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.

Although the basic architecture of the cabin is creatively shaped, Toyota really should've put more effort and cost into the materials. Some of the surfaces look and feel punitively cheap. Though all versions do get ambient lighting, and you can spec a kicking JBL stereo, for your tunes and that.

What about infotainment?

It’s based around a biggish 14-inch touch display, with a useful set of permanent icons, mostly for your climate controls. 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.

Anyway. The touchscreen graphics have the sharpness, clarity and speed to match most rivals, but it’s not very inspiring to look at and pretty limited in its functionally. Usual Toyota story there. Oh, and the 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, or there’s a couple of USB-C ports in the cubby below. Plus two more in the rear, to keep the kids happy.

Is it comfortable?

Yes and no. It actually feels pretty cramped in the front, with the steering wheel protruding a fair amount and the centre console taking up a lot of room. No flat floor here like you find in rivals, but plenty of storage at least.

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 storage under the bonnet either.