Toyota Etios India

Toyota Etios is the new budget friendly sedan capable of seating up to 5 people from the house of the auto king pin Toyota. The car is a serious threat to the likes of Maruti, Hyundai and Tata in the Indian car market. The car is affordable and stylish. The car is also quite huge on the inside space with an equally tempting price of 5 to 7 lakh. The Toyot Etios is a mid range luxury car available in four variants across India.

Toyota Etios Engine

The car comes with a 1.5 litre refined petrol engine with a peak torque of 132 Nm at 3000 rpm. The car delivers a power of 89 Bhp at 5600 rpm. It comes with a 1496cc and a 4 valve in-line cylinder petrol engine. The city car has a turning circle of 4.90 mtrs with a fuel tank capacity of 45 litres. The car is best in class in terms of the fuel consumption with 17 and 12 Kmpl on highways and in city respectively. This is possible due to its low curb weight of only 900 kgs which makes it lighter than its competitors like Swift Dzire. Toyota Etios has a 5 speed manual transmission while the basic versions are not provided with power steering but its light handling overcomes this deficiency.

The maximum torque is 13.46 Kgm at 3000 rpm. The Engine has 16 valves activated by twin camshafts. The Engine is responds well and is quite cool even at low speeds suiting both the highway and city terrains. The Engine is a long stroke engine making it noisy and the poor insulation increases the rattle. The 2 NR- FE Gasoline 4 cylinder DOHC Engine is based on the simple EFI, Electronic Fuel Injection mechanism and has worked quite well for the Indian Roads. The gear transmission is the same 5- speed manual transmission for all the models.

Toyota Etios Exteriors

The outer looks of the Toyota Etios is quite stylish with sharp and distinctive curve providing the perfect Toyota chrome finish. The finish of the car with the plastic body surely comes as a huge disappointment. The body colour bumpers give some attractive relief to eyes with design that is quite basic and simple. The surface of Toyota Etios is well built with equal proportions. The look of the car is enhanced by the superb character-line body finish. The top notch variants like the V and VX have fog lamps, power steering outside rear view mirrors etc. The 15 inch alloy wheels give the finishing touch. The ground clearance of 170.00 mm is quite ample and is best suited for the uneven Indian roads.

The car is a bit of both the worlds. The car is beautiful in some aspects while on the other aspects it just falls flat. In terms of the outer looks the car is a complete failure and fails to live up to its reputation. The headlights and the body lining are quite common and simple. The ugly factor is further enhanced by the light weighted doors that lack of proper rubber insulation making them too noisy. The boomerang shaped front grille and the bulging hood bring some respite to the ugly duckling. The tail lamps are the usual Toyota design and seem inspired from the Corolla. The rear of the car scores high compared to the front portion. The Car comes with a single wiper.

Toyota Etios Interiors

The insides of the car come in a black theme with grey and red inputs. The seats are comfortable with headrests on front seats. The rear seats are designed for three but unfortunately are not foldable. The front seats are suited to even tall occupants and makes for a comfortable drive. The car has a good outside view. Toyota Etios is also huge on the storage space with a boot space of 595 litres and a 13 litre chilled glove box in the middle. The sun spot comes in the form of centrally configured instrument panel which is irritating to say the least. The leather covered steering wheel comes with inbuilt audio controls. The rear occupants get some relief with the extra vent and the A/C panel works really well however there is no option for Automatic Climate Control, the quality of ‘clean air filter’ is appreciable. The insides of the car are quite basic but live up to the Toyota reputation. 

The Toyota Etios is spacious on the insides with a commanding dashboard with the instrument panel positioned in the centre. The Central Console with its two vertically stacked centre vents is a very new concept offering a fresh look at the same time. The drive wheel is very comfortable and the glove box is quite big and spacious just like any other corner in the cabin. The one of a kind design concept gives the Toyota Etios a young and refreshing look somewhat similar to the Porsche. The inside of the car is quite practical and useful. The steering of the car is quite good which is well complemented by the stylish semi circular cluster including the speedometer and tachometer that add up to the beauty of the car.

The dashboard of Toyota Etios is however really annoying for it is not even pure fibre but plastic that gives a low grade feel, something that one did not expect from Toyota. The AC controls give a retro feel and the worse cable type headlamp only increase the frustration. The other features that are out of the place are the floor matting and the sun visors that give a toy like appearance. The Toyota Etios has been built with aim of cost cutting. The Interiors are available in both single and dual tone colours and differ for each variant. The vibrant shades do add a bit of dash to the car in enhancing its beauty.

The entire review will not be sufficient for describing the inside space of the car. The front and rear seats of the car is quite spacious and comfortable with good back support. The car also has good legroom and headroom which is again spacious further enhancing the value of the car. Compared to any of the Toyota sedans the Etios is wider and broader. The back part of the car easily houses three people. There are some drawbacks like the lack of headrests at the rear portion. This is however negated by the comfortable seating which does compensate the missing aspects. The CD/DVD Mp3 player with 4 speakers is excellent and the illumination at night is fascinating.

Toyota Etios Safety Features

The safety features are quite a miss with the absence of Parking Sensors, Anti Braking System (ABS) and the most important Airbag provision all due to the cost reduction factor. As usual the Toyota Etios also lives up to the safety which is customized according to the needs of the Indian roads. The car comes with twin Airbags and ABS only in the top model though. The basic models suffer a bit in terms of the safety due to the cost saving factor and does not score well with some poor mechanism. The light weighted doors and an engine without insulation also score poorly for the safety of the car.

Toyota Etios Colors

The Toyota Etios comes in shades of Celestial Black, Harmony Beige, Serene Bluish Silver, Symphony Silver, Vermillion Red and White.

Toyota Etios Mileage

The entire line of the Toyota Etios are equipped with the same 1496cc petrol engine which is quite refined and easily delivers a mileage of 11.8 Km/l in the city and near 17 Km/l on the highways. As confirmed by the ARAI, the mentioned mileage makes Toyota Etios the most fuel efficient 1.5 litre petrol car in the country.

Toyota Etios Models

Toyota Etios J: Matte Black Front Grille, tubeless tyres, full wheel caps, AC with heater and clean air filter, cooled glove box,, front headrest, pillow type rear headrest, digital trip meter, internally adjustable ORVM, Luggage room lamp, single tone fabric upholstery, 7 bottle holders, remote fuel lid and tail gate opener.

Toyota Etios G: Body Colour Front Grille, bumpers, door handles and ORVM, Side protection moulding with chrome insert, B- pillar blackout, intermittent wiper, chrome garnish on boot, AC, Power windows, electric power steering, central locking, front cabin lights, tilt steering, 4 speakers, luggage room lamp, immobiliser, keyless entry, rest of the features similar to the J variant. 

Toyota Etios G Safety: All features similar to the G variant however this variant also includes a safety package (SRS Airbags, ABS, EBD etc.)

Toyota Etios V: Chrome ornament front grille, bumpers, front fog lamps, chrome insert door handles, ORVM, 12 spoke alloy wheels, roof mounted antenna, rear defogger, tachometer, 2 DIN CD MP3 player with FM, USB and AUX support, dual tone black and grey upholstery, chrome accented air vents, SRS Airbags, EBD, ABS, Driver seat belt warning, rest all features similar to the G variant.

Toyota Etios VX: Side Skirt, 2 DIN DVD Mp3 player with FM, Dual toned fabric upholstery with black and red, chrome accented shift knob, rest all features similar to the V and G variants.

Toyota Etios Ride and Handling

Toyota Etios is really light with an unreal kerb weight of just 930 Kg which makes it the lightest sedan in the country. The long wheel base is simply excellent with a measurement of 2550mm wheelbase which adds to the responsive handling.  The suspension of the car is quite strong and holds up nicely even at higher speeds. The car fails to absorb the bumps ride on uneven surfaces and is quite visible even at low speeds. The engine is left without cap and this results in some huge audible rattling.

The light weight of the car does mean that the ride is smooth on higher speeds and is easily maneuverable. The super responsive electric steering, the smooth gear shift ratio and the sensitive clutch also help in the smooth ride and handling of the car.

Toyota Etios Specifications

The Toyota Etios is not a complete entertainment package but it does offer a wide range of accessories to choose from in the manual configuration. The Esteem features include Bumper corner protector, car cover, fabric seat cover, floor matting, mudguard, security system and trunk mat. The Audio accessories include CD/DVD, USB and AUX support which comes embedded in top models.  Other configurable features include back sensor, leather seat covers, leg room lamp, luggage tray, radiator chrome grille, rear door lid garnish, steering wheel cover, sun visor organizer, front and rear bumper spoiler, side skirt, trunk spoiler and door side visor.

The car hits the 100 Kph in just 11.38 seconds with 90 bhp car. It easily hits the top speed of 140 Km/h which again comes up within 23 seconds impressively. The Car is also good on the long escapades throwing up great energy in terms of the speed and performance

Toyota Etios Ex-showroom Price

Toyota Etios Ex- showroom Price for Petrol variants
Toyota Etios J Price – Rs.4, 96,000
Toyota Etios G Price – Rs.5, 46,000
Toyota Etios V Price – Rs.6, 41,000
Toyota Etios VX Price – Rs.6, 86,500

Toyota Etios Ex-showroom Price Delhi for diesel variants
Toyota Etios Diesel D-4D GD Price – Rs.6, 44,335
Toyota Etios Diesel D-4D GD SP Edition Price – Rs.6, 89,900
Toyota Etios Diesel D-4D VD Price – Rs.7, 41,135
Toyota Etios Diesel D-4D VXD Edition Price – Rs.7, 87,000

The Toyota Etios firstly is a car for the pocket friendly with some unmatched features in the segment that include space, superb comfort and great fuel efficiency with perfect handling making it effortless in driving. The car is good performer and considering it is from Toyota the Etios is reliable and trustworthy car.

Toyota Etios Competitors

Toyota Etios competes against Maruti Swift Dzire, Hyundai Verna, Tata Manza and Volkswagen Vento.

Toyota Etios vs Maruti Swift Dzire: Toyota Etios is more powerful than the Swift Dzire. The Swift Dzire is cheaper compared to the Etios.

Toyota Etios vs Tata Indigo Manza: The Tata Manza has a 1.4 L engine and Etios is having 1.5 L with both generating the same power. The Tata Manza is available at a lower price tag compared to the Toyota Etios.

Toyota Etios vs Volkswagen Vento:  Both the sedans are in the same price range but the Vento is more powerful than the Toyota Etios. The Etios is better in terms of the ground clearance compared to the Volkswagen Vento.