Etios - The engine has won my heart, but the interiors are very heavy on my mind.

 

Exterior As I walked into the dealer showroom in Guwahati, I saw the Etios for the first time and felt excited. It looked quite good in Silver with the familiar Toyota front looks. The dimensions also looked just right for a city sedan, not too long like a Linea, but very balanced length both forward and aft. The R 15 on the V model gave it a solid look and the ground clearance also adequate to get over some nasty hurriedly made rumble strips.

 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) The interiors shook me out of my excitement by their frugality and barren looks. The dash board and the instrument panel is dull, the door inside panels very uninspiring. The most horrifying thing are the single moulded front seats upto the pyramidal head rest which makes the NANO head rest look and feel more comfy. The head rests are so thin at the top that my head was looking to roll off to either side at the slightest pretext. Spondy patients beware!! U will need to buy a neck support the day you buy the Etios. The seats are definitely not what you would expect in a Toyota and are very basic. The next worst thing are the narrow back seats which look like school benches with about four  inches sawn off to make way for very good leg space which is one of strongest points in the Sales pitch. But I would not look forward to a long ride in that back seat with such meagre thigh support. Hugely disappointing for a car of 6.65 lakh. The door handles are clanky and the doors feel very light and cheap when closed and couple of years of usage should make for a very clanky ride in the Etios. This is probably where they saved most of that 100-200 kgs in kerb weight over the Dzire and the Manza.

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox The engine felt the best in class and the good torque available at low revs could be felt when I let the car come to 30kph with the aircon on in the fifth gear, yes fifth gear, and then the car pulled away effortlessly wiithout a single yelp from the engine. Too good. The pickup upto 100 kph was very smooth and fast and left a smile on my face. This is definitely a car to be driven and not to be perched on the back seat. The steering felt very light and accurate and the car respondedly very well to subtle manouvers. The gear shift feel is also good and precise, although the shift into the fifth gear gave some feedback to the hand.

 

Ride Quality & Handling Ride quality was average with potholes being felt distinctly. The solid feel of a heavy sedan was lackiing and I probably expected much better in a Toyota product.

 

Final Words The engine has won my heart, but the interiors are very heavy on my mind.

 

Areas of improvement Interiors, interiors and interiors. The short bench rear seat and the terrible front seat moulded head rests. The doors need to given further rubber protection atleast to make them sound heavy. This is not a 3 lakh sedan but a good-looking sedan costing 6.6 lakh, so is it unfair to expect some minimum comfort in the seats??

 

Engine, looks,steeringVery poor interiors