Over the last decade or so, Toyota’s vehicles have shifted away from staid styling and responsible design toward bolder, sharper models with interesting lines and shapes. Underneath, Toyotas are still the sensible workhorses they’ve always been, but on the outside, they command attention. The C-HR is a wonderful example of this phenomenon, as its wacky exterior design hides a sedate powertrain and straightforward cabin.

Updates for 2022 are few: Toyota nixed the entry-level LE trim and added a new color. Three trims remain for the new model year, including XLE, Nightshade, and Limited. The Nightshade appearance package brings black cloth upholstery inside, black 18-inch wheels with black lug nuts, blacked-out exterior badges and trim, black door handles, and a black chin spoiler.

The C-HR comes with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that makes a meager 144 horsepower and 139 pound-feet of torque. It’s mated to a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and front-wheel drive. Those specs are every bit as mild in real life as they are on paper, and they leave the C-HR feeling underpowered in most situations. The engine produces a good bit a of noise under heavy throttle, and the CVT seems to amplify the sound at every opportunity.

An 8-inch touchscreen is standard and comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Toyota’s latest infotainment software is much improved over the versions that preceded it. Unlike previous iterations’, the C-HR’s interface is simple and straightforward, with little clutter and easy-to-understand menus. The interior feels fairly high-quality overall, with only a few cheap materials scattered among the soft-touch surfaces. Forward visibility from the driver’s seat is good, but outward visibility to the rear suffers from large pillars and an awkward angle to the rear window.

The 2022 Toyota C-HR scored well in testing performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), following the lead set by its predecessor. The 2021 model earned a Top Safety Pick award from the IIHS, with “Good” scores in all crash test categories, “Good” or “Poor” scores for headlights (varies by trim), “Superior” ratings for vehicle-to-vehicle/vehicle-to-pedestrian crash prevention, and a “Good” score for LATCH system ease of use.

Standard safety equipment is a huge upside for the Toyota. Every C-HR comes with blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alerts, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, and lane-departure warnings.

The 2022 Toyota C-HR is on sale now. The base XLE trim starts at $25,095, the mid-range Nightshade model starts at $25,860 and the top Limited trim starts at $28,115. Toyota offers a few options, such as the $465 Audio Plus package, but most features are tied to trim levels, which keeps the buying process straightforward. With strong competition from vehicles like the Mazda CX-30, Hyundai Kona and Kia Soul, the C-HR is a hard sell. The C-HR picture gets even cloudier when we consider price, where its strongest rivals are all less expensive.