Toyota Vios S

Story by Harvinder Singh Sidhu

The Toyota Vios is doing well in placing itself among the best in terms of sales in Malaysia’s B-Segment vehicle class, even with strong opposition from the Honda City, as well as from the much cheaper Proton GEN2.

To help maintain the Vios’ strong stance in the segment especially that the new City is here, and to prove that Vios can also be used to take you from point A to point B swiftly, UMW Toyota Motor has been working around the clock to come up with an official TRD (Toyota Racing Development) performance and styling package to offer Vios drivers the option to make their city movers look a little more aggressive, and perform a little better in the engine performance and suspension departments.

The auto maker has transformed two standard Vios’ (Automatic S and manual J). Although still in the development stage, Toyota has decided to pass on both these cars to us to find out what we think. Before we move on to these upgraded rides, lets first check out the standard Toyota Vios S.

Continue reading after the jump.

Toyota Vios S Automatic

Design

The current Vios features an “organic” design style, with more curves and a more “roundish” look. Personally, I prefer the previous Vios, as it looks a little more “solid” and aggressive, over the current design language. With a design that, to me, is more suited to the opposite gender, the top of the line Vios S comes with a few more additional fitments over the base models that help improve its rather modest looks.

These include 15 inch 5-spoke alloy wheels, and an Aerokit which comprises of a front bumper spoiler, side skirting, and a trunk spoiler that helps the Vios feature a wider stance which is a good thing. The Vios S also comes with a chrome package can be seen on the rear license plate garnish and on the body side moulding.

There are also wing mirrors (power adjustable & retractable) with integrated signal lamps. Although the opinion on the exterior design is very much subjective, and that the large number of Vios’ on the road is a clear indication of how most of us feel about the car, I just wished that the exhaust tail pipe is straightened, instead of featuring a visible tip that points downwards.

Interior

The first thing I noticed as I got into the Vios S, is the very much noticeable finish quality of the dashboard, in terms of visible gaps that are not consistent. It looks as though its put together better, especially compared to the base Vios J series, which can be justified by the lower price tag. But wouldn’t it be good if both car models offer the same finish quality?

To me, with a height of 178 cm, sitting on the driver’s seat isn’t much of a problem, with decent legroom and headroom, but I feel that the steering angle can be further improved. Although the steering angle is adjustable, but I feel that the Vios can offer a better seating position if the steering can be tilted upwards a little more, perhaps by an inch.

With even an inch, it would give a person with an average height a more comfortable and sporty seating position. Even at maximum setting, the steering wheel is mounted rather too low, and it should prove to be a little difficult for a plus sized individual to feel completely comfortable behind the wheel.

The other thing about the Vios seating position is it’s rather high, more towards the typical sitting position of a car like the Honda Jazz rather than of a sedan. I know most women like this but it feels odd, like you’re sitting on a stool rather than nicely cosseted in a chair.

Apart from the above, the Toyota Vios is pretty much a decent place to be in, with easily reachable switches and buttons. The Vios S and G comes with a dashboard integrated audio system with steering mounted controls that features MP3 and WMA playback with a CD player, tuner as well as 6 speakers and a printed antenna. The Vios S also comes with a Multi Information Display (MID). To me, the centre mounted instrument panel isn’t much of a problem, and I did not find any difficulty getting used to it.

With a generous use of plastic that is justified by a rather affordable price tag, the Vios also features a comfortable rear cabin with adequate legroom and head clearance. The practicality of the interior is also enhanced with a total of three cup/bottle holders, excluding two bottle holders featured on the front door cards. The Vios also has a number of compartments, such as the ones both sides of the lower part centre console, as well as a storage compartment on the right side of steering wheel. The rear seat back rest can also be folded down via a 60:40 split (for all models expect J) to help increase its 400 liters trunk space.