Toyota Etios Cross Review

Toyota had cars in the 10 lakh segments. Vehicles like Corolla, Camry, Innova and the Fortuner, not to forget the super premium vehicles like the Land Cruiser and the Prado. Back in 2010 Toyota decided to launch 2 cars in the sub 10 lakh segment with the Etios and the Etios Liva. The Etios being the sedan and the Liva being the Hatch. Toyota wanted to enter the Crossover segment and the Toyota Etios Cross was the answer.

The Toyota Etios Cross was launched in 2014.

The body was similar to the Liva but with much more body cladding to challenge Robocop.  Toyota being one of the brands known for their service and quality decide wanted to take market share in this segment too. Now little over half a decade over. Let’s have a look as what is in store for us.

Toyota Etios Cross Price

Toyota has kept an INR 2 lakhs price difference between the base and the top model. The top end almost enters the sedan Etios territory. Toyota want to give a wide choice to the customer for every price range.

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Toyota Etios Cross Design

From the front the Toyota Etios Cross sports a new smiling grill that stretches from light to light that later extends down like a chinese mustache. The lights though similar to the old a elongated on the inner side to match the grill. The new bumper is huge and very sporty and is loaded with a lot of cladding to put on the crossover mask. Beside the silver mustache at the base of the bumper on each side are the fog lamps that looks like two dimples on the cheek. This is something you may find in WRC rally cars. Just the huge spoiler at the back is missing.

The is also a silver cladding at the base like a small goatee on the face. There is a cladding that starts from the front to the side and flows into the rear too. From the side the Toyota Etios Cross is the same except for 3 changes. Now the indicators are on the mirrors and the sharp design is lovely and the other being the new chrome multi spoke alloys adds a sporty feel with sophistication and body cladding for the crossover effect. The side cladding is divided into two parts the fibre at the top and a silver touch at the base.

The rear too is the same but now the entire bumper is fibre and has a silver cladding in the centre. Unfortunately it misses out on sensors like the Etios and Viva. There is a fibre cladding on the bootlid too which houses the ETIOS CROSS badging. The tail lamps are clear and remain unchanged.

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Toyota Etios Cross Interiors

Unlike the Etios and the Liva, Toyota has decided to go complete sport than elegance to support the aggressive styling of the Toyota Etios Cross. The dash is still dual tone but a mixture of grey and black, majority of it being black. The layout again is typical Toyota as you find on the other two cars. The 3 spoke steering is the same but now has steering mounted controls. The speedometer and instrument cluster are in the centre of the dash as it has always been with the Toyota Etios Cross.

The handles have a piano black finish as same with the centre infotainment system. The black fabric has replaced the beige seats and is quite sporty. Luckily the centre design on the fabric is better than that found on the Etios and the Liva. All in all these seats are comfortable and does not take much time for the driver to get used too. The rear seating is spacious and the seats are long with good thigh support. Also you can have 3 adults sit comfortably as there is no hum in the centre as most cars do. All three seats get a head rest. Toyota claims best in class boot space with 251 liters but surely has a wider opening to fit luggage in easily.

Toyota Etios Cross Colours

The colours available for the Toyota Etios Cross are

• Inferno Orange
• Ultramarine Blue
• Classic Grey
• Harmony Beige
• Celestial Black
• Vermilion Red
• Symphony Silver
• White

Surprisingly I somehow love the blue but the orange is the one I have seen the most, as if other colours were just to mention. The Black is also  great option and my favorite.

Toyota Etios Cross Engine

The Toyota Etios Cross gets all the engine options unlike the sedan and the hatch that get only two. The top speed performance is similar but the delivery of this performance may vary.

The 170 Nm torque on the diesel is a much easier engine to drive even with a slight bit of turbo lag it light weight makes up for it. For the more economical the 1.2 is the option. If you want better deliverance of power we have the 1.5 litre petrol. For everyone else there is the blessing in disguise the 1.3 diesel option.

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Toyota Etios Cross Mileage

The diesel gives exceptional efficiency and with the 45 litres tank the car can do an easy 900 km before hitting a fuel stop. That is a great driving range. The petrol 1.5 litres is almost half that figure at 550 kms. What stacks in between is the 1.2 at 700 km distance.

Toyota Etios Cross Dimensions

The Cross has the highest among the lot of three but is still less compared to other crossovers as the Punto and i20 are at 200 mm. As I said before it is more like a mask onto a very sober car. It is funny that the Etios is 900 kgs and the Toyota Etios Cross is 935 kgs. The Toyota Etios Cross seems to be more stable at high speeds than the Etios Sedan thanks to a little weight.

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Toyota Etios Cross Drive and Handling

Toyota’s motives are clear here. A car that can take you from point A to point B. There can’t be anything more clear than the 900 km range for the diesel. The steering is super light and the suspension super soft.

But on the flip side the soft suspension and the 170 mm ground clearance make the car top heavy on corners and give a bit of body roll.  Though it makes it very easy to ride in daily traffic and highway drives too are good but you can’t push the car around too hard.

The diesel engine is a bit noisy if pushed too hard. If we compare the petrol to the diesel, the petrol is better for quick city stints. And the diesel is an effortless mile muncher, at the same time the diesel has taller gears thanks to the enormous torque hence leading to lesser gear shifts. The option of 1.2 and 1.5 petrol gives you a choice between efficiency and performance. The ease of driving is only proven by the no of cars used by a lot of women drivers.

Verdict

Toyota was kind enough to give all the engine options. And that has resulted in a wide range as far as efficiency is concern. Toyota still needs to work on features like touch screen, better ground clearance better quality materials for the interiors. As of now everything seems basic and I wonder how long Toyota will ride on the band wagon of reliability.