I drove one this morning too, similar length of time solo drive
My thoughts differ from yours a little but perhaps due to where we are coming from
So firstly, a negative, the seat height definately an issue for me, the hieght is not too dissimilar to my Punto but roof is lower, I can just about put my hand between my head and roof which is goimg to be problematic for a helmet. There is a good couple of inches of empty space under the seat but mount points are high on the side so how solvable it is in aftermarket I am unsure, I also struggled to get comfortable in the seat, I'm a fatboy so probably my issue but also getting out due to seat positioning I found it a struggle navigating steering column with my legs, such is the way I was sat, again I am not an agile guy. I didn't hit my head on the lumpy bumpy stuff when hooning on rough roads but will advise anyone to take their helmet on the test drive, if you have circuit intentions, I'm going back up with mine in the new year.
Performance wise it was good as expected, I was mostly focussed on the mundane stuff, my majority drive, you know what it was like off boost, pootling about and it was pretty decent, only marginally worse off boost than my current car but not annoyingly so, gear changes are fine and smooth, I found the front end is a little dead, I did not check pressures etc, it may have been soft, though it could just be PS4s, Michelin always feel a little less communicative than some tyres particularly new, they have the grip just not the feedback, car had only done a few hundred miles though and I run F1 supersports which are of course already worn in on a lighter car with a pointy front end, I'd imagine some wear in and tweaking on the Yaris would get it there.
Playing with the performance this morning on the greasy roads, my car was an absolute scrabbly mess, diff pulling front end this way and that, its quite exciting, but not fast
in the YGR, wow, no drama, I managed to break traction once or twice where it goes into mild understeer and then just shoots but the way it puts its power down is impressive in low grip, obviously 4wd vs 2wd but still, its going to be a killer at a slimey hillclimb/sprint. The 3 pot pulls hard to the redline and actually went over it without an aggressive power cut (not intentional overrev just happened during a slippy pull out of a roundabout) due to conditions I left safety systems on, I don't know the car and am not a driving god, it did cut in according to the light but didn't feel obtrusive at all, my car will slap you and take power away
They way this thing pulls to the redline is superb doesn't feel like it wants to give up, definitely loads of potential, so I'm still interested, definately soaks up lumps and bumps well.
Other Disappointments, engine note, whilst I didn't mind the augmented sound it is enjoyable enough it didn't sound as rally car as my Punto, no turbo whistle or wastegate chatter which considering the location of turbo in front of driver is surprising, the engine drama from the Abarth on the way was greater and it's not exactly amazing either.
Media screen, its massive which I have no issue with but they strip circuit pack cars of simple functionality like nav, sure you can use AA/ACP but there's a map button and when you push it nothing happens, weird choice considering it is packed with other frivolous stuff stuff such as L2 autonomous driving, which i don't mind, who doesn't like a bit of radar cruise on the motorway, just saying, the screen fundamentally seems pointless except for reversing but they have then packed a billion pages of screens into the tiny driver display, some of that could be on the big screen, then I suppose you would Focus on the fact it's directed at the passenger.
Some might complain about interior but I am coming from a car that started at 7k base so to me seemed perfectly fine, perhaps not fine for a £34k car but when I sit in 50k German cars they seem poor also to be honest, quality definitely taking a shift downwards in most cars chasing profits.
. The yaris would enable me to return to one car again - currently running two due to the obvious flaw with the MX-5 (space & I hate parking it in carparks!)
