2019 Toyota Yaris: Variants explained

Home automakers like Proton and Perodua rocked the floors at the 2019 Malaysia Autoshow with their all-new Iriz and Bezza, respectively. Malaysia’s biggest and grandiose auto show is certainly the boxing venue for car companies to flaunt their new nameplates. And Japanese auto giant Toyota is in no mood to lag an inch behind any of its competitors. Thanks to the all-new Yaris, which is previewed at the locale and is set to be launched soon in April. Also called ‘Vios hatchback’, it is assembled locally at UMW Toyota’s new plant in Bukit Raja, Klang. As it draws its nickname from Vios, which was introduced in January 2019, Yaris schleps almost everything from Vios.

The Malaysians are bestowed with a total of three flavors of the car. This starts with the base model J, followed by E and then finally the range-topping G.  Let us figure what different tastes do these variants offer in terms of exterior, interior, powertrain, and other modules.

Exterior

All three variants of Yaris are largely dressed similarly and only with a bit of alteration. At the front, the first two J and E variants feature a lower grille with numerous vents, while the grille of top spec G is little differentiated. This is flanked by a couple of daytime running lights (DRLs), followed by fog lamps, which are housed under side-intakes. Above the grille, the brand’s logo gets its separate cladding, followed by big LED headlights on E and halogen projector headlights on E and G variants. The contrast of black and bright colours look alluring and the presence of body cuts along with a few strikes on the bonnet gives the four-wheeler a sporty outlook.

The sportier front bumper is highlighted with a red-coloured line, which is also visible on the bottom end of the side profiles and the rear of the car. The rear flaunts massive taillights, which are powered by bulb on the basic J version but draws illumination from LEDs on the other two variants.

Though the designing is more or less standard across the variants, however, one can choose between five colour options, namely Attitude Black, Citrus Mica Metallic, Super White, Silver Metallic and Red Mica Metallic.

Interior

Variations in the interior are much more pronounced across the variants. To start with the basic J, it gets fabric upholstery for the seats, fabric centre console box, illuminated scuff plates, and blue front footwell illumination The interior is quite spacious and the rear seats are also foldable. Whereas the midrange E has a number of add-ons over its basic counterpart. Besides the aforementioned things, it features power-adjustable side mirrors with turn signals, a multi-info display, audio controls on the steering wheel and a 6.8-inch touchscreen head unit. Modules like panoramic view monitor and front digital video recorder also fall under the list of extra offerings on E.

Furthermore, the range-topping G version is obviously more premium than the other two. It houses exclusive features like Optitron metre cluster, 4.2-inch colour MID, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, leather gear knob and automatic air conditional. Also, it is equipped with six speakers setup instead of the four units layout in J and E.

Engine and Transmission

The powertrain is one such place, where Toyota showed reluctance in amending anything. A 1.5-litre naturally aspirated 2NR-FE petrol engine makes way to all three variants. Moreover, tunings also remain the same and the vehicle gets a maximum power of 107 PS, while the peak torque is 140 Nm. Furthermore, the mill is paired to a CVT gearbox with seven virtual ratios.

Other components

For driver’s and passenger’s safety, seven airbags are present in all the variants. Standard safety features further include vehicle stability control, traction control, speed sensing control and Hill-Start Assist control. The top-spec G variant gets exclusive benefit from the featuring of disc brakes for the rear wheels, while necessary equipment like ABS with EBD and brake assist can be found in all the three versions. Moreover, E and G are also armed with Toyota Premium Security, Solar Tint Film, and Blind Spot Monitor (BSM) with Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA).

It is obvious that different variants will house different modules and features in one or more segment. However, it is necessary that in the trail of differentiation, a company must not end up in making the base versions dull and lacklustre. Certainly, this is not the case with Yaris, in which, not opting for a premium version does not mean a hefty of compromise.