If you're in the market for a small car costing less than R130 000, you'll find yourself faced with possibly more choice than you'd get in any other sector. That decision has just become all that much harder now that Toyota has launched its new Yaris, which promises a cocktail of fun factors blended with that solid reliability the brand is renowned for.

Is the Yaris all it's cracked up to be? While we weren't able to conduct a full test evaluation on the car, we did spend some time with numerous examples in the week prior to closing for press. To help put this car into perspective for the potential buyer, we also lined one up with a pair of its market rivals.

The VW Polo is the most important protagonist here, as it is one of the best selling cars in this country, even stealing the top spot from Toyota's Corolla/RunX range in some months. The Citroen C3 is another strong contender with its quirky looks and practical interior, although it is getting on in life and is due for a facelift in the near future.

Of course, there are dozens of other alternatives at this level, be it the Ford Fiesta, Honda Jazz, Hyundai Getz, Kia Rio, Renault's Clio and Modus, the Opel Corsa and Peugeot's 206 all of which are worth more than a second look.

A large portion of this market is very much style driven, and in this case, the Yaris should have it made. One could never accuse the Citroen C3 of lacking in flair — its bubble shape is certainly distinctive and it looks more cute than butch. Exactly the opposite could be said of the VW Polo — its side and rear views are conservative in pure Germanic tradition, while the front strikes a somewhat more aggressive pose.

The Yaris seems to strike the best balance between all ideals. You could call it cute, but equally purposeful thanks to its butch frontal styling and that curvy beltline that rises from the windscreen to tailgate in a prominent crease.

Another big consideration in this class is interior space and it's here that the Yaris delivers surprisingly. Despite being a whole 16cm shorter than the Polo, it's wheelbase is almost the same length and the cabin stretched between is easily as big, and much the same as in the Citroen C3.

The Yaris has an advantage in that the rear seats can move forwards or backwards to create more legroom when less boot space is required or visa-versa. With the seats pushed back, the Yaris can swallow 272 litres worth of luggage, even bettering the Polo's 270.

In performance terms, we'd expect the Yaris to lead the pack not least because it has the best power to weight ratio. It's also the only car here with a technologically advanced engine. Whereas the Polo and C3 have dated engines that have been around for yonks, the Yaris' motor has 16 valves and variable valve timing. That said, the Polo's motor almost equals it in power output and actually produces slightly more torque, although it hardly matches the Toyota's refinement.

These three protagonists fit into the premium end of this segment. The VW Polo may seem rather affordable at R105 210, but it doesn't have much in it at that price. Add the optional air-con and radio, two things that most people are not prepared to live without these days, and it costs R116 300 and even then it's still not as well equipped as its two rivals here.

The cheapest Yaris T3 comes in at R108 420, without air-con or electric anything but with a radio at least. Our unit was a T3 Plus, which comes in at R123 520 and has most of the bells and whistles. Volkswagen doesn't offer a high-spec 1.4-litre Polo, while the Citroen C3 packs in the same luxuries you find in the Yaris, albeit it is the most expensive.

The safety feature count is high in this group. All have dual front airbags, but only the Citroen has side airbags. However, you can have side, curtain and knee airbags in the Yaris if you stretch your budget to the T3 Spirit model. Surprisingly, the Citroen lacks ABS brakes - something we'd expect at its price level.

The Yaris and Polo both have ABS linked to EBD and Brake Assist. The Yaris is the only car here to have achieved 5-stars in the EuroNCAP tests, although the C3 and Polo are not far behind with four stars.

When it comes to saving you from the financial pitfall of unexpected servicing costs, the Yaris is undeniably the safest car here as it's the only one to offer a service plan — in this case valid for four years or 60 000km.

Feature-for-price, the Yaris is at least on par with the VW Polo 1.4, but take the free service plan into account and it beats it for outright value. In fact, the only factor limiting its outright sales appeal is that for now it's only available in one body style and with a single engine option.

Yaris represents a fresh and youthful package that's a very viable alternative to the traditional supermini crowd.