What We’re Driving: 2018 Toyota C-HR

January 22, 2018

Bill Visnic

Owing to its sharky-oddball styling, you’ll be in your share of gas-station conversions with the C-HR. Apparently originally meant to be a member of Toyota’s Scion youth brand, the C-HR striking to look at—mostly in a good way.

C-HR's striking looks come at the expense of rear-seat outward vision (image: Bill Visnic).

A combination of too much curb weight (3300 lbs!) and sluggish midrange performance from its 144-hp 4-cylinder means the C-HR only kinda gets out of its own path, though you can sometimes coax the otherwise reluctant continuously variable transmission (CVT) to generate passable around-town action. Accompanying the C-HR’s general slowness are glaringly meager fuel-economy numbers of 27 mpg city and 31 mpg highway. What?

All C-HRs are well-equipped, although some driver-interface features, such as Apple Car Play, aren't yet available (image: Toyota).

Toyota’s relatively new TNGA platform (Corolla, Prius) acquits itself well here, though: the C-HR delivers pleasingly flat cornering and the creamiest ride we can remember in a compact anything. Interior space is decent, too, even if the truncated greenhouse and dark trim makes for a gloomy rear-seat experience.

The C-HR's 2.0-L 4-cyl. develops 144 hp and 134 lb·ft (image: Toyota).

But the edgy looks and mini-crossover connotation go a long way to sell the C-HR. Like rivals Kia (Niro) and Nissan (Kicks), Toyota is blithely trying to sell the C-HR without all-wheel drive, which many buyers may consider a bait-and-switch and which Subaru’s ongoing success suggests is a mistake. I know FWD helps achieve the attractive price point here, but for a market gone crazy for crossovers, it seems misguided, not to mention more than a little disingenuous, to introduce a subcompact car with crossover looks that doesn’t at least offer AWD.