Are you tired of sifting through the drudge of vehicle shopping and want to be pointed in the right direction? Are you the kind of driver who needs a vehicle that combines practical fuel efficiency with enough versatileness to reliably get you to work and back daily? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then the 2021 Toyota C-HR should be the vehicle that you have your eyes on. Toyota’s lineup is vast, and that’s putting it rather lightly as it’s easy to lose track of time when perusing through over thirty models.
In regards to value, the C-HR is one of the most affordable vehicles within this lineup. This could easily be seen as a negative first impression as the more expensive vehicles are going to be better right? Wrong. The C-HR manages to provide enough of a feature set that it’s easy to recommend to any driver who needs an SUV, especially those with families that will also be utilizing the vehicle.
The Trims
The 2021 C-HR starts at an MSRP of $21,595 with the entry-level trim called the LE. We’ll get more into the standard features that come with this model as the value proposition of the C-HR LE is a large factor in its success. The next available trim for the C-HR is the XLE and upgrades the wheels to 18-inch sport wheels over the LE’s regular 17-inch pairing. Additionally, the XLE adds more safety features onto the already packed list of standard features since every C-HR comes with Toyota Safety Sense 2.5, the perfect safety suite for the daily commute.
The Nightshade Edition is all-new this year and is contentiously the most visually appealing trim with its exterior design that sports striking black wheels, badges, and more. Lastly, the Limited sits at the top of the list as the priciest C-HR trim, but it earns its spot with a vastly superior interior that includes far more elements of comfort, including an 8-way power-adjustable driver’s seat with heating capabilities coupled with lavish and visually pleasing leather trim.
One Engine to Rule Them All
Every C-HR comes with an identical powertrain setup, providing each trim with the same level of performance, and most importantly, the same amount of fuel efficiency. For daily city travel, whether it’s a commute to work or even driving to the store, the C-HR will give you more than enough performance, thanks in part to its 2.0L 4-cylinder engine that comes paired to a Continuously Variable Automatic Transmission (CVT). With this powertrain setup, you can expect any, and every 2021 C-HR model will produce the same 144 hp and 139 lb-ft of torque. Of course, this isn’t in the same ballpark as some of the more costly SUVs on the market, even in Toyota’s selection itself, but at its current asking price, it’s not marketed as such and excels with its target audience.
Daily travel is a strong suit for this SUV as its horsepower and torque will reliably get you to where you need to go. The real star of the show, however, is the outstanding fuel efficiency that this powertrain configuration offers. Whether you’re in the city going about your daily life or on the highway, whether you’re going out of town or perhaps your workplace requires plenty of traversals to get to, the C-HR is incredibly fuel-efficient. This year’s C-HR has received EPA-estimated ratings of 27 MPG city and 31 MPG highway, matching both last year’s ratings and the year before that too.
Toyota Safety Sense Included
A modern-day SUV isn’t worth a thing against its competitors if it doesn’t supply both the driver and any potential occupants with layers of reliability due to an excellent build quality combined with state-of-the-art safety features. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, the C-HR fits the cabin with ten airbags that ensure extra protection to anyone aboard. Secondly, every C-HR includes a rear-view camera that will display on the large infotainment screen inside of the car. Lastly, every C-HR comes with Toyota Safety Sense 2.5, a trove of features that are built to keep you safe at all times on the road during your commute by utilizing innovative technology.
Toyota Safety Sense 2.5 includes over five active features that are always watching out for you whenever you’re driving, both in the neighborhood and on the freeway. The first of these safety features that we want to talk about is Pre-Collision Detection, an automated alert system that will only trigger once it detects that you’re about to collide with an obstructing object, such as a vehicle ahead of yours. Pedestrian Detection comes included with this as well, which can help prevent you from hitting a pedestrian who you might not notice is crossing the street.
Lane Departure Alert is another alert system that will trigger if your vehicle is departing its intended lane, as the name suggests. This vastly improves your awareness when on the road and can again prevent accidents due to drifting from taking place. Toyota Safety Sense 2.5 integrates Steering Assist into the mix, so if your vehicle is leaving your lane of travel without signaling, your vehicle may automatically step in and help rectify your steering. You’ll have a better visualization of your placement on the road thanks to the inclusion of Lane Tracing Assist, which essentially maps out the lanes on the road and provides visual feedback to your display.
Every Toyota C-HR also comes with Full-Speed Range Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, which is a feature that’s comparable to Adaptive Cruise Controls that you may have seen elsewhere. This form of cruise control will maintain speed per usual, but by considering other drivers, your speed can be automatically adjusted to keep yourself safe from approaching other drivers too closely. Road Sign Assist is another integrated feature, and with its help, you’ll never miss a road sign again.
Keeping up with the other advanced safety features in the C-HR, Road Sign Assist will map out the road and will provide data on upcoming road signs. This means that if you’re approaching a yield or a hard-to-see stop sign, you’ll have full awareness of your surroundings. Lastly, Automatic High Beams are integrated so that you’ll never have to worry about switching your high beams on and off again, as your vehicle will now do it for you when necessary. All of these safety features combined make the C-HR one of the most reliable vehicles that you can purchase as your daily commuter.
A Brand That Looks Out for You
We enjoy Toyota vehicles because they aren’t suited to one particular sub-set of drivers and have accumulated a lineup so vast and diverse that finding the perfect vehicle is easy. The 2021 C-HR deserves all of the praise it has received, and for those who want a daily driver with more SUV-like versatility, then the C-HR provides all of the best features that we enjoy seeing in a quality SUV with a price tag that’s more accessible to the average driver. Whether the conversation is related to fuel efficiency, value, or even one of the pinnacles of reliability, the C-HR has been at the forefront of our conversations, and we expect this is the same for other drivers out there as well. Toyota continues to impress its consumers and even the harshest of critics with exceptional quality that seeps its way into every vehicle it manufactures.
