Big-brother Yaris brings along range facelift

[steaner]

The official introduction to the media this week of Toyota's flagship Yaris, the 1.8 TS, came at about the same time as a general minor facelift for the whole range.

The Yaris Hatch model is unchanged, starting with a three or five-door 1.0 T1 derivatives, both available with factory fitted aircon at four price options. Power comes from a 51kW, three-cylinder engine and promises fuel consumption of 5.4 litre/100km.

The Yaris T3 also has five-door four variants powered by a 1 Styling changes to the hatch include revised front and rear bumpers
.3-litre, 63kW engine burning an average of about six litres/100km for the manual and 6.5 for the auto. Specification levels are T3 a/c, T3+, T3+ a/t, and T3 Spirit.

Styling changes to the hatch include revised front and rear bumpers, restyled grille and headlights and new detail for the tail-light clusters. Interior changes involve an update for the upholstery and instruments and the addition of a multi-information display for T3 derivatives.

An audio input jack has been added across the range.

The Yaris T1 a/c gets a radio/CD combo with front-loading CD and MP3 compatibility. The T3 a/c gets power side mirrors. The T3+ manual and auto gain a Bluetooth microphone with speech recognition capability and two speakers have been added to the sound system.

A leather covered steering wheel comes with satellite controls for the audio system; there's also leather on the gearshifter and telescopic adjustment for the steering.

INTEGRATED INDICATORS

The Bluetooth mike with speech recognition and the two extra speakers also join the Yaris T3 Spirit spec.

Changes to the Yaris Sedan involve only the restyling package and the integration of the indicator lights into the door mirrors (except on the T3 a/c model).

The sedan line-up consists of four models, each powered by a 63 kW 1.3-litre engine. Three spec levels exist: T3 a/c, T3+, and T3 Spirit. An auto box is available on the T3+.