I'm sure I'm not alone in being flabbergasted that the third-generation Toyota Yaris has made it through to the final shorlist of seven nominees for the 2012 Car of the Year award, though I'm not even one hundredth as flabbergasted as I'll be if it wins.There have, admittedly, been some odd choices made by the CotY jury in the past, but this year there are some very strong contenders, and I just don't see how the Yaris can be compared with most of them. For a start, it's not particularly adventurous - in fact, as mentioned in our launch review, it's a lot more conservative than either of the previous cars that bore the same name.Nor is it the world's best supermini, or anything like it. The 1.33-litre petrol five-door tested here costs £13,260, but the quality of the interior trim suggests that it should be £3000 cheaper. And don't get me started on the parcel shelf again or we'll be here all night.It's not great to drive, either. After driving a few examples at the media launch I described the major controls as being "firm, without being overly heavy," adding that "they all require similar effort to use". Having covered well over 1000 miles in this particular car I'd add that there's a slight stickiness to all of them which makes driving the Yaris just that little bit more tiring to drive than it should be, and in particular makes it rather hard work - in supermini terms, at least - in town.You may just possibly have inferred from some of the above that I'm not a fan of the Yaris, and you would be quite right, but there are a few compensations. Most notably, despite being smaller than many of its key rivals, it has as much luggage space as the best of them, along with rear passenger space that is well above average.It's roomy up front, too - I'm six foot three tall and never felt that I was cramped. In fact, ironically, I was more comfortable in the Yaris than in a mid-sized MPV I drove for a separate review during this test.The 98bhp petrol engine is impressively quiet (to the point where it's often drowned out by the considerable road noise on less than ideally smooth surfaces) and more flexible than the gearshift indicator software seems to think it is. I quickly learned to ignore calls to change down from sixth gear at 60mph, since unless you're climbing a particularly steep hill you just don't need to do that.In mostly town and A-road driving during the first part of this test, the trip computer (which agreed with my measurements to within a couple of tenths) reported that I was managing about 48mpg, while on a long motorway run the average improved to a little over 50mpg, depending of course on gradients and weather conditions. The 1.4-litre diesel Yaris, which I haven't driven yet, should be able to beat this by at least 5mpg, maybe ten, but the fact that it costs £1500 is a bit of a turn-off.The TR trim level of the test car is expected to be the most popular in the UK, and it's pretty well-equipped. 15" alloy wheels, Bluetooth connectivity, a USB port, a rear-view camera, air-conditioning, a touch of interior leather and seven airbags are all standard, though - bizarrely - electric rear windows aren't.For an extra £500 you can have the Touch & Go system which, among other things, includes satellite navigation with a small but clear display. The satnav is a bit slow in reacting to a rapid succession of junctions, as I found to my cost in central Birmingham, but the speed limit indicator which I criticised as being highly inaccurate on the launch event was much more impressive on this test, adjusting to most limit changes within a couple of car lengths. Engine 1329cc, 4 cylinders Power 98bhp Transmission 6-speed manual Fuel/CO2 52.3mpg / 123g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 11.7 seconds Top speed 109mph Price £13,260 Details correct at publication date
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