C-HR levels up!

By Farzana Chaumoo

The C-HR is still fresh meat in our crossover segment, having only been launched locally early in 2017. The range receives a new headlining model, with a trim level named “Luxury”.

Toyota SA has updated their C-HR compact crossover through spec improvements on the existing variants, and added a new C-HR derivative to the range. Labelled as the Luxury grade, the new one sits above the three other offerings in the range, namely the Standard, the Plus, and the Plus CVT.

What differentiates the Luxury from the others?

Colour is a part of everyday life: they’re a powerful tool in communication, and influences their observers’ moods. The Luxury model has a two-tone design that’s offered in five combinations, featuring a black roof, roof-pillars, and side-mirror caps on top of a contrasting base colour. If there’s one colour I’d mix those black bits with, it would definitely be the Cinnabar Red Metallic. It has such a stunning shimmer! The other colour options are White Pearl, Lunar Metallic, Caribbean Blue, or a black exterior with a white roof.

To level up your life, it’s important to level up your mind. Powering the Luxury model is the C-HR’s existing 1.2-litre turbocharged engine, featuring several efficiency-boosting technologies. These include VVTi-W (Variable Valve Timing - intelligent Wide), direct injection, flexible engine cycle switching (changing between the powerful Otto cycle and the frugal Atkinson cycle), a 10:1 compression ratio and smart heat management.

Don’t worry if the previous sentence just went over your head, it’s just some engine science. In the Luxury, the engine is paired with a CVT (Continuous Variable Transmission), and provides 85 kW of power with 185 Nm of torque – the latter available from 1500 r/min to 4000 r/min. It has a claimed 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 10.9 seconds, and the top speed is limited to 190 km/h.

Lighting the road for you is done by means of LED headlights with an automatic levelling function and LED front fog lights, with smoked LED tail lights rounding off the rear end. Auto-retractable side mirrors have also been added to the C-HR Luxury.

Luxury and tech

In terms of actual luxury, the Luxury model features leather trim in the cabin, along with power adjustable lumbar support. The front seats are heated, with added pockets on their backrests for the rear passengers’ convenience. Furthermore, there’s smart keyless entry, and keyless start by way of a button.

New driver aids in the Luxury include Park Distance Control (PDC) and a high-tech Intelligent Park Assist (IPA) system. Accompanying the parking systems is a Reverse Camera, which now becomes standard across the entire range. Other systems featured on all C-HR variants include Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Hill Assist Control (HAC), ABS, Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA). Furthermore, the C-HR Luxury is fitted with nine airbags, instead of only two in the other derivatives.

Younger (or tech-savvy) buyers will be happy to know that the C-HR now also receives both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Plus Show connectivity. As before, there’s also a USB port and Bluetooth streaming. Depending on your device, the infotainment touchscreen can mirror cellphone apps like Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze, Spotify, Apple Music and Soundcloud. Most noteworthy is that Satellite Navigation is now standard across the range, which one can also use without a cellular connection.

Pricing

C-HR 1.2T	R336,000
C-HR 1.2T Plus	R365,500
C-HR 1.2T Plus CVT	R377,000
C-HR 1.2T Luxury CVT	R422,100

 

All C-HR models come with an expanded 6-service/90 000 kilometer service plan and 3-year/100 000 kilometer warranty. Service intervals are 15 000 kilometers.