By Tshegofatso Mmahlatji

Toyota South Africa has launched the facelift of the small crossover hatch, the Toyota C-HR, and significant improvements have been made. These tweaks are hard to miss and feature noticeable modifications to the already interesting design of the car.

Exterior

For one, the Toyota C-HR is now sportier than ever before. A wider bumper has been introduced making the model aesthetic a lot more aggressive. New LED lamps have been introduced on standard and plus models and with this comes fog lamps moved upward and outward. The side air intakes have been increased along with the front grille, allowing the introduction of a body coloured lip.

Interior

The most noticeable change to the interior has to be the larger 8 inch touch LCD screen and the new multimedia system comes ready with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A great feature you won’t see coming is the vehicles nifty WIFI hotspot feature, allowing you to connect your device and stream some of your favourite tunes as you drive. On the downside, the C-HR only has one USB port and no USB-C ports for connecting other devices, this is especially a let-down as other manufacturers are making it a point to have more than just one USB port.

Safety

The updated model also carries impressive safety features that include driver knee airbag, curtain airbags, a total of 7 airbags fitted in the vehicle. Brake assist, antilock braking system and electronic brake system make up the technology that allows the C-HR to stop when you have to. The lane departure warning system works great; we found it gentle as it nudges back in the lane. However, this neat feature is only available in the Luxury model. For urban traffic and the hills that come with it,  don’t despair, all models will have hillstart assist as a standard feature.

Power and drive

The Toyota C-HR only has one engine capacity, the 1.2l turbo and it produces 85kW and 185 Nm of torque. This is enough to power the C-HR to do a 0-100 sprint in 10.9 and 11.1 in the CVT derivative which is the one we test drove. I’m not typically a huge fan of the CVT transmission, however in this model I found that was well matched to the engine and complemented by the conditions we drove it in.

Final word

Overall, the C-HR is an enjoyable with graceful handling and user friendly tech features which make it an easy option when looking for a car starting from R 371,700, with a decent three year 100,000km service plan.