BiG Feature : Ready for Adventure with YARIS CROSS

Sponsored by NBT Toyota Brunei

There’s no better time for a mini-adventure that the weekend and thanks to NBT Toyota Brunei and The All-New Yaris Cross Hybrid EV, we got to visit a destination that’s been on our list for some time now, and experience the amazing ride and tech behind a Hybrid EV vehicle!

KOPI, KOPI, KOPI

Imagine a huge expanse of coffee plants, lush greenery and nothing but you, nature and some darn good coffee. Sounds great right? Labi Coffee Farm is probably the most underrated destination in Brunei! This budding Liberica coffee farm with over 10,000 coffee trees is the heart work of Yong Khian Fook, a cheery local and second generation farmer who was already initiated to the fields as a kid and fully employed to his family’s farm and small convenience store by his teen years. The land was originally planted with acres of juicy local citrus, Limau Manis (green-skin oranges) that were unfortunately devastated by a crop virus. After trying to repopulate the land with different types of produce, coffee beans were the most successful and the Labi Coffee Farm was born. While the coffee farm was initially not open to the public, it wasn’t long before demand started to grow for those who wanted to experience the coffee being produced at Labi Coffee Farm. NBT Toyota Brunei kindly lent us The All-New Yaris Cross Hybrid for the journey to the farm so we could check out the great additional features the Hybrid EV version has!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

We all have those memories as kids—tucked in the back of the family car, waiting to get through a crazy traffic jam or queue at the border. Depending on the car, you either feel every bump in the road or had the time of your life imagining you were the secondary driver in the Formula 1 races. Even with the Yaris Cross Hybrid EV, it’s surprising that a mid-tier car can still deliver such a smooth and seamless drive on hybrid mechanisms and all of this is an economical price point! I’m not sure what we were expecting since this is our first real experience driving a Hybrid EV car, but best believe our expectations were exceeded on this test drive. With a rapid pick up that takes you from ) to 100 in a round 10 seconds, and a load-absorbing transmission, zipping along to your destination never felt easier. Of course, the Yaris Cross has a powerful specifications like a 36 litre fuel tank with 1.5 litre Hybrid engine that can take to almost 550km on full! Both versions of the Yaris Cross contain the 4-cylinder engine, with an Inline DOHC with Dual VVT-i. We had heaps of fun testing the limited of the Hybrid EV on the long and winding road towards the Labi Coffee Farm, which is tucked all the way at the end of the Labi Coffee Farm, closer to the Teraja longhouse — another great driving adventure to take! And thanks to the huge Panoramic Moon Roof there’s always a great view ahead in the Yaris Cross Hybrid EV.

BEAUTY IN THE DETAILS

One thing that is notable about the Hybrid EV is how quiet it is — no engine noise cutting into your Spotify playlist or even letting you know the car is on. Just the push of a button and a little green ‘Ready’ sign on the wide and easy to read dashboard tells you it’s time to go! This compact SUV-style car gives you the freedom to roam thanks to the self-charging battery (really you don’t have to do anything!) that automatically switches between EV mode and normal petrol mode to save you the most on every adventure. That means more time making memories less time doing boring things like waiting to buy petrol at the station. We barely scratched the surface on the fuel meter with a round-trip from Bandar to Labi — and of course, we had to stop halfway in Tutong for some famous Rojak at KK Koya on the way back, and made some time for photo ops. As someone who lives outside of Bandar and always has a boot full of things, this is a great commuting car and one of the safest in the market. The Kick sensor Power Back Door feature is so useful, you might just want to shop or do more to keep using it!

SAFETY’S ON

Even on exciting explorati

ons around the capital or island, the Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid EV has you covered in every way. They’ve really packed the full gamut of safety features into this compact SUV-style vehicle and it shows on the open road. Six airbags, seat belt reminders for all 5 seats, hill start assist control, vehicle stability control and anti-lock braking systems are just some of the standard safety features available across both models. They’ve gone the extra mile with Toyota Safety Sense features packed into the new Yaris Cross Hybrid EV and it’s still nifty enough to tuck around the corners like a pro, with features like the Lane Departure Warning, Pre Collision System and Adaptive Cruise Control keep you notified of anything dangerous around the car — the DRC is especially useful if you are *ahem* prone to checking your phone at traffic lights or in jams, with its very vocal reminder that the car in front of you is moving! For long rides, the Lane Departure Warning is a definite lifesaver, beeping to let us know when we were drifting to the side and even automatically adjusting the wheel to keep us in line.

FRESH FROM THE FARM

Although it was not quite yet the season for coffee berries to be ripe at the farm when we went (the season typically starts in October), we were still able to sample the local brew thanks to their ready stock of processed beans which are sold in Brunei via the farm, their pop-up cafe at the Ministry of Home Affairs mini gallery, as well as being shipped overseas to cafes in Japan. Mr. Yong is also planning to open a cafe at this horticultural office in Rimba Horticulture Centre soon. Although there’s plenty of space at the farm’s indoor venue, we opted for a little al-fresco vibe just outside the building and what a scene! Brunei is of course home to some of the most beautiful greenscapes in the world but Labi has a similar ‘Jurassic Park’-esque feel to Temburong. With the rugged background of a towering emerald mountain behind us and the (very hot) blue skies above, this was such a lovely day trip to take over the weekend. With the flavourful pour over that farmhand and barista Faid has made for us and the trusty Yaris Cross Hybrid EV to get us there, it really couldn’t have been a better road trip!