Toyota C-HR “1”: should you still buy it?

Yes, the Toyota still has arguments…

The audacity paid off. After six years of career, the unusual style of the C-HR (for Coupé High-Rider) has attracted 95,000 drivers in France.

A very nice result for an original model, “SUV coupé” style, which when it was launched and until the beginning of 2019, was also offered with a “100% thermal” engine; a 1.2 turbo of 116 hp.

More in 2016, “electrified” SUVs were still very rareand it is this 1.8 liter hybrid version of 122 hp, with mechanics taken from the Prius, which won over customers.

The range was expanded in the fall of 2019, during the restyling, with the arrival of a 2.0-liter 184 hp version whose powertrain this time came from the Corolla hybrid.

In any case, the C-HR has only two drive wheels and benefits from its electric part, consisting ofa small battery of 1.3 kWh capacity and an electric motor, to display consumption that is always reasonable.

If it is only able to drive in 100% mode for a few hundred meters, the machine cuts its 4-cylinder as soon as possible in urban use. This makes it a quiet vehicle, which regularly remains below 5 l/100 km in the city.

The table is not bad either on the secondary network with, by adopting a calm driving, barely a liter more on average. On the highway, on the other hand, it will be necessary to count on 7 l/100 km.

Toyota also takes care of the equipment of its original SUV with, from the basic version, a reversing camera, a “hands-free” startdual-zone automatic air conditioning and a multimedia system on an 8-inch screen.

And for the look, it systematically benefits from 18-inch alloy wheels. So many advantages that always please: the Japanese still found 10,154 buyers in France in 2022.

No, the C-HR is outdated…
Since its first laps, the observation has been the same: the space at the rear of the C-HR is a little disappointing in view of its total length.

Two adults are however comfortable there but, if they are children, the small glazed surfaces contribute to this feeling of confinement.

Side luggage compartment, it is not perfect either: under the tilted rear screen, the Japanese produced in Turkey displays only 358 or 377 liters of capacity, depending on the engine. It suffers in addition to a high perched loading threshold. And the original shapes of the C-HR interfere with rearview.

The basic version, with its 122 hp cumulated, only generates arbitrary performances. It is necessary to accelerate frankly for the reminders, with the key a little racing of the engine, due to the transmission by planetary gear train.

This impression remains less obvious on the 184 hp version, which benefits from greater torque at low revs and provides more convenience. But the C-HR remains more a car “to live” than to drive.

It turns out to be pleasant and holds the road well, but does not present any dynamism and suffers in addition from a direction offering only little feeling. In comparison, a Peugeot 3008 would almost pass for a small GTi.

On board, the set lacks storage space and USB sockets (there is only one), while the multimedia system, also agingrequires a little practice to be mastered.

The layout, which hasn’t changed an inch during the restyling, is starting to look seriously dated, especially when compared to newer competitors, like the Kia Niro and Honda HR-V. And the new version of the Toyota C-HR will not be long in coming…

WE love

• Original aesthetics and equipment
• Reasonable consumption
• 122 or 184 hp hybrid proposals

We love less

• Non-existent practical aspects
• Charmless ride
• Retrovision

The Toyota C-HR range (hybrid-petrol): from 122 to 184 hp, from €32,750 to €41,700

Specifications (Toyota C-HR)

• Weight (kg): from 1,420
• Lxlxh (m) : 4,40×1,80×1,56
• Wheelbase (m): 2.64
• Tank (l): 43
• Chest at 5 (l): 377 (358 in 2.0)

THE RIVALS

• Kia Niro hybrid
  • Lxlxh (m) : 4,42×1,82×1,54
  • Trunk (l): 451
  • 141 hp, from €31,790
• Honda HR-V
  • Lxlxh (m) : 4,34×1,79×1,58
  • Trunk (l): 319
  • 131 hp, from €32,910
• Nissan Qashqai
  • Lxlxh (m) : 4,43×1,84×1,63
  • Trunk (l): 504
  • From 140 to 190 hp, from €31,300

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