Toyota Hydryder strong hybrid: Test drive observations & 1st impression

The drive in the city felt peppier than the K15C-equipped 2022 Brezza, I drove a month ago.

BHPian ashwin.terminat recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Test drove the Hyryder a few days ago. I drove the top-end strong hybrid variant.

• Doors seem very, very light
• The boot is not very big. But they had kept two big suitcases there to demonstrate the available space
• Rear bench is suited for 2.5 people
• Car can easily accommodate 4 people. 5 is a squeeze
• Headroom at the rear is limited. Best suited for people <=5'9"
• Seats are comfy
• Rear floor hump is massive! Middle passenger is going to be in labour position a lot
• Car looks a whole lot nicer than the Grand Vitara
• Ventilated seats are nice!
• The black looks really, really good

About the drive:

• Car turns on with zero sound
• Let the brakes go and it starts creeping forward
• Overtakes in the city will be effortless
• Turned off AC and music but still couldn’t hear the engine
• Didn’t realise when the engine had fired up. Very very seamless transmission
• Road noise does get through but overall refinement is very good
• Easy to drive and good suspension setup for the city
• Felt different from a conventional CVT wherein there was no feeling of gears being shifted at all
• I am a sedate driver and definitely thought the engine had enough poke to keep you interested in the city. It felt peppier than the K15C-equipped 2022 Brezza I drove a month or so ago

All in all doesn’t work for my requirements because my family is pretty tall. But I would totally recommend this car to someone who wants a low running cost, fuss-free ownership and a family of 4/4.5 that are <=5'9".

Here’s what BHPian feodore had to say on the matter:

Today was the ‘official launch’ of the Hyryder at a nearby dealership and there was an absolute ocean of people there. Couldn’t get a test drive today so it was just a walkaround / ingress / egress and here are a couple of thoughts for what they are worth:

1. The car looks good in person where as it looks pretty vanilla on the website. Sober but far from anodyne.
2. I’m 6′ 1″ and can’t possibly sit in the rear without fearing a concussion or two. The SA claims it is down to aerodynamics. Didn’t have my family along so can’t comment on the bench width (didn’t look any worse visually than what I saw recently with the German twins) but there was decent room to spare for my knees.
3. The headroom in the front isn’t bad, on the other hand, but the door opening has been squashed which means that I had to sway to my right during both ingress and egress. It was either that or bashing my head against the door opening top point.

I’m told I can have a test drive in a day or two but I don’t know if I can look past the dodgy headroom.