Holden Trax vs Toyota C-HR

What's the difference?

The Holden Trax looks nice enough and is pleasant enough to live with day to day. Like many others of its ilk, the Trax may be marketed as an SUV but that catch-call moniker, which has come to be accepted to mean that a vehicle is actually sporty and off-road capable, is misleading.

As an adventure vehicle the Trax falls well short – it needs a diesel engine and much improved capability (AWD) and space – but as a lively daily driver for a young starter, or a one-child family, then it’s perfectly adequate.

If you’ve got your heart set on a Trax and you’re patient, perhaps you’ll wait until 2020 when the next-generation Trax is due here.

There’s not much in terms of practicalities that are going to convince you the C-HR is a better option than Toyota’s other small SUV, the Corolla Cross.

Even other ‘stylish’ small SUVs like the Mazda CX-30, fuel savers like the electric MG ZS EV, or performance small SUVs like the Hyundai Kona N are more affordable than the GR Sport version of the C-HR.

In the case of this car, unlike most of its Toyota stablemates, buyers will likely be making a decision from the heart based on exterior styling and its interior rather than value or practicality.

And who would anyone be to tell you not to buy a car you like for its styling?

It’s a small SUV and it looks sporty and outdoorsy enough in a generic sort of way. A nuggety stance, short-wheelbase and roof rails add to this Trax’s activity-friendly demeanour, without promising too much. Take a look and make up your own mind if it’s your cup of tea; I’m not your life coach so decide for yourself whether it’s cool or plain.

There’s a fair bit going on here compared to most of Toyota’s other products, much like the first generation, but being designed with Europe as the key market and Australia as a secondary means the styling team needed to take on some fairly fashionable brands.

All three variants of the C-HR are relatively close in aesthetics, with major differences being two-tone paint or specific trim elements for the top-spec GR Sport.

It uses new Toyota design elements that have been seen on some models already, the ‘c-shape’ lights have been used on the new Prius, which we no longer get in Australia, for example.

The black roof was also available on the previous generation, where this car has carried over the ‘egg-like’ silhouette from.

The overall relatively aquatic styling and shape must be for aerodynamic advantage - its chief engineer told us the drag coefficient is just 0.318Cd - but the removal of the rear wiper to lower drag might have been unnecessary for a city-focused small SUV.

The cabin isn’t as wild as the outside, which may be a let-down in some ways, though it’s still a little more visually interesting than its more mainstream stablemates.

The 64-colour ambient lighting changes based on settings including time of day or drive mode, but can be set to a specific single colour if you wish.

The centre stack on the dash is gently angled towards the driver with a small separation between it and the passenger, creating a slight ‘cockpit’ feeling.

Seats are made from different materials depending on the grade, though no real leather is used even in the GR Sport, where synthetic suede and leather are the main upholstery.

The cloth textiles are made from entirely recycled materials, while the synthetic suede is made from a little less than half recycled materials.

They don’t look cheap, but they also don’t look particularly luxurious.

Its interior is plain, but practical. The LS has cloth trim and expanses of plastic, which make it a bit ordinary to look at but very easy to live with in the real world because day-to-day life involves liquid spills, crumbs and dirt – lots of dirt.

Storage spaces include a narrow glovebox, narrow plastic door pockets, four cupholders in centre console (no lidded bin here) plus two in the rear centre armrest, and driver and front passenger seat-back pockets.

The rear cargo area is a 356-litre space with the rear seats in use and the cargo cover in place), or a 785-litre space with the 60/40 rear seats folded into the floor. For this to happen, the rear-seat bases flip forward into a vertical position and the seat-backs fold forward to make the ‘new’ flat floor.

When it comes to interior layout and ergonomics, there’s never much to criticise in a Toyota, unless playing it safe is a downside for you.

The buttons you’re most likely to use regularly, across the climate control, centre console and steering wheel, are all very obvious and easy to find, if a little uninspiring, as is wheel design itself - form definitely doesn’t sacrifice function here.

Welcome are the two large screens, the multimedia touchscreen a large 12.3-inch unit and the driver display either 7.0-inch or another 12.3-inch version depending on variant.

Toyota’s software is simple and accessible, using a few main menu sections, though many will likely bypass this with wireless phone mirroring.

Everything’s in a sensible place: a tall bottle in the cupholders won’t block access to anything, the phone charging pad is tucked away to minimise distraction, and Toyota has kept things like the gear selector and stalks behind the steering wheel relatively traditional.

While the interior feels a little dated by its many buttons and some of its simple graphics, there’s certainly something to be said for a welcome change from distracting screens and menus - if the aim was to not exclude Toyota’s older market, it seems like mission accomplished.

In terms of comfort and space, the C-HR makes pretty good use of its interior from the front, the seats are relatively comfortable and visibility is fine, though the back seat starts to feel a bit cramped.

While cupholders and door bottle storage is plentiful in the front, there’s no armrest and no bottle storage in the rear, only relatively shallow cupholders on the armrests in the doors.

Visibility is also relatively poor with high windows, a narrow rear window, and not a lot of light unless there’s a sunroof.

Behind that, with the seats up, the C-HR’s boot has a claimed VDA capacity of 388 litres in the GXL and Koba, or 362L in the GR Sport. Total volume with the seats down is 1154L and 1490L respectively.

While a Corolla Cross starts at $33,980 before on-roads, or $36,480 for a hybrid, the C-HR is just under $43K in its lowest spec.

And even though you’re paying more for a new hybrid drivetrain and some fun Euro styling, the Corolla Cross’ drivetrain isn’t far behind, and it still looks good enough to sell quite well.

So what’s the C-HR got going for it that the Cross doesn’t?

The base GXL starts from $42,990 plus on-road costs and comes with a bit more than you might expect from a base variant Toyota.

A 12.3-inch touchscreen, a 7.0-inch driver display and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay have things covered for multimedia, while dual-zone climate, keyless entry and start, rain-sensing wipers, and USB-C and 12-volt ports and chargers cover off convenience.

The GXL has manually adjustable seats with recycled fabric - which I’ll come back to later - plus a synthetic leather-accented steering wheel.

The Koba, at $49,990, scores heated sports seats with synthetic suede trim, plus power adjustment for the driver seat and a digital rearview mirror as well as cabin ionisation via the climate control.

A wireless smartphone charger, a head-up display above a larger 12.3-inch driver display, plus adaptive high-beam all add to the convenience, while a nine-speaker JBL sound system and 64-colour ambient lighting add to the vibes.

Atop the range is the GR Sport, which starts from $54,990.

As well as being more powerful - we’ll come back to that, too - it gets unique styling outside, plus synthetic leather-accented and suede seats inside, aluminium scuff plates, and a heated GR Sport steering wheel.

Our test vehicle has the 1.4-litre DOHC 16-valve four-cylinder iTi petrol engine – producing 103kW at 3000rpm and 200Nm at 1850rpm – matched to a six-speed automatic transmission.

The turbo gives the Trax a welcome kick in the automotive pants, making the turbo-equipped variant the pick of the bunch.

The difference in boot space is likely because the hybrid-only C-HR comes with two drivetrain options, depending on which variant you have.

The GXL and Koba both use Toyota’s 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine aided by a front-mounted electric motor to produce a 103kW output at the front wheels via a continuously variable transmission.

The GR Sport, however, gains a rear electric motor (taking up some boot space) and a more powerful front motor, helping a larger 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine make a total 146kW - still via a CVT.

Don’t expect to be getting to 100km/h from a standstill in any less than 8.0 seconds in either variant, but both have a claimed top speed of 170km/h.

This Trax has a claimed fuel consumption of 6.7L/100km (combined). We clocked up more than 300km of highway and back-roads driving, with a smattering of gravel-road driving thrown in. We recorded 10.7L/100km, which is much thirstier than claimed. 

Toyota says the C-HR uses just 4.0L/100km on the combined cycle test, which is 0.3L less than the previous generation’s claim, but it should be noted the 2.0-litre in the GR Sport drinks a claimed 4.1L/100km.

During testing on the launch drive, but without being able to measure properly from fill to fill, one quite spirited leg of driving netted a 6.9L/100km reading on the trip computer, while a more sedate drive returned 5.4L/100km.

Driving position is high, steering is quite sharp and handling is tight and controlled, so there’s plenty of welcome driver involvement from the get-go. 

The turbocharged engine makes for a lively and responsive drive and, combined well with the six-speed auto, this 1376kg Trax offers up plenty of zip from stop-starts and oodles of oomph for smooth overtaking.

Ride is very firm, bordering on harsh, with rear-seat passengers* especially feeling the lumps and bumps of irregular road surfaces by way of the tight suspension. (*I believe my children.) 

Interior space is not an issue though as everyone can manage head and shoulders nicely in the tall cabin. The seats are lacking in full support though, making long trips not such an appealing proposition, and in-cabin noise builds early and becomes quite hard on your ears.

There’s nothing particularly offensive about the way the new C-HR drives, but there’s nothing riveting either.

If you’ve driven anything on the Toyota TNGA platform, this will feel familiar to you - and that’s not a bad thing, it’s generally pretty stable, comfortable and controlled.

The modified Corolla platform it rides on is a very good thing, but the C-HR doesn’t have anything in the way of sporting tendencies its styling might suggest.

The hybrid drivetrain in the two 1.8-litre versions of the small SUV don’t offer up a whole lot in terms of keen acceleration, but even the GR Sport and its 146kW drivetrain need a push to get things feeling properly quick on a twisty road.

The added stability of the all-wheel drive in the top variant is noticeable, the front-drive variants feeling a little less planted when pushed.

Steering is on the slightly lighter side of still being well-weighted - it doesn’t wow, but Toyota’s engineers know what they’re doing and it does everything it needs to in terms of communicating feeling to the driver.

Some particularly rough roads on the test drive showed the suspension to handle short, sharp bumps well and not feel crashy over larger imperfections.

The suspension has been retuned in this TNGA-C platform to be stiffer for more control but also more compliant in terms of comfort.

But it’s around urban and suburban streets where the C-HR will spend most of its time, and neglected streets, speed bumps, or tram lines won’t shake you too much from in the cabin.

All three variants of the C-HR come with a version of the Toyota Safety Sense suite of tech which includes things like pre-collision, active cruise control, speed limit sign assist, a surround-view parking camera, plus all the expected inclusions like ABS, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

The rear outboard seats are equipped with ISOFIX tethers, too, while the ADR-necessary top tethers are also present.

It hasn’t been tested by ANCAP, but in the case of a collision the C-HR does have a pretty decent airbag count of 10.

The Trax has a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and service intervals are recommended at 15,000km/nine months.

Toyota has a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty which covers the C-HR, as well as capped-price servicing for the first five years or 75,000km, whichever comes first, with each 12-month/15,000km service costing $250.

The C-HR also comes with a 12-month subscription to Toyota Connected Services, with features accessible through the myToyota Connect smartphone app.