(October 2, 2019) PLANO, Texas — Toyota has given the subcompact crossover C-HR a restyled front fascia, LED headlamps and new wheel designs for 2020. There’s more pure Toyota value, too, with all three grades — LE, XLE and Limited — adding new amenities.

The Toyota C-HR broke new design ground for the automaker when it was introduced in 2018, applying new manufacturing techniques to take a highly sculpted concept-car body design into production while preserving its essence. Toyota says the result melds sport coupe personality with crossover versatility.

The C-HR comes equipped with standard Toyota Safety Sense P (TSS-P), a multi-feature advanced active safety suite that bundles Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection (PCS w/PD), Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist (LDA w/SA), Automatic High Beams (AHB), and Full-Speed Range Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC).

The STAR Safety System comes with: Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Traction Control (TRAC), Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS), Electronic Brake-Force Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA) and Smart Stop Technology (SST). Also complementing TSS-P are 10 standard airbags, standard Hill-Start Assist Control (HAC) and a rear backup camera. Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross Traffic Alert is standard on the XLE and Limited models.

The C-HR packs a lot of attitude in a compact package that measures 172.6 in. long on a 103.9- in. wheelbase — making the C-HR a tight, agile form that’s a joy to wheel through congested urban areas.



Never one to blend in, the C-HR updates its extroverted style for 2020 with a redesigned front fascia, headlamps, bumper, grille and spoiler.  The LE grade joins its siblings with standard LED headlamps and also debuts a new optional 17-inch alloy wheel design. The Limited grade gets a new 18-inch alloy wheel design.

Added features enhance value for 2020. All C-HR models already came equipped with Apple CarPlay compatibility and now, for 2020, standard Android Auto compatibility completes the smartphone compatible suite. In addition, the LE grade picks up SiriusXM All Access 3-Month Trial Satellite Radio, which was already standard on XLE and Limited.

The XLE grade adds new seatback pockets and windshield visor extensions, the kind of detail upgrades that owners appreciate in everyday usage. The top-of-line Limited, which already includes leather-trimmed seating, heated front seats and ambient lighting, reaches further into luxury territory with a new 8-way power driver’s seat and Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFS) with headlamp auto-leveling. AFS partially aims the headlight beams into turns as the driver steers, helping to provide an extra margin of night driving safety.

Toyota designers went all-in on expressiveness with the C-HR. The slim LED headlights wrap deeply into the sides of the hood, running rearward along the fender tops. Deep, curvy character lines emerge from a prominent Toyota badge on the front fascia and lead into the narrower core body. These lines continue below the side windows and above the rear wheel, where they join a high beltline and distinctive C-pillar with hidden-type design door handles.

The sport coupe persona is especially evident in the fastback-style roof, highly sculpted “wide body” rear quarter panels, and a lip spoiler on the hatchback. At the roof’s edge, a color-matched cantilevered wing tapers neatly inboard.

Canards on the rear quarter panels, front and rear spats, a streamlined rear lower bumper, and stabilizing fins integrated into the taillights all manage critical airflow in and around the body. Beneath the body, a bevy of rigid covers – on the engine, floor, fuel tank, and aft of the rear wheels — cull turbulence and, in doing so, help enhance vehicle control and fuel efficiency.

The C-HR continues with the dual-overhead cam 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine produces 144 horsepower at 6,100 rpm and 139 pound-feet of torque at 3,900 rpm. The engine employs many of Toyota’s latest-generation technologies, including Variable Valve Timing (VVT) and Valvematic valve lift control.

The front-wheel drive C-HR comes standard with the Continuously Variable Transmission with intelligence and Shift mode (CVTi-S). A preload differential helps to distribute torque between the front wheels during low-speed operation to make for easier, composed driving.

Sport mode features a simulated 7-speed Sequential Shiftmatic feature. Engaging Sport mode via the multi-information display (MID) increases throttle responsiveness, quickens the CVT’s simulated automatic “step-up” shifts, and maintains high engine speed to enhance acceleration. Pushing the gearshift over to the left while in Drive engages Sequential Shiftmatic, and lets drivers shift simulated gears manually.