Your watching a WheelsTV Top200 vehicle test drive on the 2007 Toyota Yaris.
The 2007 Toyota Yaris comes in both sedan and liftback body styles and there are two trim levels to choose from in each. Ce and le. The sedan also gets an "s" trim designation. Toyota has taken steps to give buyers a clear choice between the sedan and liftback by creating two distinctively different automobiles. The sedan is nearly 20 inches longer than the liftback and has a longer wheelbase. The sedan offers much more passenger space for rear-seat occupants, while the liftback brings rear seats to the Yaris that are adjustable fore and aft.
The front-wheel-drive Yaris is powered by a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 106 horsepower and 103 foot-pounds of torque. There are two transmissions to choose from: a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic. Equipped with the manual transmission, epa estimates for the 2007 Yaris are an exemplary 34 miles-per-gallon city and 40 mpg highway.
The base ce trim level is a bare-bones Yaris all the way. For example, there's no audio head unit in the dashboard-it's only pre-wired for whatever system you decide. By the time you get to the top-of-the-line le level, you'll find an mp3-compatible cd player and auxiliary mini-jack, a rear defroster, a 60/40 split rear seat in the liftback only, and 15-inch wheels. The optional power package brings in keyless entry, power windows and mirrors, cruise control, and on liftbacks ordered in the le trim level, rear seats that slide and recline.
Toyota goes further in separating the sedan and liftback experience by giving each model it's own dashboard configuration with the liftback's more unconventional layout-including three gloveboxes-- contrasting with the more conservative setup in the sedan.
The Yaris is equipped with a standard mcpherson strut front suspension with a torsion beam rear layout. Nothing fancy, but the Yaris is a much more willing and capable automobile when cornering than the echo was. The 106-horsepower engine is surprisingly responsive and off-the-line acceleration is more than adequate, although the automatic transmission-equipped versions are just a tad labored in a standing start.
The manufacturer's base price of the 2007 Toyota Yaris at a miserly $11, 825. The liftback in base trim with a manual transmission comes in even less at $10,950. With only a handful of extra cost options, a fully loaded 2007 Yaris-sedan or liftback-would be tough to spend more than $12,000 for.
That's not a whole lot for a new car, especially a new Toyota that boasts legendary reliability and world-class durability. If basic transportation with low maintenance and operating costs appeals to you, chances are, so will the 2007 Toyota Yaris.