My Echo review, as promised.
Here goes.
The Echo's styling is hardly handsome. In fact, it's very awkward. From the massive forward rake, to the rear wheels which seem placed uncomfortably forward, there's really not an angle you can admire this car from.
Luckily, on the economy car front for which it's designed, there's much more to like.
If you guessed its 1,5l DOHC 16v four, putting out 108hp and 103lb-ft of torque, is not a speed racer, you'd be right. But, Toyota's variable valve timing and the car's light weight give it a certain verve that's not as expected. While it's not fast, it feels perfectly competent in day-to-day driving. The car garners great fuel economy - more on this later - but as a downside, it gives up a lot of NVH qualities. It is very vibey on idle, and can get noisy when accelerating. But the motor is also super-durable, still purring like a kitten at 223.000 miles with only a very, very bare minimum of maintenance. Small things such as using a timing chain instead ot timing belt make all the difference in its durability. The transmission is, well, competent, neither particularly good nor bad. It has decently smooth shifts, executes those shifts about where you'd expect it to, and is generally unobtrusive. It is also, like the engine, highly durable. Still, it's a sturdy and peppy combination which will serve commuters well.
Inside, it's more of a mixed bag. Though assembled perfectly, it's no luxury car, and hard plastic abounds. Seat and headliner materials have a similarly budget feel, but they wear like iron, with no rips or tears. Centre-mount gauges are a distraction, taking your eyes off of the path of travel, even if you are used to them. Interior storage is here in spades, with 4 cubbies in addition to the usual glove box and map pockets cleverly integrated into the dash. Roomwise it's what you'd expect, the front seats being perfectly adequate and sacrificing rear room for the presumably more important passengers up front. Speaking of seats, they are particularly uncomfortable for stints much longer than about an hour, with little support or bolstering. Head and hip room are pretty good, though, for such a small car. The car has very few things to control, so what's there is beyond reproach in terms of ease of use. The exception is my usual gripe about the wiper stalk used in some form almost universally in cars today, which always seems to need getting used to. Put it on the dash like my 40-something year old Mustang, it's much easier to use. Trunk space isn't bad, although the trunk opening isn't big enough to swallow large items the trunk could otherwise accomodate. A novelty for a cheap car of its era, it also has split folding seats. Nice touch. Wind and road noise can be intrusive as well, though that's exacerbated by the local propensity to pave in chip-seal. That makes any vehicle loud.
The chassis is obiously tuned for comfort, with a reasonably serene ride - especially for its class - and handling, while competent, is hardly an enthusiat's dream. It tends toward understeer, but its narrow tyres carry the car's diminutive weight with surprising speed through corners. Much like Camaros, it is a decent handler not through any grace at all, but through a good amount of grip to wrestle its weight around twists. Body roll is pronounced, and sudden changes of direction offer up little more than wallow or even, in extreme circumstances, sudden snap oversteer as the solid rear axle breaks loose. At speeds north of 60mph, though, it tends to hunt around the lane, and put together with its lacklustre seats and loud nature, it becomes a chore to drive this car over long distances. It's therefore a sorely disappointing roadtripper. It also does not take a load too well. Little more than 100lbs of extra cargo in the rear actually brings forth a harsher ride with poor rebound control, pronounced body roll, and the brakes, otherwise so vanilla and decent as not not need any separate mention, requre noticibly more effort to haul the car down to a stop. The motor also begins to labour at this point. On the unloaded commute, though, its smooth ride and basically uncomplaining nature make it less of a dour place to spend your time than most autojournos would have you believe.
Fuel economy is its best attribute. Though a dozen years later, other cars have finally well eclipsed it in more experienced hypermiler hands, a normal driver will scarcely possess a better car for fuel economy. It will probably average 32mpg for a "normal" driver. Even saddled with an automatic transmission, I can achieve an expected 38-41mpg in my commute, and around 45mpg out on the highway if the speed is kept at a steady 60mph applying the very most basic fuel economy driving techniques. It was well ahead of its time and is a testament to Toyota's engineering that it has taken this long for others to catch up.
Overall, this is more of an appliance. It is ultra-reliable with a competent ride and fuel economy to rival the best in normal hands. For commuting, the car is hard to beat in terms of its negligible upkeep, good ride quality, and low fuel and insurance costs. There isn't much to stir one's soul, but it will certainly keep mechanics and gas stations frowning.
