The current generation Toyota Urban Cruiser is a value-for-money compact SUV in the ever-competitive budget car market. In such a market, you need to bring your A-Game, and the Urban Cruiser is ready to rumble. My colleague Lawrence Minnie had the Urban Cruiser for review, and you can read his thoughts here.
Related: How is the Toyota Urban Cruiser performance?
Bigger and better is the phrase here with the current generation Urban Cruiser. The previous generation was a runaway success, and the current generation builds upon this by offering more space, extra safety features and other comfort and convenience features. Apart from this, the styling has been revamped from the previous generation with more curb appeal now. The latest generation is set to be popular too. The Urban Cruiser is now a more attractive buy, but which is the best variant?
What variants are there?
The Urban Cruiser utilises the trusty K15B 1.5 litre petrol engine (77kW /138Nm) across its range, with the only options for the powertrain here being manual or automatic. The whole range benefits from this frugal engine with a claimed 6.1l /100km fuel consumption. What will drive up the pricing between the variants on offer will be the feature set offered.
| Variant | Toyota Urban Cruiser 1.5 Xs MT | Toyota Urban Cruiser 1.5 XR MT | Toyota Urban Cruiser 1.5 XR AT |
| Price | from R341 000 | from R359 700 | from R382 900 |
*Pricing stated here was correct at the time of posting and is subject to change without prior notice.
Breaking down the variants
1.5 Xs MT
Kicking things off is the base model 1.5 Xs with a manual transmission. Even in base form, the Xs variant is not spartan in the feature department as there are plenty of standard features such as Toyota Display Audio with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, electric windows all around, Smart Entry central locking, power-retractable side mirrors, automatic air conditioning and ISOFIX child seat restraints to name a few. There's also a healthy safety feature set with ABS, EBD, Rear Park Distance Control, Vehicle Stability Control and even Hill Assist. This variant comes equipped with a manual transmission.
1.5 XR MT
The XR variant comes with all the standard features of the Xs but adds more notable features, such as going from only driver and passenger airbags to now adding side and curtain airbags. You also get cruise control, more speakers as well from 2 to 4, more steering wheel switches for the cruise control and telephone. You even get black roof rails as well.
1.5 XR AT
The XR AT retains the same features as the XR MT, except here, the only difference is that you get a 4-speed automatic transmission paired with the same K15B 1.5-litre petrol engine.
Which is the best Urban Cruiser variant?
The Urban Cruiser variants appear to be quite similar but with extra cherries on top. The vehicle in base spec Xs MT form has a decent amount of standard kit but with some omissions to round off the package. In our view, we'd pick the XR MT as it has all the features to make this a rounded package. The manual transmission is effortless to manage even in backed-up traffic, and this variant comes in at a reasonable price. However, if you only want an automatic vehicle and can shell out the extra +-R20 000, then the 4-speed automatic XR variant would also be a great choice. Really, this depends on what you're able to afford and what features matter the most to you in a car, but we feel the 1.5 XR MT strikes a nice medium. If you're sold on the Urban Cruiser after reading this article, consider searching AutoTrader for the latest used and new offerings and sell your car, too.
