23 May 2007

The New Toyota Vios

The Worlds largest automobile seller, which has overtaken General Motors, is planning for a new launch in India, The Vios, a c-segment car, planning to kill the rising charts of the Fords and Hondas, The Toyota Vios was showcased in the Recent Bankok motor show. And now with the increasing customers changing from the hatches to the starting segment of sedans, maruti udyong recently gave the SX4 sedan a shot and Mahindra-Renault's wide body economy car, Tata's longer Indigo, the already ruling cars - the Fiesta and City with the Aveo along the famous Hyundai Verna and the upcoming Big Punto Daddy, The Fiat Linea, whoof, a lot of competition eh.. Toyota better bring the Vios faster than Fiat's Linea to get better sales.

The Toyota Vios Happening:-

The Vios is based on the Toyota Yaris, this car is also known as the Toyota Belta and the Toyota Yaris Sedan, in some region. Though most of the stuff is brought from the Yaris hatch. The previous version of the Vios, is one of the best-sellers in Thailand. Good..Good.. And also a car of the year in Thailand.
The New Vios is already launched in Thailand and will soon enter other markets.. Dont ask me when, but it will. Well, this car is mostly popular in Asia. Though the Yaris sedan is more popular out of Asia.

Power and Engines


The Toyota Vios which is similar to the Toyota Belta and the Toyota Yaris sedan is powered by 1.5L engine that produces a 109bhp, which might come down a little in India. The Belta went on sale in North America in 2006, equipped with 1.0 to 1.3 L engines (in Japan) and a 1.5 L from the Scion xA, xB, and the Toyota ECHO. The Vios in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia is powered by 1.5 liter 1NZ-FE engine with VVT-i. The smaller 1.3 liter 2NZ-FE engine is offered in the Philippines.

The Vios Turbo is only available in Thailand. The turbocharged 1.5 liter engine with an air-to-air inter cooler produces 143 PS with light boost. Standard on the Vios Turbo are a functional scoop on its hood, wrap-around body kits, stiffer springs, firmer shock-absorbers and 16" alloys. in India there are possibilities of Toyota bringing a 1.5 liter VVT-i putting out 110PS(might decrease in India) at 6,000rpm and 140Nm of torque at 4,400rpm, since th VVT-i is popular in India of the Toyota's.
The Vios Exterior:-

The previous version of the Vios looks like a shrunk corolla, and this time, This car got a little Camry-like face. If you look close it doesn't look actually like a c-segment car, first I thought that this was the new Corolla!! Nice Quality of building though..yep, just like the rest of the Toyos. It looks Fat and heavy in the Front, as it goes modeling through the back.
I like the way they shaped the side and back, don't know about you guys though, i think its great.

People from Malay don't actually like the car, they complain about the car looking like a fatter smaller Camry with a moustache?? A moustache?? Where did they see that from? Anyways back to the car. The lights are the Honda City-like. The exteriors are generally good to see thanks to the so called "Toyota's new Vibrant Clarity styling language" . Overall, nice exteriors, very good for Indians, we will like it, i like it too.
Comparison of Dimensions -

The Dimensions of the car is length - 4300mm, Width - 1700mm, Heights - 1460mm, Wheelbase - 2550mm

In competition - Aveo and City defeats the length with 10mm and 90mm respectively, but bigger than the Fiesta and Logan. In width - Aveo and Logan defeats it by 10mm and 40mm respectively but wider than the City and Fiesta. Its height is low, guess every other car defeats in height, but the height will increase when it comes to India, most of the road's are quiet bumpy in India, and really great in other places. The Wheelbase is 2550 which only the Logan defeats it. Overall we can expect good interior space and good maneuverability. This car also has a ground clearance of 143mm.

The Vios Interiors and safety:-


This is the part where the Toyota Vios should be appreciated. Great interiors with good storage areas. Toyota claims that this car has about 35.7 inches of rear legroom, and an expansive 16.7 cu-ft (472 liters) boot space. Like seen in the recently launched spark this car also has the speedometer and the other stuff in the center. A nice clean console is fitted in the center with a cd player. In the international markets airbags are provided and in India I guess it will be optional or would be available for the top end version. The rear seats are nicely placed for comfort in long drives and adjustable headrests at the rear also.
A lot of tubby holes are found and that s what most of the Indians are crazy about..Storage.. the Vios interiors are derived from the Yaris, which is known to be very spacious and this is a good thing done by Toyota. An arm rest for the driver and a compartment inside the armrest and a storage area behind the center console.. something that Indians have not seen before, and 2 flapping cup holders for the driver seat and the driver, just below the vents. The rear is supposed to be very spacious and the rear platform is completely flat and therefore better comfort for the 5th passenger also. now coming to the suspension part they have used Mc pherson strut in the front and torsion beam suspension at the back. Like all the c-segment cars in India, the rest of the safety parts are almost similar.
Overall - How the car is:-

The Yaris Sedan being popular everywhere, and the Vios is the Yaris with the different name. Toyota's got the car to great styling and awesome and spacious interiors with a decent amount of guddies. When it comes to Engines, a lot of varieties are available, we just have to wait and see which one comes to India, i hope its the Turbocharged 1.5 Turbocharged one, most probably the 1.5 VVT-i Engine. And when it comes to performance, the older Vios being the car of the year of Thailand and being an upgrade of the Yaris hatch, performance might go well. The Vios is expected to launch in the end of this year or the starting of next year. All in all, its a great car, but not as great as to look than the coming up Fiat Linea. With Brand image, good exterior styling, awesome interiors, the unknown performance, good engines, the Vios will be loved by us.

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

When is this being launched in India?

Anonymous said...

I read from one of the blog sites that Toyota has dropped the plan to introduce Vios in India and is planning for a small car...is it true

Anonymous said...

If one were to ask Toyota, they will say that they have no plans to get the VIOS in India for the moment. This is for obvious reasons so that the sales of it's new Corollo Altis is not affected. Besides it does not want to warn Ford & Honda just yet. But they would be making a monumental blunder if it does not introduce it in India atleast by end 2009.

HP Toner Cartridges said...

This car is a bang for the buck for me not only that this car has many advanced features that not only are comfortable but many of them are safety features to give you a very safe ride with smooth performance for any kind of journey.Thanks for sharing this review.

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