Our Rating
The new C-HR provided Toyota a gateway into the thriving compact SUV market and provides unique styling to stand out from the crowd. The Koba gets an upgraded leather interior, but retains the underpowered 1.2-litre engine that puts out just 85kW of power and keeps the dated head unit display.
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Engine & Drivetrain
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Performance
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Fuel Economy
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Interior
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Gadgets & Technology
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Safety
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Ride & Comfort
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Practicality
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Affordability
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Behind the Wheel
Engine
The C-HR ‘boasts’ a 1.2-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. It puts out just 85kW of power and 185Nm of torque. For its size, 1400kg+, the C-HR lags with power and struggles to pull the mini SUV when needed.
Even worse, it’s powered by a CVT that we know will be problematic in a few years time. It’s smooth and seamless but can be worrisome.
Owners won’t really worry about this, but it would be nice to have a bit more power like the competitors which mostly have over 100kW of power.
Performance
WARNING: This is NOT a car you will buy for performance. Given its lack of power and size, the C-HR struggles to kick in especially at high revs.
We tested the 2WD version which was prominent in understeer – we hope the AWD version would solve this.
Fuel Economy
Toyota claims the consumption to be 6.4L/100km. We averaged around 7.8L/100km which is quite close to the advertised figure in comparison to other cars.
Interior & Technology
The Koba gets upgraded interiors in comparison to the stock C-HR.
The cheap Toyota hardware and software is on board, which is a big disappointments. The screen is dim, the designs old and the lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is frustrating.
The Koba gets 17-inch alloys, a six-speaker stereo, dual-zone climate control, reversing camera, keyless entry and start, front and rear parking sensors, sat nav, fake leather trim, heated and folding mirrors, auto wipers and headlights and a space-saver spare tyre.
Boot space is 377 litres with seats up, or 1112 litres with seats down which is average for its class.
Safety
The C-HR has a 5-Star ANCAP safety rating.
C-HR ships with seven airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, forward AEB, active cruise control, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, a reversing camera and hill start assist.
Ride & Comfort
The ride is comfortable for its small size and the tires hold up well. Don’t expect to be powering through windy roads, but it is an overall decent ride despite lacking some power.
Warranty & Servicing
Toyota offers their lame 3 year/100,000km warranty.
Capped-price servicing is great though; for the first five years you’ll pay $195 per service, and you only have to visit the dealer every 12 months or 15,000km.
Pricing
(2WD) 1.2LPULPCVT AUTO $28,990
(2WD) 1.2LPULP6 SP MAN $26,990
(AWD) 1.2LPULPCVT AUTO $30,990
KOBA (2WD) 1.2LPULPCVT AUTO $33,290
KOBA (AWD) 1.2LPULPCVT AUTO $35,290
Overall
The C-HR Koba is worth the upgrade from the standard model with all its luxuries, but the AWD version would definitely be worthwhile, as well as more power for future models.
ALL our videos of the C-HR Koba:
Full Exterior & Interior Tour:
Exhaust Sound:
POV Test Drive:
All Settings/Modes Head Unit/Dash:
Engine Tour:
