dramatic to look at. At the front, there are huge C-shaped LED headlights which almost meet in the middle of the snub nose, above a big radiator grille. The front wheel arches are really puffed-out, and down the sides you get a combo of a complex Y-shaped crease-line and door handles that fold flush against the body (helpfully, unlike the old one, the ones in the back can now be reached by children). At the rear, it gets even more dramatic, especially if you've bought one with the optional bi-tone paint that covers everything aft of the back doors in a glossy black finish. The rear screen is so fast-angled that it's virtually flat, and the C-HR looks great in one of the stronger colours Toyota offers, such as the metallic gold 'Solar Flare.' This is most definitely not a car for shrinking violets. Interior The C-HR’s cabin is really well made, well laid out, and hugely comfy. And yet there’s a faint tinge of disappointment about it. The previous model had a cabin that was so nice to look at and so well made that it actually seemed more like a high-end Lexus interior. This one is good — really good, in fact — but you sense that Toyota has held back a little, especially now that Lexus is making its own small crossovers. All but the most basic models get a pair of digital screens. The one that makes up the driver’s instrument panel is especially good. You can customise the style and the layout, and it manages the neat trick of giving you lots of information, but without overloading the screen’s ‘real estate’. It’s also backed-up by an optional head-up display. In the centre, the infotainment touchscreen is decently slick, with expensive-looking graphics and a cloud-based sat-nav that can alter course around live traffic conditions. There’s also wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Kudos to Toyota for keeping proper, physical controls — really high-quality ones, too — for the climate control, which is a two-zone system as standard. The front seats are squashy, high-backed items and are really very comfortable, and the driving position is excellent. Practicality The C-HR’s cabin is pretty practical. You get slightly narrow door bins, a good under-armrest storage box, two cupholders, a wireless phone charging pad (that’s an option), and a rubberised shelf in front of the passenger seat, as well as a decent glovebox. Sadly, things aren’t quite so great in the back. As with the old C-HR, the rear of the cabin, with its small side windows and down-sloped roof, feels very dark – even claustrophobic. And that’s a big six-footer saying that — how kids will feel back there is another story again. Actually, space isn’t too bad. There was just enough legroom and headroom for me to get comfortable, so it’s roomier than it looks. The boot isn’t, though. At 388 litres (364 litres for the version) it’s definitely on the small side, and although the shape and flat-floor are good, there’s no getting away from the fact that the likes of the Hyundai Kona and Kia Niro (and even the Ford Puma) offer way more load space than this. Performance The C-HR arrives, initially, with a choice of two hybrid engines that will be familiar if you’ve driven a Corolla recently. They are the engine, with 140hp, or the engine, with 197hp. Surprisingly, given the disparity in power output, both engines are within a hair of each other in terms of economy, both claiming to deliver 60mpg, and both — in our hands on this test drive — living up to that claim in the real world. Read More drive: C-HR 1.8 Hybrid 📌 Instagram ▶ 📌 Tiktok ▶ @cartvpress
