Toyota Innova Road Test
Toyota Innova – Another Winner from Toyota
It looks like UMW Toyota has done it again, with the Innova. Barely a month after its launch, the waiting list is rumoured to be 13 months if you put your name on the dotted line right now. It also seems that there have been some conversions wherein many of those Toyota stalwarts who have put their money down for an Avanza have shifted their bookings to the larger Innova.
We got hold of one unit, courtesy of UMW Toyota, and took it to Melaka for a weekend run to check it out.
First of all, I must say that the interior space is impressive, and why not? After all, the Innova shares the same base platform as the Toyota Hilux, both models being part of the IMV project, Toyota Motor Corporation’s International Multi-purpose Vehicles exercise to develop and manufacture multi-purpose vehicles outside of Japan. Mooted as a 7-seater, the Innova will easily seat eight people if the need arises. Of course we did not have a family big enough to fill her up, but we carried a whole lot of stuff around in it instead.
The Innova is an easy vehicle to drive despite its large size. From the driver’s seat, you have a commanding view of your surroundings through the generous glass area, and the powerful 2.0 litre engine works well with the 4-speed automatic gearbox to move all of its 1.5 tons without much fuss. Of course it is not a road scorcher; the power is adequate if you are not in a hurry, although it can put on a reasonable turn of speed of anything up to 160 kilometres per hour if given a long enough stretch of road. Anyway, its shape and size is not one that will stir up any visions of race or rally driving. The designers were quite clear in their objectives when coming up with the power and drive train package. It is not made to point and squirt; flooring the accelerator merely makes it change down and make a lot of noise without any appreciable burst of speed. It is better to just apply gentle throttle pressure, and let the inertia be overcome naturally. Understandably, we did not even bother to check out the Innova’s zero to hundred time. However, once it gets up to speed, it is quite easy to maintain a cruising speed of around 140 to 150 kph.
On the road, it is quite well behaved. Straight-line stability is of no issue, and lane change characteristics are quite good actually. The rack and pinion steering arrangement appears to give some benefits here. Unlike the Avanza, the Innova’s gear ratios are better, so you don’t get to hear the engine screaming.
Around corners, the Innova handles well for an MPV. The suspension is tuned to be a lot softer than that of the Hilux, and of course the rear coil springs help a lot in this department. The ride is pretty good, although it is a little choppy at times, especially when traversing the wavy stretch between the Cyberjaya exit and Seremban.
Our fuel cost for the trip cost around 22 sen per kilometre, not bad, considering the weight and size of the vehicle. We did not really push the vehicle, so I would venture to say that this figure would be what the average user would experience. I figure the manual transmission model would be about 10 to 15 percent more economical on fuel.
In the overall analysis, I find the Innova a practical vehicle for those who need the space and carrying capacity. It looks decent enough with its smooth flowing lines; it won’t win any beauty contests, but it is not ugly either. The engine is powerful enough to serve its purpose while offering good fuel economy for a vehicle of its size, and the interior is comfortable. Priced between RM87,900 and RM102,900, the Innova is good value for your money, especially if you need to ferry people around a lot.
