Toyota Urban Cruiser

Toyota’s Urban Cruiser is built on the same wheelbase as the Yaris and it uses the same engines, so it is possible that it uses the same floorpan. It could just be Toyota’s attempt to produce an estate version of the Yaris. Initially I was not impressed with the Urban Cruiser, but then I had just stepped out of its more luxurious big sister, the new Avensis saloon. As time passed, however, I came to like the Urban Cruiser and the thought occurred to me, that I would not mind owning one myself, but it also has a number of features which I found to be extremely annoying.
The test car was fitted with an automatic Stop/Start feature in the interests of fuel economy. When you stop in traffic and shift into neutral, the engine switches off automatically. When you depress the clutch pedal and shift into gear, it starts again automatically. So far so good, but on this car after you had been stopped for a while, without touching the clutch pedal or gear lever, it would restart automatically, even if the lights were still red or the traffic was not moving. What is the point in that ? There is a switch so you can turn this function off, if you so prefer.
This car had one of the most useless sets of instruments I have ever come across. The speedometer and the tachometer were both housed in the same round analogue dial. The speedometer was coloured white and ran from the bottom of the dial, up the left hand side to what would be about the two o’clock position on a clock. The tachometer was coloured red and ran from the bottom up the right hand side to meet the speedometer at the two o’clock position. While the speedometer had a black background, a silver section on the instrument glass acted as a background to the tachometer. When I had the seat and steering wheel set to my preferred positions, the top section of the steering wheel hub obscured the view of lower ends of both the speedometer and the tachometer, so that anything below 40 kph (25 mph) and 3,000 rpm was invisible. In urban driving this is where you spend most of your time.

On either side of the main instrument cluster, there were digital information panels. The main function of the left hand panel seemed to be the fuel level gauge right down at the bottom, just above the left hand spoke of the steering wheel. The right hand panel could show a variety of information, which can be selected by pressing the mode button up near the top of the panel. Away back in the seventies, I remember commenting in many road tests, that I wondered if the people who design these interiors, have ever driven a car in their life at all ? Certainly this instrument binnacle is one of the most useless I have come across in a long, long time !
Up at the top of the centre console, just below the two rectangular air vents, is the radio/CD. It seems to be sensibly placed for easy use. Below that is a panel that houses a warning light to indicate if the front passenger airbag has been switched off, a digital clock and the hazard warning switch. I found the clock to be very difficult to see in daylight. In fact, as far as I was concerned, it was completely useless.
Fortunately the three rotary switches below for the heating/ventilation, were easy to see and use. Below these was an open storage tray that also accommodated the cigar lighter and an auxiliary socket for a MP3 or WMA connection. On the base of the central tunnel just behind the gearlever and ahead of the handbrake, was the switch to activate/deactivate the automatic Stop/Start system. Further back, closer to the handbrake, there was another switch to deactivate the Vehicle Stability Control system.
The left hand arm of the steering wheel had additional controls for the audio system, while the right hand arm had the button for the Bluetooth mobile telephone operation. The driver’s door armrest had the controls for the four electric windows, plus the automatic locking/unlocking. In the normal manner, the right hand stalk had the controls for the washers and wipers, front and rear, while the left hand stalk looked after the lights and direction indicators. The rim of the steering wheel was covered in leather and had a comfortable feel when driving. Although there are two open cupholders in front of the gearlever, there is another on the passenger side of the facia, below the circular air vent. You press the rectangular shaped panel and the cupholder slides out. There are also two covered storage boxes, one above the other, ahead of the front passengers’ seat.

The rear bench seat is divided 60/40 and is mounted on runners, so can be adjusted to accommodate additional luggage, if your passengers are not too tall and thus require less kneeroom. While it is technically designed to seat three people abreast, the centre section is hard and unyielding, so that passengers sitting there would have their heads in the roof lining. Shoulder room is likewise very scarce, so if adult passengers are what you have to accommodate, then there is realistically only room for two abreast. The rear seat headrests are designed in such a way that the seat is impossibly uncomfortable to sit in, if the headrests are not raised. The backrest is designed to fold down onto the seat cushion when additional luggage has to be carried. If the whole seat unit is first slid forwards, the cushion then lowers itself, making it easier for the backrests to lay in a more horizontal position.
If you have a largish dog, as I do, the luggage area in the Urban Cruiser, is an ideal place to carry it when the occasion demands. I did so and was very pleased with the result, until I came to vacuum up any hairs that may have been deposited there. The material used on the backs of the rear seats and the luggage floor covering seems to soak up the hairs and refuses to release them. A job that normally takes me about five minutes, took over twenty and still looked as if nothing had been done ! If it is intended as an estate type vehicle, or a mini SUV, then I suggest a much more user friendly type of upholstery should have been chosen for the luggage area.

When the two sections of the rear seat are fully back and you load to below the rear shelf, the Urban Cruiser offers about 0.295 cubic metres of luggage space. In their fully forward position, with the backs dropped onto the cushions and you load to the roof, there is 1.010 cubic metres of usable space.
On the outer edge of each section’s backrest, there are two lift-up levers. One is used to slide the whole seat unit forwards or backwards, while the other is used to drop the backrest onto the cushion. This does allow a great degree of adaptability in the passenger and load carrying capabilities.
The test car came with a Spacesaver spare wheel, stored horizontally below the luggage floor. The winding handle for the jack is clipped to the lower side of the luggage floor, while the wheel spanner is kept in a plastic bag together with the screw-in towing eye. The jack is stored under the front passenger seat, but has to be accessed from the rear of the seat. It is all a bit fussy and not the sort of additional hassle you need when you get a puncture.

Below : Normal luggage space, rear seats fully back, shelf in place.

Below : Maximum luggage space, seats fully forward

If you need to tow a trailer, the Urban Cruiser will take braked trailers of up to 800 kg. I have been unable to find any figure for unbraked trailers, so I have estimated a figure of 500 kg. Similarly I have been unable to get a figure for roof loading, if you need to carry additional luggage in a roofbox.
On the road the car is claimed to have a top speed of 175 kph (108 mph), but as this is above our national speed limit for motorways, I was naturally unable to verify this speed for myself. Acceleration from 0-100 kph is said to be 12.5 seconds and while I did not time it with a stop watch, it seems to be reasonable.
Toyota claim a combined cycle fuel consumption of 51 mpg (5.5 lt/100 km). I could not find any figures for urban and extra urban cycles, so I have estimated these as well. For the Urban cycle I have estimated 6.5 lt/100 km (43 mpg), while for extra urban I have estimated 5.0 lt/100 km (56 mpg). These figures are based on those for a Yaris, fitted with the same engine, but as the Urban Cruiser is heavier, I have adjusted them accordingly. They are none the less estimates. Exhaust emissions are quoted as 129 gm/km, which would put the Urban Cruiser into Irish tax Band B, which at present rates, carries an annual charge of 156 euro.

Tuned to deliver 74 kW and 132 Nm, the car has a power/weight ratio of 21.468 kg/kW, which makes it pleasant and easy to drive. It is no sports coupe, but is it is also no boring sluggard. The gearchange is smooth and well defined, so the car drives easily. The steering is on the sporty side with 2.6 turns from lock to lock of the steering wheel. The suspension gives a smooth ride over most surfaces, so all in all it is a reasonably relaxing car to drive and travel in.
It never feels fussed about the city and suburbs and cruises along the motorway in a carefree manner. I think it was the relaxing way it drove that attracted me to it. What a pity other aspects of its design were not so pleasing.
Toyota frequently refer to the car as a mini SUV, which perhaps indicates which market segment they hope to attract. I understand that in some markets it is available in four wheel drive. Certainly if you look at the frontal styling closely it has that chunky build often associated with four wheel drive, off-road type vehicles. The rear end has a rather squared off styling, which looks a bit at odds with the side window profile. Personally I am finding it hard to see just where Toyota see it as fitting into the model spectrum. It is a fair bit more expensive than the Yaris and for just a little bit more you can buy an Auris five door, also to Luna specification.

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