Yaris gets five star treatment

Manual models of newly upgraded Yaris have achieved a five star rating on the Federal Government’s Green Vehicle Guide, joining Prius at the top of the list of environmentally friendly vehicles in Australia.

Green Vehicle Guide stars are based on an assessment of greenhouse and air pollution emissions, combined with factors such as vehicle type and size.

Fuel consumption for 1.3-litre Yaris models with a manual gearbox is 6.0 litres per 100km, with CO2 emissions of just 141grams per kilometre (based on the official combined cycle). Figures for the 1.5-litre manuals are 6.1 litres per 100km and 145 grams per kilometre.

Six vehicles have the credentials to achieve five star status, and currently they are all petrol models.

Toyota, with Yaris and Prius, is the only manufacturer to achieve the maximum rating with cars using regular unleaded petrol.

The highest rating diesel models can only achieve three and a half stars on the Green Vehicle Guide, despite performing comparatively well on fuel consumption and producing lower levels of greenhouse emissions.

The contribution by diesel vehicles to air pollution is generally higher than that of comparative petrol or LPG vehicles, particularly with regard to particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions, which can cause a range of adverse health effects.

Vehicles operating on LPG only achieve three stars because LPG has higher fuel consumption per 100km than the same vehicle using petrol, and the greenhouse rating is based on the rate of CO2 emissions from the vehicle.

With Yaris, Toyota is the only brand to have a five star rated vehicle in the 20 top selling vehicles in Australia.

The upgrade to the Yaris hatch and sedan range provides increased safety, comfort and convenience as part of an overall model facelift.

For example, the new Yaris hatch has improved headlamps with increased reflector area for a longer and increased spread of light, and new tail lamps which have light emitting diode (LED) stop lamps for increased visibility and reliability.

Comfort improvements include the adoption of telescopic steering column adjustment on entry-level YR hatch.

The exterior bodykits for both YRX hatch and sedan have been refreshed, and a new body-coloured radiator grille insert has been adopted with the hatchback body kit.

Exterior facelift changes for Yaris hatch also include new front and rear bumpers and a new front grille.

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