Performance

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.