Newly-available electronic driving aids earned the 2021 Toyota C-HR a Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The Japanese firm’s smallest crossover missed out on a Plus rating, however.
Toyota made its Safety Sense 2.5 suite of electronic driving aids standard across the full C-HR range for 2021. It bundles a long list of features including a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, road sign assist, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping technology, and automatic high beams. It’s the first feature (called PCS w/PD in alphabet-soupese) that made a difference from the Institute’s standpoint. It allowed the C-HR to avoid collisions at 12 and 25 mph, and it either avoided or at least slowed down for a dummy in three separate tests.
The IIHS explained the 2020 C-HR didn’t qualify for a perfect Top Safety Pick Plus rating because the headlights that come on the entry-level LE and the mid-range XLE trims received a Poor rating. The visibility they provide on both sides of the road is inadequate, regardless of whether drivers are using the high beams or the low beams.
On a brighter note, literally and figuratively, the headlights on the range-topping Limited variant earned a Good rating. They notably gain the ability to illuminate around bends, which makes a significant difference at night.
On sale now across the nation, the 2021 Toyota C-HR starts at $22,620 and tops out at $27,675 after a mandatory $1,175 destination charge enters the equation. 2021 also brings a blacked-out trim level named Nightshade Edition that gets gloss black trim inside and out plus 18-inch wheels. It’s priced at $25,420.