One thing that bothers me about some of the current varieties of small-car bodywork is the way the stylists seem obsessed with waistlines which sweep up towards the rear. Would the Yaris, for example, look better if the bottom line of the side windows stayed at the same level all the way back?I asked myself that question twice with reference to the YRV, which has a very eccentric way with door window design. The company calls it "double wedge". In this case, the snag is that there's an almost overpowering amount of interior door trim as seen from the front seats, especially in a car with pronounced A- and B-pillars. It's almost, although not exactly, like sitting in a dragster.However, the general layout of the YRV is brilliant, when it comes to packaging a lot of passenger space into a car that's roughly the same length and width as a Fiesta. The high stance helps, of course, but it doesn't make any contribution to the remarkable amount of legroom in the rear seats, although there's a curious lack of heel room, thanks to the platform on which the rear seats are set.This is also one of those cars which benefit from having a sliding rear seat, so that you can allocate passenger or luggage space as necessary on any particular journey. It has to be said though, that legroom is still fine with the seat slid forward, and the luggage space, modest in any case, isn't compromised much further when the seat's slid back.There's a good view from the front seats, once you get used to peering round that wide and set-forward A-pillar. And rear passengers sit higher than in many other cars, so that they have a decent view ahead too.The driver's seating position, the layout of controls and the instrumentation are generally fine, but somebody signed off the YRV without noticing the reflections in the face of the centrally-mounted clock. If you drive past, let's say a tree on the left-hand side of the road, which happens to have a baboon sitting 20 feet up in the branches, there will be a mirror-image reprise on the clock face a second or two later.Like the Sirion and Terios, the YRV has the great advantage of being fitted with the highly efficient, variable valve timing Yaris engine. In this case it's the 1.3-litre version, and it pushes the YRV along very smartly - much more so than you might expect from the general look of the car. When linked with the standard manual transmission, the YRV really romps along, although you can always tell when the engine's revving hard.The YRV is a lot lighter than it looks, although it seems sturdily enough built, and, as people have been saying for decades, you can't argue with a good power to weight ratio.One stage up from the basic model, the Premium has anti-lock brakes, electronic brake force distribution, alloy wheels, air conditioning and up-rated interior trim. Like all the YRVs, it's aerodynamically quite sound, and there's a lot more safety equipment than designers of small Oriental cars used to bother about.Daihatsu makes quite a fuss about providing, in the more expensive F-Speed variant, gearchange buttons on the steering wheel. Don't get me wrong about this - the Steershift automatic transmission is swift in action and pretty good fun to use, as it also is in the Sirion. But if you want the best performance and the best economy in the YRV range, stick to the manual. Steershift soaks up too much power.The Premium is unexpectedly brisk off the line, it has a low-emission engine, and it's encouragingly economical. The steering is precise, but that high stance, so effective in allowing for a spacious passenger cabin, means that there's a fair amount of body lean. Going briskly on minor roads, you get the impression that more body control would certainly be welcome. To a certain extent, although not to excess, dynamics have given way to roominess of design. Engine 1298cc, 4cylinders Power 85.8bhp @6000rpm Torque 88.5ib/ft @3200rpm Transmission 5 speed manual Fuel/CO2 47.1mpg / 145g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 10.3sec Top speed 109mph Price From £9866.00 approx Release date 01/03/2001
