Toyota Yaris Hatchback

Remember those clown cars at the circus? The teeny-tiny ones that would drive into the center ring and 15 clowns would climb out? That was hilarious, right? Well, it's not that funny when you're playing the part of the clown, which I did recently while test-driving the 2008 Toyota Yaris.

You see, it was my son's birthday and I showed up for his party at the park with two kids and a dozen balloons packed into the Yaris. Watching me try to unwedge everyone from the car without losing the balloons was the entertainment highlight of our party. Stuffing a family into this subcompact isn't nearly as fun as watching that same family climb out of it.

If I said that the three-door Yaris is a small car that might be misleading. This Yaris is smaller than small. It's not as small as a Mini Cooper, but it makes a Prius look HUGE. It's actually pretty cute, too; it's like a baby car - aww. Getting into the Yaris is definitely a downward motion, and once inside, I felt like Alice of "Alice in Wonderland" after eating the cake (she became really, really big). Thankfully, Toyota didn't clutter up the Yaris' interior with a lot of stuff, so it feels clean and modern. The textures of the dash, seats and trim work well together and seem easy to care for. And the instrument panel is located in the center of the dash, instead of directly in front of the driver. It took some getting used to - not looking through the steering wheel to check my speed or gas gauge - and I'm not sure I ever did get used to it.

There's a storage bin that's in the dash behind the steering wheel, and I can only hope that you're not supposed to access it while driving. I mean, what if you need to turn while your arm is stuck through the wheel? It's just not a good idea. So, don't put anything there that you're going to want while driving, which will be difficult since there aren't many other storage options in the Yaris. There's no center storage console, only a slot for a phone or iPod behind the gearshift. This brings up another point: My test car was a manual transmission. Automatic is available, and I would highly recommend that option. Trying to manage kids while shifting isn't my idea of a good time - especially in traffic.

Driving the Yaris isn't exactly as much fun as a three-ring circus, but it's not embarrassing, either. The engine pretty much gets the job done. Its handling isn't great, especially on twisty mountain roads where the teeny-tiny 14-inch tires seemed to just barely hang on to the road. The Yaris isn't a car for going fast; it's for going from here to there and that's it. Apparently it's not for going backward, either, since rear visibility is pretty abysmal

Source www.cars.com

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