Toyota C-HR Hybrid Review
Having tried the petrol version on our last visit to the UK, this time we chose hybrid
By Shahzad Sheikh
Click below now to watch my Toyota C-HR Hybrid Review
Earlier this year, whilst back in the UK I took the opportunity to try out the Toyota C-HR Crossover. We don’t get the car in our region, but in my book it’s the most futuristic and exciting looking family car that Toyota currently offer anywhere and I really wanted to have a go in it to see how practical it was.
I won’t go into too much of all that, as you can read and watch my review of the C-HR 1.2-litre petrol version at this link – suffice to say I’d definitely consider having one, and the family loved it too. Whilst you’re bouncing around this website, you might also want to check out my experience with the Prius Hybrid before resuming this read.
Why? Because this time I got to try the hybrid version of the Toyota C-HR. As regular readers will know, I’m a fan of the concept of hybrid drivetrains and am a firm believer that in the short-medium term, these and not pure electric cars are the actual realistic and logical planet- and fuel-saving options, until they can fully figure out hydrogen fuel-cells cars.
A recent social media post showing a Tesla charging at a station that was being itself charged by an oil-powered generator – effectively rendering it a range-extender hybrid in reality – is indicative of the soon-to-be insurmountable logistical and infrastructural issues that a global swing towards electrified vehicles will bring to the fore.
So the object of this exercise was to see how the hybrid C-HR compared to the petrol version, especially in a country where fuel prices were considerably more expensive than our region – to the extent that less and less people drive purely for pleasure and more and more people drive slowly to conserve fuel.
Let’s give you some numbers first, the petrol 1.2 put out 115bhp, accelerated from 0-100kph in 10.9 seconds, could reach 190kph, sipped fuel at a rate of 5.9L/100km and emitted 135 CO2g/km. The hybrid 1.8 has 120bhp, does 0-100 in 11 seconds, reaches 170kph, uses only 3.9L/100km and puts out only 90CO2g/km.
On paper the hybrid is the better car in every respect, even if at £28,000 (about AED128k) it was £2000 (AED9,000) more expensive than the petrol car. Over a high number of miles, it would make significant savings and the benefit to the environment in terms of lower emissions, especially around the congested cities is invaluable.
On the go – I have to confess, I did enjoy the petrol car more. In large part this was because of the slick-shifting manual gearbox with the clever rev-matching system. And at around 100kg heavier due to the batteries it’s not quite as sharp on turn-in, although the lower centre of gravity certainly gave it good body control and still-decent handling.
In terms of performance there was hardly any difference, and it has to be said that it outdid its petrol sibling for refinement and quietness especially when it went into full electric mode – quite a calming experience actually, something that you’d crave in big city traffic quite frankly.
All the other style and practicality attributes remained the same pretty much. So that said, if you don’t do a lot of miles a year, the petrol car is probably the better option in terms of price and driving, and it’s still a remarkably thrifty and relatively clean-running car too. But if you’ve got your save-the-world hat on and like to conserve a bit of petrol money over the long distances you do, then hybrid is the way.
