Superb overall package, premium yet value for money!

 

Exterior There's a lot of Camry in the New Altis. And I absolutely love the Camry! The front looks like it is smilingly devilishly! Some people dislike the rear, but I actually have come to really appreciate the rear LED Taillights! The new ones are really stunning, with better design in the internal lighting arrangement.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) It has pretty much everything one would expect. The spaciousness is simply amazing. The leather seats with perforation are a beauty. The DVD touchscreen is also absolutely feauture rich. You can manually control the positioning of the sound. The sound quality is wonderful and more than enough for most people. The auto climate control is a nifty feature. The electrically adjustable and retractable OVRM are a joy to play with. Completely adjustable, I tell you. The internal Electrochromatic anti-glare mirror is really handy and makes night driving so much easier. THe HID Headlamps in my top end variant have a massive spread area and are really effective as well. The headlamp washers are pretty handy actually, though I was initially sceptical. The 8-way power driver seat is simply amazing. The lumbar support for the driver allows you to expand and compress the seat. The interiors are absolutely stylish and give a rich feel. There is adequate boot space-475 litres. There is plenty of storage space in the compartments inside as well.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox The 1.8 L petrol engine is absolutely silent. You can barely hear it. Initially, we had trouble recognizing whether the engine is on or not. You get used to the quietness of the engine soon. The fuel economy is decent for my atuomatic variant. I am quite happy with the fuel economy—about 9 kmpl in the city, and 14 on the highway. The 7 speed autobox is an absolute joy to drive. It is extremely responsive, unlike previous version of the Corolla Altis. There is also a "Sport" mode, which is handy for suddent overtaking. The previous Altis automatic version had a rubber-band effect when the car changed gears, which was really annoying. BUT in this version there is absolutely no feel of it whatsoever. The change is smooth and yet responsive. The previous lag in the Altis has been corrected by Toyota. The auto-transmission is a true boon in the traffic of Mumbai. Such a pleasure and stressless driving.

Ride Quality & Handling Simply super smooth. I received my Altis on Aug 9th, and have completed over 900 km with 600 km highway drive. The car has given me no reason to complain. During high speed turns, there was hardly any bodyroll, which increased my confidence in the car. It simply glides on the roads. The suspensions are just awesome and gobble up most potholes with ease. The ground clearance is a plus point. Parking sensors make parking a lot easier.

Final Words If you are willing to spend a little extra for umpteen comforts and superb driving, along with the premium Toyota brand image and excellent after sales service (I received reminder about my first servicing today, quite happy), within the 14-18 lakhs bracket, then Corolla Altis is for you. Go ahead and buy it without any hesitation. It will not disaapoint you at all.

Areas of improvement The only things I wish would have come standard in the top end 1.8VL variant are the rear-view camera, which I installed seprately. Also, the standard fitted parking sensors are only 2 and positioned in the middle, I would suggest Toyota to fit 4 sensors to cover the entire back area. Also, I would have loved 6 airbags; there are only 2 airbags, unfortunately.

Excellent looks, awesome features, premium brand image, decent fuel economyNO rear view camera, only 2 SRS Airbags.