Sitting at 4,365×1,795×1,635mm, the Hyryder has an impressive road presence, but a tad more height would have helped its proportions to a great extent. Get inside and there’s a bright blue-coloured ‘power’ button welcoming you, aide-mémoire to its hybrid nature. As for the cabin design and layout, it’s simple and functional rather than stylish and flamboyant.
There are familiar elements seen all around the cabin, scrounged from the Maruti Suzuki’s parts bin. Some of them look just fine here, and a few of them, not very much. The steering wheel is nice and meaty and the floating touchscreen has a smooth response and is easy to operate, especially when driving.
But the plastics in some areas, like around the gear lever, look basic – especially for a car entering a highly competitive segment. Thankfully there are soft-touch materials on the dashboard and on the door pads done in rich brown. And the smartly-designed cascading dash has space to place your smartphone with a wireless charger at its base.
Talking about the front seats, they are large and comfortable. Even the visibility all around isn’t too bad. At the back, although it’s easy to get in, the headroom is limited. This is owing to the hybrid powertrain’s battery placed underneath, so the compromise is with the headroom, especially for taller passengers, above 5.8ft. Another trade-off for the battery placement is the reduced boot space.
We could cram in two cabin-size suitcases with room to spare for a couple of duffle bags. Meanwhile, the base of the second-row bench is easily detachable to access the battery connectors. Then, the under-thigh support is good and even the legroom is more than sufficient. But sitting three here would only be comfortable for shorter trips.
Looking at the feature list of this range-topping Hybrid-V trim, there’s everything you’d expect from this segment. You get an LED for projector, DRLs and tail lamps, 17-inch dual-tone wheels, and a panoramic sunroof. On the inside, there’s a nine-inch touchscreen with wireless smartphone connectivity, cooled front seats, auto AC, Arkamys sound system, ambient lighting, cruise control, air purifier, auto headlamps, wireless charger, a 360-degree camera, heads-up display (HUD), and an auto-dimming IRVM. We like the all-digital instrument cluster for its design and for giving out all the information you’d need. Toyota i-Connect also provides modern-day connected car tech. In terms of safety, it comes with six airbags, disc brakes for rear wheels, ABS with EBD, TPMS, rear sensors, three-pointed seat belts for all passengers, and hill assist.
