Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder review, road test

The hybrid version’s petrol engine runs an efficient Atkinson cycle, hence, as expected, the numbers are substantially taller than the standard version. In our instrumented tests, the hybrid returned a staggering 20.28kpl in the city and 22.85kpl on the highway. What’s interesting is that the numbers are quite the opposite to what we achieved on the Maruti Grand Vitara hybrid with the exact same set-up (23.77kpl city and 20.39kpl highway). During our test of the Hyryder, the outside temperature was over 35 degrees and we noticed that the air-conditioning seemed to be working hard to maintain a cool cabin temperature. This forced the system to run in petrol-only mode more frequently than in EV mode, explaining the difference in efficiency over the Grand Vitara hybrid. On the highway, the hybrid system often switched to EV mode, while cruising between 90-100 kph, thus, boosting efficiency.

The mild-hybrid mated to a 5-speed manual transmission, with automatic engine stop-start, torque assist and brake energy recuperation, returned 10.83kpl and 15.67kpl in our city and highway tests. What’s interesting is that while it has the same powertrain as the Brezza, the brake energy recuperation isn’t as aggressive as the Maruti’s. Even the throttle response isn’t as dull, which is why the Hyryder feels a bit more effortless in comparison, and fares better in terms of efficiency than the Brezza (10.47kpl/15.89kpl). While cruising at 100kph on the open road, the Hyryder’s engine spins at 3,100rpm in fifth gear. Having a sixth ratio would have certainly made it a more relaxed cruiser and improved fuel efficiency too.