It is a surreal experience to drive a car a couple of years after first driving it on its debut at the media drive. I first drove the Urban Cruiser Hyryder in September of 2022, which means it's almost two and a half years after Toyota’s C-SUV joined the car&bike garage. More importantly, this test car has over 32000 km on its odometer. So, over the next few weeks, we will be seeing how good the Toyota’s hybrid powertrain really is. Will see whether it is as reliable and frugal as legend say it is. And should it have a higher demand in the C-SUV space than the 5000-odd units it's shipping each month.
Before I go ahead and tell you more about our Hyryder, I need to mention that there is an update out there for the Hyryder in April 2025. There are a few feature additions along with rejigged trims, where in the latter, you also get a 6-speed automatic transmission option for the all-wheel-drive (AWD) top-spec variant. While the six airbags have now become standard, the electronic parking brake (EPB) is now included with automatic transmission-equipped models in select trims. Our car still gets the good-ol mechanical handbrake, thank goodness. Toyota also claims to have implemented structural improvements with this update.
Also Read: Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder Gets New Features, AWD AT Variant Introduced
Moreover, the higher, more expensive variants now come with several added features like an 8-way power-adjustable driver’s seat (ours is still manual adjust), rear door sunshades (a good addition this summer), and a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS). Other additions include Type-C USB fast-charging ports, LED reading and spot lamps, an Air Quality Index (AQI) display, and a newly designed speedometer. Lastly, some variants also offer dual-tone exterior colour options.
While our test car does away with some of the aforementioned features, what it does have is a strong hybrid powertrain that hasn’t changed with the update. It’s the highly evinced Toyota’s TNGA strong hybrid with a 1.5-litre petrol engine (three-cylinder) paired to an electric motor where the former makes, on its own, 91bhp/122Nm while the electric motor puts out 59kW/141bhp. It is fed directly from a separate lithium-ion battery pack placed below and behind the second-row seats.
Also Read: Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder Achieves 1 Lakh Sales Milestone
Once we got the Hyryder, it immediately went on a long-weekend Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai escapade with my colleague Janak Sorap behind the wheel. Here’s his experience with the Hyryder:
"EVs are what the world wants, but hybrids are what the world needs. And for the kind of motorhead that I am, I swear by it simply because it is the latter that retains the joy of driving while being efficient. The Toyota Hyryder is one such example that manages to do exactly that and more, which I got to experience during a weekend trip to Goa. Till now, I had only driven hybrids on city roads, but it is on the highways where hybrids outshine electrics as well as internal combustion-powered vehicles.
Before getting to how efficient this Toyota turned out to be, the Hyryder has been thoughtfully put together in terms of the kit, features and interior space. The self-charging hybrid system is seamless in terms of transitioning from petrol to electric and vice versa. With a bit of self-learning and driving style adaptation, it isn’t difficult to make the best of the hybrid tech. And while the powertrain is working on an efficient drive, the drive experience offers me comfort and convenience with everything from ventilated seats to wireless smartphone connectivity, a head-up display, a 360-degree camera, and more. And it only gets better with the cabin space that is just right in terms of comfort and space for long journeys, including the second row.
While I had initially assumed that the Hyryder might not be that fun of a car to drive, it didn’t take me long to realise how wrong I was, and in every possible way. Regardless of which mode the car was in, a good dab of the go-fast pedal reassured that the Hyryder is no slouch. It is quick, direct and a very capable handler around corners, which I experienced on multiple occasions during the trip. For a mid-size SUV, the Hyryder is very agile and compact, giving the feeling of driving a sedan on high heels, minus the drama. The ride is pliant, the overall visibility from the driver's seat is excellent, and the bite from the brakes assures lots of confidence.
Coming back to the question of efficiency, the Toyota Hyryder managed to return a mileage of 20.4 kmpl comfortably with scope for more with a more frugal driving style. With a range of close to 1,100 kilometres on a full tank, the only time the Hyryder needed to fuel was on the return journey. Even when driven with a heavy foot, the mileage did not drop below 17.9 kmpl, which is still impressive. If I had to talk about any negatives, which are a few, it is with regards to the headlights which lack intensity and distance, then the limited boot space due to the hybrid battery pack with is a fair trade off for the range and lastly, the steep acquiring cost of the vehicle which eventually does get covered up thanks to the efficiency figures.
In hindsight, I could not have asked for a better car for a weekend trip other than the Toyota Hyryder as it ticks almost all the boxes for a car that can do it all. With EVs needing to be plugged to get anywhere, hybrids only need a plan—they switch power sources, so you do not have to switch habits."
Also Read: Auto Sales FY25: Toyota Records Best-Ever Sales in FY24-25 With 28 Per Cent Growth
Well, apart from the Goa trip, we also did a proper real-world mileage test for the Hyryder. Now our particular example has over 32000 km on its odometer. Which means this one wears a lot of experience on its shoulder, but has it effected its fuel efficiency in a negative way? Well, not exactly. On our tester run, the Hyryder returned an impressive fuel mileage of 22 kmpl in the city and almost a litre per kilometre better when out on the highway. Not a bad figure if you ask me.
More adventures are lined up for our Urban Cruiser “Bluey” Hyryder in the coming days as monsoon is washing over earlier than usual. Watch this space for more.
Pictures by Tanmay Vartak
