Toyota C-HR+ review

You're sitting in a modern, angular straight-edged environment. The speedo screen's sightline is above the wheel rim, as in Peugeots. That means you don't have to drop your eyes far or refocus from the road. But as with Peugeots it will be blocked by the wheel rim if you have the seat reclined and the wheel high.

In the centre is a biggish touch display, with a useful set of permanent icons. Set into the screen are a pair of twirly knobs for cabin temperature. Several other hardware switches are dotted around the driver's post, which is nice, but some of them are badly hidden – we'll give you five minutes to find the headlamp wash, starting… now.

The touchscreen graphics have the sharpness, clarity and speed to match most rivals. But their fonts and symbols don't properly match the driver's binnacle. That binnacle imparts lots of useful info but much of it looks like a high-res emulation of a 1990s Avensis.

You can of course mirror your phone to the big screen. Two inductive charging pads should save you from dead battery embarrassment.

Although the basic architecture of the cabin is creatively shaped, they really could have put more effort and cost into the materials. Some of the surfaces look and feel punitively cheap. At least the top versions distract you with ambient lighting and a kicking JBL stereo.

Rear space isn't bad. If you need more, note the bZ4x has a 100mm longer wheelbase, a higher roof and deeper side glass so is and feels roomier. And the C-HR+'s 416 litres of boot isn't exactly a cavern. No froot either.