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 Etios , the first India-specific sedan 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.
The world’s largest car manufacturer , Toyota , has finally launched their India-specific small sedan. They had displayed both the hatchback and the sedan at the Auto Expo in New Delhi in January 2010 and CAR India had mentioned that the sedan would precede the hatch.
Recently we got to see and drive the re-worked Etios sedan for the first time. There have been some minor tweaks here and there to improve the car’s looks and to make it sharper than the original One displayed at the Auto Expo.
The first and foremost thing i would like to mention in respect of the Etios is that Toyota have begun this project with a clean slate. They have not used anything from any of their previous models or platforms.
Toyota Etios India Drive_Dec10 Folder/Links/2.tif"> Chief Engineer Yoshinori Noritake san , head of the Etios project , spent five years in India studying local conditions and the Indian users’ requirements. The car is not a stunner to look at , nor will it turn heads. It has the typical understated Toyota look instead.
The moment you open the door , you can see the same trend being continued from the exterior to the interior. Practicality and utility is the name of the game. The flat bench-type rear seat , for instance. It may look like a flat plank , but , let me tell you , it is very comfortable for three persons. You don’t keep sliding to the centre and squash the passenger in the middle. The flat floor panel makes life easy for the middle passenger with plenty of leg space.
Up front , the quality of the plastics and the upholstery are good for this segment. The tilt steering of the Etios helps you to tailor the driving position to your liking. The rear leg space is class-leading along with a huge boot. The designers have liberated a lot of usable in-cabin space , including the boot.
The suspension set-up at the front is a straightforward MacPherson strut and the rear is a torsion beam  unit. During the short first drive one could immediately make out that Noritake san and his team had put in a lot of effort in setting up the suspension. The car is well-poised with hardly any body roll even when it was driven hard round corners. The steering has a neutral feel and , at the same time , there is plenty of feedback.
As for pothole-ridden bad roads , the Etios came out with flying colours as she took all the speed bumps and obstacles in her stride. The spring rating and damping are well-matched and the ride quality is top class.
As I mentioned earlier , this is an all-new car from ground up and the same goes for the engine as well. The 1 , 496-cc , DOHC , 16-valve unit is designed and built specifically for India and for the Etios. Keeping in mind the Indian requirements the engineers have made sure that frictional losses are reduced to give better efficiency as well as power and torque from low rpm. It delivers a maximum of 132 Nm of torque at 3 , 000 rpm and 90 PS of power at 5 , 600 rpm. The engine is mated to a five-speed gear box with well-matched ratios that give the car excellent drivability. You can select the fifth gear at 40 km/h and the Etios will happily pull away. So far as I am concerned , what the car does between 1 , 200 rpm and  2 , 500 rpm is the most important , for the car will spend more than 90 per cent of its running life in this rev range. Out and out performance like 0-to-100 and top speed are all academic for me.
The 1.5 DOHC is a gem of an engine. The engineers at Toyota have made sure that they kept the weight of the car down to 930 kg without sacrificing safety and , at the same time , achieving a good power-to-weight ratio. Its light weight helps the car in all the departments from performance to fuel efficiency.
After this short drive I can say that this is a no-frills car , but an excellent workhorse that will give its owner hassle-free and reliable service for a long period of time.
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The world’s largest car manufacturer , Toyota , has finally launched their India-specific small sedan. They had displayed both the hatchback and the sedan at the Auto Expo in New Delhi in January 2010 and CAR India had mentioned that the sedan would precede the hatch.
Recently we got to see and drive the re-worked Etios sedan for the first time. There have been some minor tweaks here and there to improve the car’s looks and to make it sharper than the original One displayed at the Auto Expo.
The first and foremost thing i would like to mention in respect of the Etios is that Toyota have begun this project with a clean slate. They have not used anything from any of their previous models or platforms.
Toyota Etios India Drive_Dec10 Folder/Links/2.tif">
Chief Engineer Yoshinori Noritake san , head of the Etios project , spent five years in India studying local conditions and the Indian users’ requirements. The car is not a stunner to look at , nor will it turn heads. It has the typical understated Toyota look instead.
The moment you open the door , you can see the same trend being continued from the exterior to the interior. Practicality and utility is the name of the game. The flat bench-type rear seat , for instance. It may look like a flat plank , but , let me tell you , it is very comfortable for three persons. You don’t keep sliding to the centre and squash the passenger in the middle. The flat floor panel makes life easy for the middle passenger with plenty of leg space.
Up front , the quality of the plastics and the upholstery are good for this segment. The tilt steering of the Etios helps you to tailor the driving position to your liking. The rear leg space is class-leading along with a huge boot. The designers have liberated a lot of usable in-cabin space , including the boot.
The suspension set-up at the front is a straightforward MacPherson strut and the rear is a torsion beam
unit. During the short first drive one could immediately make out that Noritake san and his team had put in a lot of effort in setting up the suspension. The car is well-poised with hardly any body roll even when it was driven hard round corners. The steering has a neutral feel and , at the same time , there is plenty of feedback.
As for pothole-ridden bad roads , the Etios came out with flying colours as she took all the speed bumps and obstacles in her stride. The spring rating and damping are well-matched and the ride quality is top class.
As I mentioned earlier , this is an all-new car from ground up and the same goes for the engine as well. The 1 , 496-cc , DOHC , 16-valve unit is designed and built specifically for India and for the Etios. Keeping in mind the Indian requirements the engineers have made sure that frictional losses are reduced to give better efficiency as well as power and torque from low rpm. It delivers a maximum of 132 Nm of torque at 3 , 000 rpm and 90 PS of power at 5 , 600 rpm. The engine is mated to a five-speed gear box with well-matched ratios that give the car excellent drivability. You can select the fifth gear at 40 km/h and the Etios will happily pull away. So far as I am concerned , what the car does between 1 , 200 rpm and
2 , 500 rpm is the most important , for the car will spend more than 90 per cent of its running life in this rev range. Out and out performance like 0-to-100 and top speed are all academic for me.
The 1.5 DOHC is a gem of an engine. The engineers at Toyota have made sure that they kept the weight of the car down to 930 kg without sacrificing safety and , at the same time , achieving a good power-to-weight ratio. Its light weight helps the car in all the departments from performance to fuel efficiency.
After this short drive I can say that this is a no-frills car , but an excellent workhorse that will give its owner hassle-free and reliable service for a long period of time.
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I Think Mahindra Logan is best than ETIOS. Cheep interios, I can't belive its Toyota car.
really not up to the requirement.
I am interested to buy 9958502266
This is NANO virson of TOYOTA. You do not expect the vibration & noise that is seen in etios from any petrol car. Even small car like zen estilo or wagon r of Maruti is more scilent and smooth than etios. Whenever you accelerate speed of car even the passanger siting behind you feels the noise of accelleration that too with window closed. This is just not acceptable, the body too thin and light, interior too cheap certainly not up to the mark & TOYOTA's standard. Overall very dissappointing. Japanees have underestimated test of Indians, very soon they will realise this.
Cheap interiors....Not gud looking as well....May be hatchback might be more stylish...
veery cheep car not worth to buy no puckep on 2nd gaeer maruti 800 is worth to buy compare to this car
worst car from toyota
It is very disappointing to see the above comments for a car that was exclusively made for indian roads.
you advise me please whether Toyota has introduced Etios sedan in auto transmission also or have a plan to introduce in near future
Let me drive & see
Mahindra Logan........:)
This is the best car..this resembles Toyota Echo model which was there in Gulf nations..Awesome Fuel effecient car with superior safety and comfort to drive on.... Toyota better than renault...when you take it for repair you will come to know and the comfort tha you get in toyota vehicles is awesome.......
Out of Etios V model and G-safety model which is a better buy ?
best car for indian roads.
it is hard to beleive that toyota engineers has taken five years to[study] build this replica for logan.for comparison you take a diesel version of logan with petrol etios, at 2000rpm [80kmph] you will not hear the engine noise of logan makes you to doubt whether the engine is running or not,it is that much smoother than any diesel car in premium and hatchback models [for this price].the next thing is you cannot compare any car's back seat with logan's which has enormous space and leg room.it is thousand times better than etios, etios has only the brand name [toyota] but logan got every thing else to suit indian roads.
HOw much money toyota has given for writing the feedback in their favor. It is a very bad car.
nice car, I have test drive of ETIOS ...... really wonderful
As when we talk about TOYOTA , we have great feeling of sturdyness and luxery, but in ETIOS it fails somehow. The seats are very basic like Maruti ALTO, The interior is as good as a commercial vehicle like TATA indica, if we compere : (1) The shape of the car is as similar as TATA indigo, where as Toyota could do much trimming at outer shape. the body is much lighter as to compare with 1500 cc engines (2) Interior : Maruti Dezire is much better in interior as what you feel sitting in. (3) Engine : Maruti K series of engines are much tried and tested. (4) BHP and pick up for 1500 cc is missing as compare to other cars. (5) MENTAINANCE : Toyota's regular service and mentainence is always higher to Maruti suzuki in this segment of price. So with whom do you want to compere it with ? Maruti Dezire? Mahindra logan ? or TATA Indigo ? ................??? Honda City is a better buy in this segment.
i am looking for test drive
i want to buy this ETIOS.
YRTHRHRHRTUTR6
to those who have given a negative feedback to the car: about the looks...its certainly and most definitely better looking than the boring dzire.... the Dzire engineers didnt know what to do with swift so they just gave it a boot.... since they had no competition till now they minted money and fooled the indians..now i think they will have a hard time with arrival of etios. and 20000 people cants go wrong in 1 onth about one single car!!! Its quite an achivement... I think people who r writing negative feedback r the ones who have missed the opportunity to buy a practical car !!!
@satish... i think maruti 800 is all u deserve !!!
I can't belive its Toyota car..... . . . . . . .. .