Toyota: Town and country

The new Toyota Yaris is robust enough for holiday driving, but is also the right size for city commuting. Photo / Supplied

If you're sensible you buy a car to suit the purposes you'll most frequently use it for. There's no point having a large wagon if you only need it for that once-a-year holiday trip. But if you buy the likes of this $21,490 1.3-litre Toyota Yaris for your daily commute, it will have to double as the car for your holiday.

So how would such a model fare in an Auckland-to-Tokaanu weekend, loaded with winter clothes, dirt-bike clobber, food, and incidentals suitable for hot pools and hikes?

My companions in our weekend rental accommodation have the previous version for hubby's commute, and a Subaru Outback for family errands. They laughed immoderately when they discovered the identity of my weekend wheels. They soon stopped laughing.

Folding the back seats to extend the 272-litre boot was easy, there are flaps to cover the gaps between seat and boot, and the load floor is flat. I packed carefully to ensure nothing slid about, and off I went.

This 63kW/121Nm 1.3-litre is perky enough provided you stir up the five-speed transmission. It scampered down the motorway and only proved breathless on steeper hills where an early gear change remedied matters.

Fortunately this Yaris also handles better than expected, no doubt because it has the same wheelbase and dimensions as the five-door.

I had reason to be thankful for its sure-footedness. I'd set "shortest route" into my borrowed TomTom satnav, which took me across a narrow, switchback road without a reflector to its name. After dark. In winter mist.

But I arrived safely enough. The seats proved better than they look, and the quantity of luggage this Yaris disgorged surprised my more practically mounted companions. The return trip with a set of shelves added was more interesting - but the cabin's longer than expected and the extra length slotted between the front seats.

Again, I arrived home not as fatigued as expected, having spent less at fuel stations than my companions. Admittedly, I couldn't carry the roof racks they'd managed, or quite the quantity of children and baggage.

But singletons or couples with a compact daily driver need not fear that action-packed adventure weekend. When buying, take care to choose a small car that handles well on open roads (check past Herald on Sunday reviews on the web), with a flexible boot ( folding to a flat-load floor) and, if possible, with luggage tie-down points.

Pack carefully, take a more relaxed approach to hilly routes, and enjoy the fact your fuel-frugal mount has left you more holiday money to play with.

TOYOTA YARIS
1.3 3dr

We like
Perky yet frugal, flexible luggage space, enough cubbies to lose stuff in.

We don't like
Three doors less practical than five, no ESP.

Powertrain
1.3-litre four with variable valve timing, 63kW at 6000rpm and 121Nm at 4400rpm, five speed manual drives front wheels.

Performance
0-100km/h not available, 6.0l/100km (claimed).

Safety
Seven airbags, ABS brakes.

What it's got
Air con, single CD player with aux port, 14-inch steel wheels.

Vital stats
3785mm long, 272-litre boot, 42-litre tank.