FIRST DRIVE ETIOS Practical Performer

The Etios, the first India-specific offering from Toyota, is all set to spin its wheels on Indian roads. Aspi Bhathena, who test-drove it a few weeks ago, was well pleased with this car built from scratch especially for Indian conditions and Indian car-buyers

48 CAR India december 2010 CAR India december 2010 49 FIRST DRIVE TOYOTA ETIOS

he world’s largest you, it is very comfortable for three The 1,496-cc, DOHC, 16-valve unit car manufacturer, Toyota, persons. You don’t keep sliding to is designed and built specifically for T finally launch their the centre and squash the passenger India and for the Etios. Keeping in India-specific small sedan on the in the middle. The flat floor panel mind the Indian requirements the first of this month. They had makes life easy for the middle engineers have made sure that displayed both the and passenger with plenty of leg space. frictional losses are reduced to give the sedan at the in New Up front, the quality of the better efficiency as well as power Delhi in January 2010 and CAR plastics and the upholstery are good and torque from low rpm. It delivers India had mentioned that the sedan for this segment. The tilt steering of a maximum of 132 Nm of torque at would precede the hatch. the Etios helps you to tailor the 3,000 rpm and 90 PS of power at Recently we got to see and drive driving position to your liking. The 5,600 rpm. The engine is mated to a the re-worked Etios sedan for the rear leg space is class-leading along five-speed gear box with well- first time. There have been some with a huge boot. The designers matched ratios that give the car minor tweaks here and there to have liberated a lot of usable in- excellent drivability. You can select improve the car’s looks and to make cabin space, including the boot. the fifth gear at 40 km/h and the it sharper than the original one The suspension set-up at the Etios will happily pull away. So far displayed at the Auto Expo. front is a straightforward as I am concerned, what the car The first and foremost thing I MacPherson strut and the rear is a does between 1,200 rpm and 2,500 would like to mention in respect of torsion beam unit. During the short rpm is the most important, for the the Etios is that Toyota have begun first drive one could immediately car will spend more than 90 per this project with a clean slate. They make out that Noritake san and his cent of its running life in this rev have not used anything from any of team had put in a lot of effort in range. Out and out performance like their previous models or platforms. setting up the suspension. The car 0-to-100 and top speed are all Chief Engineer Yoshinori is well-poised with hardly any body academic for me. Noritake san, head of the Etios roll even when it was driven hard The 1.5 DOHC is a gem of an project, spent five years in India round corners. The steering has a engine. The engineers at Toyota studying local conditions and the neutral feel and, at the same time, have made sure that they kept the Indian users’ requirements. The car there is plenty of feedback. weight of the car down to 930 kg is not a stunner to look at, nor will As for pothole-ridden bad roads, without sacrificing safety and, at the it turn heads. It has the typical the Etios came out with flying same time, achieving a good power- understated Toyota look instead. colours as she took all the speed to-weight ratio. Its light weight The moment you open the door, bumps and obstacles in her stride. helps the car in all the departments you can see the same trend being The spring rating and damping are from performance to fuel efficiency. continued from the exterior to the well-matched and the ride quality is After this short drive I can say interior. Practicality and utility is the top class. that this is a no-frills car, but an name of the game. The flat bench- As I mentioned earlier, this is an excellent workhorse that will give type rear seat, for instance. It may all-new car from ground up and the its owner hassle-free and reliable look like a flat plank, but, let me tell same goes for the engine as well. service for a long period of time. car

1. The all new 1.5 DOHC 1 2 engine for the Etios 3

2. Relaxed and comfortable driving position

3. Meter console is located in the centre with the integrated music system and A/C vents stacked one on top of the other

NEED TO KNOW TOYOTA ETIOS

Price Rs 5.2 lakh (approx) Engine 1496cc, 90PS, 132Nm Five-speed manual, CAR India december 2010 51 front-wheel drive