Toyota Etios - Nano like feel

 

Exterior The car looks pretty polished in the silver colour. Nice chrome grills in front. Average looking exterior rear. The quality of the exterior metal of the car is concerning. Seems hollow and flimsy.

 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) The interiors are especially glaringly ugly. It looks as though not much thought has gone through for the designing of the interiors. The glove compartment is has an awkward lid. The colour and finish of the plastics on dash board are as good or bad as the Nano. Very cheap finish. The stereo system is ok but it really does not integrate with the dash board. It looks as though the entire dashboard has been manually assembled. Absolutely no-sense of a cohesive unit. The fabric used on the seats and arm-rests are really cheap.

However, the space in the rear seats is unparalled. I am about 6 feet tall and even after sitting comfortably in the drivers seat, I had atleast 3-4 inches extra at the rear seat. The boot is really big too. It boasts a 550+ litres space if I am right. Better than Dzire in that area.

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox, Ride Quality & Handling The power of the engine is best in its segment. I have driven the i20, Dzire and the Etios. I can tell you this. I have been driving for the last 10 years and I have never enjoyed a better performance than this car from this segment. The steering and the handling is really good. You wont feel tired or frustrated in the city traffic.The gear box was really smooth. I enjoyed shifting the gears and taking the car for a spin.

However the engine noise is a little bit of a concern. It howls like a deisel engine. The test car had hardly run 2000 kms. That was a little worrying. Also the engine is completely uncovered at the bottom which means that it has more exposure to the surface of the road. So in rains the car can give you a bit of trouble. Overall, I feel the drive was good. But I feel the car will require a high maintenance just because of the engine noise. I think the mileage will be good because the overall weight of the car has been minimized by using cheap and lightweight interiors and exteriors.

 

Final Words I booked the Dzire after test driving Etios today. Why? Though I liked Etios, I really disliked the interiors, the overall quality of the exteriors and interiors, and the maintenance part of the car.

 

Areas of improvement Waiting period, safety issues, maintenance, and the cons mentioned above.

 

Superb Engine, Superb pick-up, very good driving comfort, very spacious rear, Huge bootGlaringly ugly interiors, cheap seat fabric , cheap plastics, High engine noise, Flimsy ext