Y'ar' all right, Yaris

Yon refurbished yob type on Top Gear doesn’t much like Yaris. Which in a perverse kind of way to me is an endorsement of Toyota’s replacement for the Starlet. But I must admit that some unkind remarks made by a few other journalists slightly coloured my expectations prior to my extended review period, even though I had liked the car well on a brief pre-launch introduction a few months ago.

I should know by now to go on my first instinct. My time with the Yaris was an experience of increasing warmth towards a car that’s friendly in looks and cheerful in use. Almost like an amiable puppydog (kind of into animal metaphors lately, aren't we? Hamsters last time ...). Seriously, though, there are a lot of really good things about this car, clever details and useful thinking, and really good use of space.

And I’m obviously not the only one likes it - the model has been ordered by more than 50,000 people across Europe already, with 22,000 of these delivered so far. Here in the island of indifferent roads they’ve managed to get the wheels under 1,500 of the 2,500 customers with their names down on the order forms.

All of this since March (remember the St Patrick’s Day Parade, which was let this year by a fleet of Yarises ... Yarii?).

Inside there’s the room of a small people carrier (actually, they’re coming out with an MPV version before the end of the year), lots of headroom, no knocking of elbows, and a rear seat that slides back and forth so you can decide to make more luggage or people space. The seats themselves, by the way, are pretty great ... the front people are sitting high and the scuttle line is low and cab-forward, and there’s a fine feeling of space out front.

Still looking out front, the really high-tech look of the instrument cluster is a key feature. It’s a digital readout in a pod set in the centre of the dash and offset towards the driver. In practical terms this leaves a great uncluttered view forward, and has the collateral advantage of allowing the steering wheel to be lower and smaller, a height I found personally very comfortable (they could do this because they didn’t have to allow for the instruments to be seen through the wheel).

In addition, they’ve somehow and very cleverly set the point of focus of the instruments far into the distance, so that you don’t have to much change your eyes focus from the road ahead when you want to read them. I again found this to work very well for me personally, given that at my age my forevision has become ‘longsighted’ and standard instrumentation can be a bit fuzzy.

Briefly coming back to space, I’ve never seen so many stowage areas in the front of a car. It is a lesson in practicality and if my wife owned one she’d have room for all the bits that turn her cars into extensions of a handbag.

The power unit is a 68bhp 1-litre, with state-of-art variable valve timing, bringing Toyota back into this segment for the first time in too long a while. The remarkable thing is that this motor is pulling around a lot of sheetmetal, in a car probably as roomy as a Punto, certainly more spacious than the current Fiesta. And, contrary to what some of my colleagues might intimate, the engine is quite adequate to the job. Nippy, though not especially quiet, and managed through a quite tidy gearshift and clutch combo ... but for me, the soon-to-come clutchless version is the one to have. Tried it briefly and liked it a lot.

Now, yon refurbished yob type did have one valid point ... the Yaris is not the quietest car on the market. There’s a fair bit of road noise through the wheels, and wind makes its presence heard once you tootle up to the motorway limit. Even the engine, as I said, could benefit from a bit of sound-deadening in its part of the whole machine.

But listen, it was a joy to drive, an increasingly fun start to the day, and I’d buy it way ahead of bigger brother Corolla if I was in the market for a car in either class. The three-year warranty is also an advantage which is going to swing it ahead of a lot of European competition (they’re really going to have to bite this one soon over here) and given Toyota’s deserved legendary reliability and build quality, some of that same competition is probably looking a bit warily at this cheerful (and European-designed, by the way) newcomer to one of the most hard-fought segments in the motor market.

And then there’s the price. Under a grand by a fiver for the base 3-door model, and add £350 for two more doors. The Terra 5-door I had, with electrics and central locking and a brace of airbags, is £10,845. Respectable enough to gain a lot of customers.

Yar it.