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Price: £21,065
Top speed: 118mph
0-62mph: 10.9 seconds
MPG: up to 74.3
CO2: from 87g/km
Gerry from Slough wrote to me last week and asked why we constantly bang on about top speeds and 0-62 times when few of us can ever legally or safely reach these figures. On top of that, he added that “dieselgate” proves emissions and economy figures can be fudged. So what’s the point of them? He’s right. It’s time we invented some far more relevant methods of comparison. For instance, I have a perpetually bad back so I’d find “number of hours until your back is agony” useful and I’ve also got endlessly car-sick children so “ease of removing vomit from seats” would be a very helpful measure.
If ever a vehicle was crying out for a new set of indices, it is Toyota’s C-HR. It’s an all-new crossover hybrid that dares to think right outside the box. Every aspect has been thrown up in the air and entirely rethought. It’s a brave decision – car makers get caned for being dull and hammered for being different. But now and again one breaks from the flock and becomes an indie hit. Just look at the affection Fiat’s Multipla, Nissan’s Juke and Citroën’s Dyane are held in – ugly ducklings which all took a battering when they first arrived.
The styling of the C-HR is eye-popping. It’s a riot of swooshes and curves, with more scoops than a family bucket of ice cream. From the side, the narrowing cabin sits atop blistered arches. The rear windows tail off into swooping flanks, with a great diamond shaped gulley running front to back. There is no door furniture – the rear handles are embedded into the corner of the back panels. Meanwhile the roof seems to be detached and floats serenely above all the drama. Whether you want this much excitement in a car is, of course, a question of taste.
Inside you’ll find a refreshing blend of unexpected textures, shapes and colours. A kite motif has been stamped into the roof and the door panels are made of a weird pimply plastic. The central console counterbalances that with swirls of a super-tactile veneer. The climate controls have triangle-shaped buttons and the touchscreen rears out of the dashboard, like the monster in the Alien. Did I mention, it’s very different?
The drive, however, you will be pleased to hear, is not so very different. As proven with the Prius, Toyota is the world’s hybrid master and this car comes with a selection of delightfully peaceful powertrains. The entry level is the 1.2-litre petrol hybrid with manual gearbox, but Toyota expects everyone to stump up the extra £2,500 for the all-conquering 1.8 petrol auto which will cover an incredible 74.3 miles to a gallon of fuel with barely a whiff of carbon. As you’d expect the C-HR is loaded with safety and connectivity features, but sitting in pride of place is the new “Safety Sense” which will slam on the brakes for you in a collision scenario.
The C-HR is fun and funky and will no doubt earn a warm welcome. My one disappointment is the bafflingly boring name. It stands for Coupé High Rider. I’d have suggested the Scoopy Coupé…
Time to get your hands dirty
There probably isn’t a garage in the country which doesn’t have a well-thumbed Haynes manual on the shelf. But this month Haynes is moving ahead of the times by also offering a series of do-it-yourself tutorial videos. Many of us are now intimidated by the complexity of modern cars, but if you follow these sensible and (surprisingly easy) steps you’ll soon be rolling up your sleeves and digging out that wrench.
Walking the user through every step of the most common DIY motoring procedures for specific tasks, makes and models, the new OnDemand service is the simplest and most inexpensive way to access Haynes’s trusted automotive content. Offering access to over 1,500 HD videos for more than 100 makes and models, OnDemand provides at least 15 tasks per model.
With prices starting at £2.99 to access one task or £9.99 to access a full set of tasks for a specific make and model for an entire year from www.haynes.com/ondemand, OnDemand offers low-pricing combined with trusted repair information from Haynes for the first time ever. What’s more, Haynes has a wide range of free jobs for many cars as well, showing how to complete basic servicing and weekly checks like fluid levels and tyre pressures.
Showing how simple some of the most common motoring DIY tasks are, OnDemand can potentially save motorists hundreds of pounds by giving them that all-essential confidence and know-how. Whether replacing sparkplugs (saving £75 – £100) and tail lights (saving £50 – £100) through to starter motors (saving £250) and thermostats (saving £250 – £300), these are just some of the many savings that can be made when doing it yourself.
Just some of the many types of jobs that are available include:
Rear light cluster bulbs replacement
Rear shock absorber replacement
Spark plug replacement
Starter motor replacement
Thermostat replacement
Auxiliary belt replacement
Fuel pump replacement
Coolant replacement
Engine oil and filter change
Fuel filter replacement
Alternator replacement
Pollen filter replacement
Rear brake pads replacement
Front brake pads replacement
Wiper blade replacement
Headlight bulb replacement
For more information about Haynes OnDemand, or to order a printed version of a Haynes Workshop manual, visit www.haynes.com/ondemand
Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @MartinLove166
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Toyota C-HR review: ‘A riot of swooshes and curves’https://goo.gl/26PwAq
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