Specially cut out for price sensitive customer

 

I test drove the top end Etios today in the afternoon. I purposefully took the test drive in the afternoon at 2PM as I wanted to check the effectiveness of the AC when it is most needed. I also got couple of my friends to accompany me as I wanted to check the overall performance of the car under fully loaded condition. I currently drive Spark LT which is a decent car, good handling. But I was facing the above mentioned problems (AC performance in the afternoon and car performance under fully loaded condition) and that's why I want to upgrade to a more powerful car. This is what I found during the test drive:
- Overall handling is good. We drove on kachcha road and felt very less jerks.
- Seats are comfortable but not as comfortable as my Spark's. The tapestry on the seat was cheap. The interiors are average. It didn't give the feeling that I was sitting in a sedan.
- Accelerator, clutch and brakes were good.
- Gear shifting was not as smooth as on my Spark
- I have comparatievly small stature at 5'6" so space provided on driver's seat typically fits me well and so was the case here. My view outside the car and through the mirrors were good
- The indicator and wiper controls on the opposite side of what it is in Spark. In fact, I would say Spark has it on the wrong side because all other cars have indicator on the right while wiper on the left of the steering wheel. So this is fine but was surprised to see that there is only one wiper blade like Nano. I don't know if that can cause any problem but I am sure there would be comparatively larger areas on the glass that single wiper wouldn't be able to cover. Anyways, knowing Toyota, I guess they would have checked this aspect and passed it only when satisfied.
- AC was good. It took about 3-4 mins to sufficiently cool the interior but after that every area of the car was cooled. I wanted Etios to score better here as compared to my spark otherwise what's the use of its 1500cc engine and score it did.
- However, when AC was ON, the pickup was not so great as all the power was shifted to running the AC. I had to press on the accelerator harder to extract more power. Etios was just slightly better as compared to my spark. I wanted it to do much better. This has been one of my main reasons for upgradation.
- I was told that with AC ON, in the city it gives about 14-15kmpl. If that is true, I would say WOW. Its better than many hatchbacks.
- The space at the back is good. 3 people could sit without any problem with good legroom.
- The boot is spacious as well
- Tubeless tyres are good and this has those.

Overall, Toyota has created a car for the Indian middle class family which is price sensitive and not only wants the price of the car to be within their budget but also wants a good mileage so that it doesn't pinch them in the long run. This car is not for those for whom driving is a passion.

 

Good Fuel Economy, Space, AC, ExteriorInterior, pickup when AC is on