Toyota Yaris Hatchback – 2007 Review: This is the car of the future. Don’t believe it? Check out any variety of forecast data pertaining to population growth, global warming, gas prices, and infrastructure investment. The trajectories are dire unless something happens now. Experts say that by mid-century there will be 100 million more Americans, that our atmosphere will be irrevocably damaged by excess carbon emissions, that gasoline prices will rise exponentially, and that our cities will begin to crumble under increasing strain. The tough, fuel-sipping, clean-burning, park-it-anywhere, fun to drive Toyota Yaris Hatchback might look a little goofy today, but represents an intelligent transportation solution for tomorrow.

Toyota loaned us an Absolutely Red 2007 Yaris Hatchback with a $15,640 sticker price, including the $580 destination charge. Admittedly, that sum caused jaws to drop, but our test sample was a fully-loaded model with a Power Package, upgraded audio, alloy wheels, ABS, side-impact and side-curtain airbags, remote keyless entry, a rear spoiler, and carpeted floor mats – in other words, a whole bunch of stuff economy car buyers don’t really need. According to Toyota’s website, it’s possible to get a Yaris Hatchback for as little as $11,770 and well equipped (without the safety add-ons) for less than $14,500. We put hundreds of miles on this little bugger, a mix of city, highway, and twisty road driving that clearly revealed the Yaris’s preference for urban point-and-shoot travel over open road cruising.

A city car first and foremost, the Toyota Yaris’s automatic transmission is geared for spirited off-the-line response and to best manage the 1.5-liter four-cylinder’s 106 horsepower at lower speeds. Belying its mission as a world car, the 2,290-pound Yaris can cruise at 90 mph on the highway but any loss of momentum due to traffic or an incline results in a significant wait to reestablish such velocity. Mashing the accelerator kicks the transmission down to deliver meager amounts of extra power, so it doesn’t really help. Most people will buy the Yaris for its fuel-thrifty nature, and we earned a respectable 31.2 mpg average despite continually flogging it for all the acceleration it could muster.

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