The Toyota CHR: A Compact SUV with a Sporty Twist

One of the most noticeable things about the Toyota CHR is its door handles, which are positioned high up on the doors but require a bit of relearning to open. This can be a bit odd for drivers who are used to opening car doors in a certain way, as it can lead to RSI (repetitive strain injury). However, it's clear that Toyota has designed the CHR to feel sporty and agile, even if it doesn't quite live up to expectations in terms of full SUV experience.

The CHR handles pretty well on corners, especially for lighter drivers. It also comes equipped with a departure warning system, which beeped at me when I accidentally weaved across the white line. The suspension is designed to handle bumps and rough surfaces, but it's not firm like some other vehicles in its class. On the plus side, the CHR feels quite light and easy to maneuver.

One of the things that stands out about the CHR is its comfort level. The seats are absolutely lovely, with a design inspired by those worn by astronauts on Mars. I was able to spend hours driving without feeling any backache or discomfort. However, there are some drawbacks to consider. One of these is the significant amount of wind noise and tyre roar that can be heard inside the car, especially when driving on rough surfaces.

For drivers who want to take their CHR off-road or need a bit more grip, Toyota offers an all-wheel-drive system as an option. The engine choices are limited, with only one 1.2-liter turbo petrol unit available. However, this engine is smooth and punchy, and can return up to 41 miles per gallon in real-world driving. There's also a hybrid version of the CHR, which uses the same powertrain as the Prius and offers impressive fuel economy of up to 74 miles per gallon.

One area where the CHR falls short is in terms of visibility. The rear pillars are quite thick, which can make it difficult to see over your shoulder when reversing or pulling out of junctions. This is a major safety concern, and Toyota should really consider adding some sort of blind spot monitoring system to the car. However, this isn't the only issue with the CHR's interior design. The grab handles on the doors are positioned in a way that can cause drivers to hit their heads when getting out of the car.

The CHR also has some quirky features, such as perforated seats that may clog up with food bits and spills over time. The steering wheel is flimsy and doesn't offer much feedback, which can make it difficult to navigate tight corners or parking spaces. However, the car's advanced safety features are top-notch, including a five-year warranty and Toyota's latest auto park facility, which is more efficient than ever.

Despite its quirks and drawbacks, the CHR is definitely worth considering for anyone in the market for a compact SUV. Its sporty design and handling make it a joy to drive on twisty roads, and its comfort level is hard to beat. However, if you're looking for a full SUV experience with plenty of space and visibility, you may want to consider some other options.

If you click up there you can get more information and compare offers on the new Toyota CHR. For those who are interested in learning more about this car, I recommend checking out the 360 degree passenger ride video, which showcases the CHR's interior and features in stunning detail. I also recommend following me on Twitter to see if I've spotted any Easter Eggs or hidden features in this video.

In conclusion, the Toyota CHR is a great-looking and fun-to-drive compact SUV that's definitely worth considering for anyone in the market for a new car. However, it may not be perfect – there are some quirks and drawbacks to its design and features that may not appeal to everyone. Still, with its sporty design, comfortable ride, and impressive fuel economy, the CHR is definitely a contender in the compact SUV class.

Here's how you can get your hands on the Toyota CHR:

* Compare offers and prices for the new Toyota CHR

* Check out our 360 degree passenger ride video to see the CHR up close

* Follow me on Twitter for Easter Eggs and hidden features

By following these links, you'll be able to learn more about the Toyota CHR and decide if it's the right car for you.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is the new Toyota CHR and it's a really interesting looking car and a complete departure from Toyotas boring designs of the past to be fair some modern Toyota's do look a little bit questionable that this one it really works now it starts from just under 21,000 pounds but if you click up there to get a car I don't care dot uk' you can compare off for some dealers butter price you're confident in now on the key features of this cause design are diamonds and that theme continues on the inside so there's diamond patterning here there's diamond patterning on the speakers on the seats even on the air vents here and on these switches there's even diamonds up here and a year as well just diamonds everywhere that's it for that now this car is pretty nice too sitting on the whole the materials feel decent enough quality though some are a little bit on the cheap side and I like this piano black effect here but if you look closely you'll see that it's it's rather scratched another problem with the design maybe is that the way this bit so does make the passenger space seem a little bit smaller than it should do on the whole though it's quite an interesting design in here some people won't like this stuck on iPad effects but as standard on every model you do get an 8 into touch screen so 2 is a reversing camera and cruise control and it's pretty well equip this though if you want sat-nav you do have to upgrade to the mid spec model now the entertainment system itself it's it's alright but it's easy enough to navigate through menus the problem is that the graphics are a little bit low res and it does take a while for screens to load or to import a destination on the sat-nav now if you click up there you can see my full in-depth video review of the infotainment system for the CHR in terms of cubby space is there all right as well so the glovebox is not massive but it will do there's some decent storage under here and you've got a 12 volt socket in there there's some big cupholders there which look at this you can actually extend them if you've got a really tall latte and the door bins they're an okay size well here in the front in the back completely different stories I'll show you now now it's not a deal-breaker but yeah compared to rivals the cubby spaces here the coming you just got this one little cup holder and that's about it and speaking of rivals yeah they are bigger in the baton this car though it's not terrible it's deliverable people over six foot one just about have enough Headroom and knee room is alright and it's surprisingly okay actually with three in the back because this seats this big seat is just so comfy the only real issue I have is the limited foot space there because the runners for the seats in front the main problem though with the back of this car is well I just get my assistant to turn off the light and you'll see for yourself don't want a bit dark isn't it so with all this black plastic the small windows and one for left have the light back on it just feels dark and dingy in here it's like you're locked in Darth Vader's wardrobe and kids won't like it they won't get a good view out so it's a bit of a shame really because otherwise it's not too bad now the boot it's a similar story and the capacity is but it's more like that of say something like a Volkswagen Golf rather than a rival such as this say it's a tech ER and it's not terrible but it's just not as because it could be and it's pretty much devoid of clever features so there's no false floor to raise it up so you have a bit of a lip to lift stuff across also there are a few Tevin points here and there but there's no 12 volt socket if you want to plug in a device such as a Hoover to Hoover out your boot I'll just get this poster shelf out of the way as well so you can see another issue that out there we go it's this look if I fall down the seats because you haven't got that writable false floor you end up with a massive bridge so you can't really load a heavy item in here then push it straight to the back which is a little bit annoying now if you click up there you can see some more detail on this cars practicality by watching my detail practicality video see how much stuff you can actually cram into this cars boot so it's like with three people in the back and how easy it is to fit a child's seat and before I finish up I just want to show you this one of the interesting features of this car are the rear door handles so they're up there but you kind of have to relearn how to open a car door you don't do like that because you get RSI you have to kind of do it like that and it's all just a bit odd it's clear the Toyota CHR is supposed to be in but does this extend how it drives guys Claire that Toyota has created this little CHR to feel a little bit sporty for a small SUV and indeed it does so it goes on corners pretty well if I was light and agile it comes with a departure warning because I just weaved across the white line and it just beeped at me there and yeah it's it's quite a light feeling car and even though it handles pretty well the suspension never feels firm it still deals well with bumps if there is a problem with this car's comfort though it's that you do take quite a bit of wind noise so you can hear it rushing past the window there you also get quite a bit of Tyre roar on rough surfaces as well to it the shame really because otherwise it's really comfortable especially cuz these seats are absolutely bloomin lovely I'm gonna Mars and Mars and Mars in these without any backache that's all now for those people who want to take their CHR off-road or just need a bit of extra grip you can get it with all-wheel drive in terms of engines while there's a hybrid and that uses the same powertrain as in the Prius and it's a pretty good actually apparently you can return 74 miles per gallon this is the 1.2 liter turbo petrol and it's nice and smooth and it's got quite a decent amount of punch not sixty it's just under 11 seconds it res freely does make too much noise and Toyota says it's capable of 47 miles per gallon and look at the true computer on getting 41 so I'm quite pleased look at that this one's got manual gearbox and it's quite nice short throw on it so it helps out to this course sporty feel one thing to note though is if you're expecting the full SUV experience you don't really get it you sit quite low when you can practice on it like a Peugeot 3008 we can get to the same kind of money and then there's the visibility so I can't fault it here because you got this little extra window so no real blind spot there but over your shoulder those thick rear pillars I mean sometimes this is a leap of faith when you're pulling out of junctions that's not great at all they can save yourself by clicking up there to join me for the 360 degree passenger ride video there are some other problems with the CHR is 500 people may find that when they get to get out the car they ow hit their head on the protruding grab handles oh really her actually you can't get the car with an armrest for these middle rear seat it's a little bit odd a supposedly modern car such as this has an old-fashioned digital clock like you'd find on a Casio watch these perforations in the seat look kind of cool but it's not gonna be long before they clogged up with food bits that your kids have spilt this bit a trim on the steering wheel would you actually have to touch feels really flimsy in fact it moves around a little bit like a flappy paddle gear selector thankfully the CHR does have some cool features which help make up for all this being a Toyota you get a five-year warranty but you get the hybrid version of this car has the most thermally efficient engine of any production vehicle though it's not actually this engine so I don't want to show you this little Ridge there is known as a vortex generator and it helps swirl the air over the wing mirror and help increase the aerodynamics you can personalize the car with a range of different exterior trim colors including six colors for the wheel center caps well that was neatly done their car features twice's latest auto park facility which is more much more efficient than before because it can actually squeeze into bone tight spaces now if you click up there you can get more information and compare offers on the new Toyota CHR so then what's my overall verdict on it should you avoid it should consider it should you shortlist it or should you just go right ahead and buy it well I reckon you should consider the CHR it's a great looking good to drive car it's just that similarly price rivals are much bigger inside they enjoyed this video please like it and share it click on there to subscribe to my channel click down there for my entertainment video review down there for the practicality and up there for the region 6 duty pass the drive video on this Twitter to see HR speaking which they spot the Easter Egg in this video it was the CHR airport baggage tag which is the chateroo airport on the luggagethis is the new Toyota CHR and it's a really interesting looking car and a complete departure from Toyotas boring designs of the past to be fair some modern Toyota's do look a little bit questionable that this one it really works now it starts from just under 21,000 pounds but if you click up there to get a car I don't care dot uk' you can compare off for some dealers butter price you're confident in now on the key features of this cause design are diamonds and that theme continues on the inside so there's diamond patterning here there's diamond patterning on the speakers on the seats even on the air vents here and on these switches there's even diamonds up here and a year as well just diamonds everywhere that's it for that now this car is pretty nice too sitting on the whole the materials feel decent enough quality though some are a little bit on the cheap side and I like this piano black effect here but if you look closely you'll see that it's it's rather scratched another problem with the design maybe is that the way this bit so does make the passenger space seem a little bit smaller than it should do on the whole though it's quite an interesting design in here some people won't like this stuck on iPad effects but as standard on every model you do get an 8 into touch screen so 2 is a reversing camera and cruise control and it's pretty well equip this though if you want sat-nav you do have to upgrade to the mid spec model now the entertainment system itself it's it's alright but it's easy enough to navigate through menus the problem is that the graphics are a little bit low res and it does take a while for screens to load or to import a destination on the sat-nav now if you click up there you can see my full in-depth video review of the infotainment system for the CHR in terms of cubby space is there all right as well so the glovebox is not massive but it will do there's some decent storage under here and you've got a 12 volt socket in there there's some big cupholders there which look at this you can actually extend them if you've got a really tall latte and the door bins they're an okay size well here in the front in the back completely different stories I'll show you now now it's not a deal-breaker but yeah compared to rivals the cubby spaces here the coming you just got this one little cup holder and that's about it and speaking of rivals yeah they are bigger in the baton this car though it's not terrible it's deliverable people over six foot one just about have enough Headroom and knee room is alright and it's surprisingly okay actually with three in the back because this seats this big seat is just so comfy the only real issue I have is the limited foot space there because the runners for the seats in front the main problem though with the back of this car is well I just get my assistant to turn off the light and you'll see for yourself don't want a bit dark isn't it so with all this black plastic the small windows and one for left have the light back on it just feels dark and dingy in here it's like you're locked in Darth Vader's wardrobe and kids won't like it they won't get a good view out so it's a bit of a shame really because otherwise it's not too bad now the boot it's a similar story and the capacity is but it's more like that of say something like a Volkswagen Golf rather than a rival such as this say it's a tech ER and it's not terrible but it's just not as because it could be and it's pretty much devoid of clever features so there's no false floor to raise it up so you have a bit of a lip to lift stuff across also there are a few Tevin points here and there but there's no 12 volt socket if you want to plug in a device such as a Hoover to Hoover out your boot I'll just get this poster shelf out of the way as well so you can see another issue that out there we go it's this look if I fall down the seats because you haven't got that writable false floor you end up with a massive bridge so you can't really load a heavy item in here then push it straight to the back which is a little bit annoying now if you click up there you can see some more detail on this cars practicality by watching my detail practicality video see how much stuff you can actually cram into this cars boot so it's like with three people in the back and how easy it is to fit a child's seat and before I finish up I just want to show you this one of the interesting features of this car are the rear door handles so they're up there but you kind of have to relearn how to open a car door you don't do like that because you get RSI you have to kind of do it like that and it's all just a bit odd it's clear the Toyota CHR is supposed to be in but does this extend how it drives guys Claire that Toyota has created this little CHR to feel a little bit sporty for a small SUV and indeed it does so it goes on corners pretty well if I was light and agile it comes with a departure warning because I just weaved across the white line and it just beeped at me there and yeah it's it's quite a light feeling car and even though it handles pretty well the suspension never feels firm it still deals well with bumps if there is a problem with this car's comfort though it's that you do take quite a bit of wind noise so you can hear it rushing past the window there you also get quite a bit of Tyre roar on rough surfaces as well to it the shame really because otherwise it's really comfortable especially cuz these seats are absolutely bloomin lovely I'm gonna Mars and Mars and Mars in these without any backache that's all now for those people who want to take their CHR off-road or just need a bit of extra grip you can get it with all-wheel drive in terms of engines while there's a hybrid and that uses the same powertrain as in the Prius and it's a pretty good actually apparently you can return 74 miles per gallon this is the 1.2 liter turbo petrol and it's nice and smooth and it's got quite a decent amount of punch not sixty it's just under 11 seconds it res freely does make too much noise and Toyota says it's capable of 47 miles per gallon and look at the true computer on getting 41 so I'm quite pleased look at that this one's got manual gearbox and it's quite nice short throw on it so it helps out to this course sporty feel one thing to note though is if you're expecting the full SUV experience you don't really get it you sit quite low when you can practice on it like a Peugeot 3008 we can get to the same kind of money and then there's the visibility so I can't fault it here because you got this little extra window so no real blind spot there but over your shoulder those thick rear pillars I mean sometimes this is a leap of faith when you're pulling out of junctions that's not great at all they can save yourself by clicking up there to join me for the 360 degree passenger ride video there are some other problems with the CHR is 500 people may find that when they get to get out the car they ow hit their head on the protruding grab handles oh really her actually you can't get the car with an armrest for these middle rear seat it's a little bit odd a supposedly modern car such as this has an old-fashioned digital clock like you'd find on a Casio watch these perforations in the seat look kind of cool but it's not gonna be long before they clogged up with food bits that your kids have spilt this bit a trim on the steering wheel would you actually have to touch feels really flimsy in fact it moves around a little bit like a flappy paddle gear selector thankfully the CHR does have some cool features which help make up for all this being a Toyota you get a five-year warranty but you get the hybrid version of this car has the most thermally efficient engine of any production vehicle though it's not actually this engine so I don't want to show you this little Ridge there is known as a vortex generator and it helps swirl the air over the wing mirror and help increase the aerodynamics you can personalize the car with a range of different exterior trim colors including six colors for the wheel center caps well that was neatly done their car features twice's latest auto park facility which is more much more efficient than before because it can actually squeeze into bone tight spaces now if you click up there you can get more information and compare offers on the new Toyota CHR so then what's my overall verdict on it should you avoid it should consider it should you shortlist it or should you just go right ahead and buy it well I reckon you should consider the CHR it's a great looking good to drive car it's just that similarly price rivals are much bigger inside they enjoyed this video please like it and share it click on there to subscribe to my channel click down there for my entertainment video review down there for the practicality and up there for the region 6 duty pass the drive video on this Twitter to see HR speaking which they spot the Easter Egg in this video it was the CHR airport baggage tag which is the chateroo airport on the luggage\n"