SIX years on, the third instalment in Toyota’s European light car story surfaces in the form of the 130 Series Yaris, a hatch designed and engineered to take on the Ford Fiesta, Mazda 2 and Volkswagen Polo. While the styling might be a little derivative to some, real progress has been made underneath and inside, so do not be surprised to learn that the latest Yaris takes over the previous version as the most complete Toyota on the market today. We assess the mid-range YRS 1.5-litre manual.
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90 Series Yaris
Released: Oct 2005
Ended: Oct 2011
Family Tree: YarisBASICALLY a thorough reskin of the popular Echo, the second-generation Yaris proved to be a smash hit in Australia, offering European styling and proven Japanese reliability. By far the most popular model was the base YR, powered by a 63kW/121Nm 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol engine mated to a five-speed manual or four-speed auto gearbox, while the YR, YRS and YRX models used 80kW/141Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit. Unlike its predecessor, no Sportivo sporty version was marketed. Three and five-door models sold most strongly, followed by a completely reskinned 1.5-litre four-door sedan variant from 2006 to 2012.
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