Louth Motors: The Toyota C-HR - The price of beauty

Success creates a whole heap of joy and a whole heap of woe. In car terms when you have a hugely successful model the pressure to repeat the performance must be at diamond creation levels.

The C-HR is a hugely popular model for Toyota here in Ireland and a regular top 10 seller since its arrival back in, I can’t believe it, 2016.

Toyota must have been dreading the next version of the car since the original made such an impact.

That impact stems mainly from the looks. Ok, entirely from the looks then. We’d never seen anything like it before and when I first saw it on the road, I wondered who made it. Toyota got all the plaudits for being so brave and were deservedly rewarded by lots and lots of sales.

It was the chic car to be seen in and you always had the comfort to fall back on of it being “a Toyota” with all the buyer reassurance resonance that the name inspires.

Well six years later there is a new C-HR and the wait has been worth it. Just look at it. It is stunning. The design is still very much C-HR but with a super modern twist.

It looks space-agey and if it took off and flew you wouldn’t be surprised. The design is very much edgy and angular with the rear and front managing to look totally unique in a world where you are always rubbing your chin and Hmmming, “ Where have I seen that before?”.

This could, however, apply to the side where the front door creases are the exact reverse of the Peugeot 2008 rear doors and a good look to ape if you are aping anything. A sweet touch is the illuminated name at the back inside the rear light bar.

The interior in the old model was pretty rad but the latest version lacks any real knockout item. It’s very similar to other Toyotas but the exterior magic that separates the C-HR from other Toyota models didn’t transfer to the interior which is a bit of a pity.

Pictured above: The interior of the Toyota C-HR

The driver is perfectly catered for in terms of tech and space as is the front passenger. The rear passengers are not so well catered for in terms of visibility.

It feels like you are taken out of the world when you step in and looking out is restrictive. It’s a product of the external looks and the designer won the over the ergonomist.

The boot is spacious and swallowed my new folding bike and I also got my normal bike into the car by folding the rear seats down without removing a wheel.

The high driving seating position is a major factor in attracting buyers and driver visibility is excellent. I tend to lower the mirrors when parking to avoid damaging the alloys but in the C-HR the 18 inch alloy wheels were hidden by the overhang.

On the road the C-HR is an able performer. The buyer is rewarded with a quiet car on the move, and everything is precise and simple. That simple is a quality that the Japanese manufacturers have perfected and makes driving the car so easy.

Performance is sprightly enough and in the 140hp hybrid model a 0-100km/h time of 9.9s was possible but felt faster.

I stuck with Normal mode but there’s also Sport and Eco settings. Toyota’s attention to fuel conservation using their hybrid technology, 1.8l in my test car’s case, delivered a fuel return of 5.2l/100kms without concerning myself too much how I used my right foot and not far away from the 4.8l/100kms Toyota claim.

The PHEV version has a 2.0l petrol engine with 223HP and this drops the 0-100km/h time to 7.4s as well as providing an all-electric range of up to 66kms. Stability was particularly good and lateral movement was noticeable by its absence.

The C-HR comes in Hybrid and Plug-in format and reflects Toyota’s reservedness to embrace all-electric. The world’s biggest car maker doesn’t see the migration to all-electric taking place at the pace our legislators and policy makers are drum-banging about.

It’s always a battle and the form of the latter hasn’t exactly inspired confidence in their vision. Here in Ireland, we were all encouraged to go diesel only to be asked to go all-electric by the same people which hasn’t gone down well.

Our EV uptake is good and could be better, but the pace is slowing. Toyota’s pace of change is cautious and may eventually prove wise.

The C-HR comes in three trim levels with two powertrain choices. The sting for all this loveliness is the price. The range starts at €40,520 which is on the pricy side. I say this because the roomier Corolla Cross, which shares the same platform and mechanicals, starts at €38,380 which is a significantly cheaper. But you won’t get those incredible looks which you’ll want for sure.

The C-HR is a compelling proposition, raises the design bar even higher and has “I want” written all over it. It’s not hard to see how it has been a tremendous success and the new model will build on this.