Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder review, road test

The interior ambience of the Hyryder will seem familiar to a Maruti Brezza or even a Baleno, because Toyota has picked up several bits from Maruti’s parts bin like the dashboard, gear lever, steering, window switches etc, some for the good, others not quite. Toyota, however, has done well to lift its appeal by dressing up the cabin with leatherette and padded areas that feature silver trims and contrasting double stitching.

Only the strong hybrid versions get a brown and black interior colour scheme.

Having brown and black interiors, the hybrid’s cabin looks more appealing than the mild-hybrid’s all-black cabin. But the common link in both is the massive panoramic sunroof, which takes its premium quotient up a notch. Something unique to the Hyryder, however, is that both panes of the panoramic sunroof slide open, liberating a large opening area.

Seats are nicely contoured. Thigh support for tall drivers is in short supply.

Toyota has got the seat cushioning spot on and the seats are broad, however, thigh support is in short supply. Adding to the comfort is the seat ventilation for the front passengers (in the hybrid version only), which is a boon in a tropical climate like ours, and thankfully, it has become a norm in this segment. The driving position is upright and commanding, just what is expected in an SUV.

360-degree parking camera is handy. Dynamic guidelines aid navigation in/out of parking slots.

What’s nice is that to aid visibility while parking, the Toyota gets a handy 360-degree parking camera. The hybrid version gets a 7-inch instrument cluster, which is large, informative and very easy on the eyes, and it’s particularly satisfying to watch the power flow animation on the MID. The driver also gets a heads-up display, which shows a digital speedo along with some other data. The mild-hybrid gets analogue dials, which look pretty classy too.

Hybrid’s digital instrument cluster looks neat and packs in a host of useful information.

The Hyryder’s rear seat experience, however, is a mixed bag. You’re seated quite high in almost a theatre-like position as the bench is placed at a higher level than the front. There’s the adequate knee room and ample space to tuck your feet under the front seat, and the backrest also reclines to get more comfortable.

Headroom is tight for six-footers; three adults abreast will be a squeeze.

Headroom is adequate for all except those around six feet tall, who will find their heads brushing against the roof. A welcome addition is the inclusion of three individual adjustable neck restraints as well as three-point seatbelts for all passengers, although space for three adults abreast is much tighter than rivals, and the tall central hump certainly intrudes into foot room too.

Mild-hybrid’s secondary battery located beneath front seat.

Boot space in the hybrid is compromised due to the placement of the 0.76kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which results in a raised boot floor, limiting cargo space to 255 litres – 100 litres less than the mild-hybrid version (where the secondary battery is placed beneath the front passenger seat).

A full-size spare tyre is located below the body.

There is a nifty additional storage area beneath the boot floor as well as smaller storage areas on either side of the rectangular boot to stow smaller items. The full-sized steel spare tyre is tucked on the outside, under the boot, like in the Innova and Fortuner.