First drive: 2024 Toyota C-HR

It’s fitting that the improvement enactment for the caller Toyota C-HR was led by the firm’s method centre successful Brussels, the de facto superior of Europe. It whitethorn beryllium the merchandise of a Japanese manufacturer, but this is simply a instrumentality that has been developed successful Europe, is focused connected pleasing European drivers and volition beryllium built successful Europe.

Eschewing Toyota’s erstwhile strategy for ‘global cars’, the archetypal C-HR was developed to assistance the marque turn its stock successful the European marketplace – and it intelligibly worked. It’s Toyota’s fourth-best-seller here, helping the firm’s emergence up the income charts. Most significantly, it’s been by acold Toyota’s astir palmy car successful winning implicit caller customers: 59% of C-HR drivers switched from different brand.

Key to that occurrence has been however good the C-HR was placed for the European market. Its premix of crisp styling and coupé-crossover signifier helped it to find a genuinely uncommon abstraction astatine the tiny extremity of the C-SUV marketplace (think Volkswagen T-Roc and Kia Niro) and stood acold isolated from Toyota’s antecedently stodgy designs, attracting buyers who wanted a spot of borderline to their high-riding household runabout. 

So Toyota has doubled down connected its approach, some successful presumption of European-focused improvement and styling, with this second-generation C-HR. Chief technologist Toshio Kanei led improvement from Toyota’s Belgian method centre and overmuch of the styling enactment was done by the firm’s ED2 plan workplace successful Nice, France.

Toyota’s lawsuit probe suggested the original’s edgy styling was cardinal to its conquest rate, and Kanei says that the extremity with the caller C-HR was to propulsion that adjacent further and marque a “show car for the road”. 

This C-HR makes the aged one, rightly lauded for its melodramatic styling, look positively bland. There are melodramatic lines, bodywork creases truthful crisp they look similar they could chopped you and dramatically sculpted headlights. The beforehand has been reworked with Toyota’s caller ‘hammerhead’ face, archetypal seen connected the beauteous caller Toyota Prius we don’t get implicit here. Certain trim levels volition get a stylish two-tone overgarment scheme, too.

Notably, the bumpers and immoderate different assemblage elements are made of a caller pre-coloured resin, truthful they don’t request to beryllium painted, which substantially reduces the magnitude of CO2 emitted during production. It besides affords a chill two-tone appearance.

Highly unusually, the caller C-HR is really smaller than its predecessor. Toyota has trimmed 35mm from its magnitude and 15mm from its height. But earlier you rejoice excessively overmuch astatine a bucking of the inclination for ever-growing cars, cognize that it’s besides 45mm wider. It has bigger wheels too: up to 20in.

While it's wider than the aged mentation with a bigger frontal country acknowledgment to the bigger wheels, the caller C-HR is astir 2 per cent much aerodynamically businesslike than its predecessor.

The assertion is that the wider way is amended for handling, and due to the fact that the C-HR maintains a 2640mm wheelbase, it has astir the aforesaid magnitude of country for passengers.

If you’re an big who mightiness walk a important magnitude of clip successful the backmost of a C-HR, that could acceptable immoderate informing lights flashing: arsenic before, rear limb country is acold from the champion and that sloping roofline cuts into the caput room.

Still, that didn’t precisely enactment disconnected buyers before, and for those with young families it volition beryllium little of an issue. Besides, Toyota present offers the somewhat larger Corolla Cross successful Europe (although not successful the UK) for those who privation to commercialized immoderate benignant for immoderate space.

Engineers person besides made efforts to amended the feeling of abstraction successful the back: there’s a caller tinted panoramic extortion that doesn’t request a shadiness (adding 30mm of caput room) and caller model cut-outs successful the C-pillar are designed to amended the views out.

On the taxable of those C-pillars, you'll nary longer find the rear doorway handles hidden successful them. Following feedback from customers they're present successful a acold much accepted presumption connected the rear doors, though each the handles present beryllium flush to the bodywork and popular retired erstwhile you propulsion them in.

The footwear remains connected the tiny side, caput you – though Toyota has yet to springiness a capacity, oregon however overmuch of it is mislaid successful the PHEV mentation owed to assorted electrical gubbins underneath the floor.

In the beforehand of the cabin, Toyota acceptable retired to amended the perceived quality, and it decidedly feels a measurement up from the archetypal C-HR. There’s a caller 12.3in integer dial show and a caller touchscreen (8.0in arsenic modular oregon 12.3in connected pricier models, similar ours) moving Toyota’s latest infotainment system, portion capable carnal controls stay for the cardinal functions to keep astir radical happy.

The driver’s seating presumption is rather high, arsenic you would expect successful a crossover, and visibility is bully each round. The assorted grades of seats each diagnostic recycled materials, and those successful our trial car were surely comfy enough.

Another portion of the improvement team’s absorption was connected improving the caller C-HR’s dynamics. Toyota’s TNGA-C platform, besides utilized by the Toyota Corolla hatchback/estate, is simply a beardown base, but determination are immoderate notable changes from the archetypal version. While the suspension retains MacPherson struts up beforehand and a multi-link set-up astatine the rear, some are reworked and tuned, the second with elements from the set-ups of the Camry saloon and RAV4 SUV. 

The PHEV uses caller twin-piston brakes, portion caller ZF frequency-sensitive daze absorbers tin soften to amended the thrust implicit high-frequency bumps, portion firming up elsewhere to trim assemblage roll.

There’s besides a caller powertrain choice, the 1.8-litre and 2.0-litre hybrid systems from the archetypal C-HR being joined by a 2.0-litre plug-in hybrid one, arsenic successful our trial car. Based connected Toyota’s fifth-generation hybrid system, this uses the aforesaid 150bhp four-cylinder 2.0-litre petrol engine, a caller 161bhp electrical centrifugal (because of the mode these things work, they tin nonstop a maximum of 220bhp to the beforehand wheels) and a overmuch larger, 13.8kWh battery. 

It has an authoritative electric-only scope of 41 miles, though we got person to 30 connected our trial drive. As is communal with PHEVs, you tin instrumentality this C-HR successful EV mode oregon usage a hybrid enactment that volition mete retired the powerfulness and successful tune with the sat-nav tin usage geofencing to usage electrical powerfulness successful clean-air zones. You tin besides set the spot of the regenerative braking, up to a B mode that really offers adjacent to one-pedal driving.

The enactment Toyota that has done connected the thrust is notable, whether you’re successful choky municipality areas oregon connected accelerated and flowing roads. It’s comfy and good balanced, and remains poised connected bumpy surfaces portion besides feeling unchangeable astatine higher speeds.

It’s agreeable alternatively than genuinely dynamic (after all, it’s inactive a crossover), but it tin surely enactment a grin connected your face.

The PHEV powertrain is besides good tuned: the modulation betwixt the 2 powerfulness sources is creaseless and it offers instant zip successful EV mode. The motor has bully response, too, with bully pick-up and acceleration and bully effect to your inputs.

Sadly, the soundtrack doesn’t rather lucifer the performance: it’s a spot level and precise occasionally a spot gruff, though it does without immoderate of the annoyances of the aged regular hybrid’s powertrain.

That said, the PHEV’s apical velocity is nary faster than the regular hybrid’s and it is lone 0.8sec faster to 0-62mph, truthful whether you opt for it mightiness good beryllium connected terms and whether you are a institution car operator (that 41-mile electrical scope puts it successful the favourable 8% benefit-in-kind taxation bracket).

Toyota has yet to acceptable pricing, but we’re expecting the hybrid to commencement astatine astir £35,000 and the PHEV astatine person to £40,000.

Despite the camouflage wrapper connected our trial car, it was typical of accumulation examples, and portion we haven’t tried the regular hybrid yet, it’s already wide Toyota’s Eurovision for the C-HR has paid off, the steadfast having taken a winning look and improved it successful astir areas.

Toyota C-HR PHEV

Verdict 4 stars

Price £38,000 est Engine 4cyls in-line, 1987cc positive electrical centrifugal Power 220bhp astatine 6000rpm Torque 293lb ft astatine 4400-5200rpm Gearbox 1-spd simplification Kerb value TBC 0-62mph 7.3secs Top speed 112mph Battery 13.8kWh Economy 261-294mpg Electric range 41 miles CO2, taxation band 19-20g/km, TBC RIVALS Cupra Formentor eHybrid, Kia Niro PHEV