Team-BHP > The Indian Car Scene


Reply
  Search this Thread
16,186 views
Old 25th February 2005, 08:38   #16
BHPian
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Internet
Posts: 135
Thanked: 238 Times

Has any one taken a test drive...

How is the drive and handling feel. Also any idea whats the mileage for petrol version!
gutsy is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 10:56   #17
BHPian
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 626
Thanked: 18 Times

At that price, the Innova would canniballise the sales of the Corolla in India.. heh heh..

Think about it guys, if i were looking for a Toyota Car and vaguely thinking about the corolla, I would change my mind and move on to the Innova instead..

I guess, its time for Toyota to bring down the prices of the Corolla or upgrade it to the IMV project.

What do ya'll think ??
man23ish is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 11:14   #18
GTO
Team-BHP Support
 
GTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bombay
Posts: 70,335
Thanked: 298,733 Times

Quote:
Think about it guys, if i were looking for a Toyota Car and vaguely thinking about the corolla, I would change my mind and move on to the Innova instead..

I guess, its time for Toyota to bring down the prices of the Corolla or upgrade it to the IMV project.

What do ya'll think ??
Have to admit - Some may actually shift from a Toyota sedan to a Toyota MUV...even though they are actually totally different segments.

Boy, this is exciting stuff. Cant wait for Innova sales reports.

GTO
GTO is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 11:27   #19
Senior - BHPian
 
sridhar24's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 1,046
Thanked: 88 Times

Finally Innova is here, I think the price won't stop the customers from buying it and the sales of the Innova will be as good as the Qualis. Iam expecting the Innova to have very good engines because its a Toyota.
sridhar24 is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 14:41   #20
Team-BHP Support
 
Samurai's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Bangalore/Udupi
Posts: 25,809
Thanked: 45,333 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperSyn
First of all, some people don't understand the difference between Gross Vehicle Weight and Kerb Weight. This car has better power to weight ratio, and also torque spread than the "old" Qualis.
Since they have only quoted Gross Weight, let's guess the the best case Kerb Weight. Say 8 adult guys weighing 70Kg each. That would be 560 Kg, making Kerb Weight 2240-560 = 1680Kg. Now, some say Kerb weight includes driver, some don't. Even then 1680Kg is a lot at 102PS or 136PS. And if the car is loaded fully, we are talking gross weight of almost 2300Kg.

I have actually driven fully loaded minivans like Nissan Quest, Toyota Sienna, etc. For a driving enthusiast, it is a nightmare. You have keep lots of distance from the front vehicle, accelerate slowly and brake much in advance.
Samurai is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 15:46   #21
BANNED
 
maybach's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: New Mumbai
Posts: 266
Thanked: 0 Times

Does any one have an idea about how much time does it take from 0 - 100 both petrol and Diesel and their top speeds as well? The Scorpio CRDe doesnot go above 152 kph..
maybach is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 17:02   #22
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Bangalore, India
Posts: 88
Thanked: 0 Times

hey people,

had called Nandi Toyota for a test drive at roughly 2:45. Was told that i'd be getting the car to test in 45 min as my office is on Hosur Road too (Slik Board). Got a call at 4:00 from nandi saying that the car would not be available to test as the prices have not been released and since the car has not been registered and insured they cannot offer a test drive.

dciete, regarding your query about the 2nd row having less legroom than the third, i checked with them....
the 2nd row comes with bucket seats on the top end version and bench on the rest...the third row is cramped in comparison....the picture has been taken like that coz people automatically question the space on the third row.....
the entry level model doesnt allow for the 2nd row to be moved in front/back....every other model does....

and here is news for those waiting for the FORTUNER...i asked him about the estimated launch date and what he said shocked me...
The Fortuner is NOT coming to India and was a false report by ACI....the next car that might hit the indian market is the yaris or the Vitz with a 1.6l VVTI engine....

I will be test driving the car on the 1st of March, hopefully

The sales dude who called me was called Santosh and can be contacted on +919845451372 (Nandi toyota).

He re-iterated what was mentioned in an earlier thread about toyota wanting to stop the qualis as it was developing a reputation as a taxi manufacturer.....the company did not want such a reputation and thats why the innova has been launched in a segment above....

when i quoted supersyn about IMV and lower cost of manufacturing he laughed saying that it was proof toyota wants to ensure the brand doesnt take a beating....
good tactics especially coz they want to launch a small car next....a brand with premium associations would allow them to continue high prices, while the rivals watch in horror....

anyone have any more queries for toyota, i'd be glad to do the legwork!

Best,
Gautham.

Last edited by maedi : 25th February 2005 at 17:04. Reason: typo
maedi is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 17:48   #23
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Bangalore, India
Posts: 88
Thanked: 0 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by maybach
Does any one have an idea about how much time does it take from 0 - 100 both petrol and Diesel and their top speeds as well? The Scorpio CRDe doesnot go above 152 kph..
Top Speeds -
VVTI Innova - 175
CRDi Innova - 150

0-400 metres
CRDi - 19.8 sec
VVTi - 19.2

0-100 TIme
VVTI - 12.5
CRDi - 15.9

Braking
80 kmph-0 - 2.44 seconds (with ABS)
80 kmph-0 - 3.14 seconds (without ABS)

I should look for a career in auto journalism

Last edited by maedi : 25th February 2005 at 17:50. Reason: again another type
maedi is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 18:09   #24
GTO
Team-BHP Support
 
GTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bombay
Posts: 70,335
Thanked: 298,733 Times

Quote:

and here is news for those waiting for the FORTUNER...i asked him about the estimated launch date and what he said shocked me...
The Fortuner is NOT coming to India and was a false report by ACI....the next car that might hit the indian market is the yaris or the Vitz with a 1.6l VVTI engine....
Ouch, you just broke my heart. I was really really counting on the Fortuner now that the family is expanding. Well, guess I am going to have to hunt for old-gen Land Cruisers then.

Quote:
0-100 TIme
VVTI - 12.5
CRDi - 15.9
Extremely respectable times and the fastest in segment. The new CRDe Scorpio is 16.xx (3 seconds faster than the old DI Scorpio)

Great writeup Maedi

GTO
GTO is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 18:25   #25
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Bangalore, India
Posts: 88
Thanked: 0 Times

Thanks GTO

Is Mahindra continuing with the old engine? They should plonk it on the Bolero or Maxx and use it an areas where Bharat Stage II is effective. And thus take the fight to Tata for the Taxi Segment. Considering Tata earns a significant amount on the Sumo, i would buy Tata Motors stock. I'm sure their sales would jump tremendously.
maedi is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 18:46   #26
BHPian
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 626
Thanked: 18 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by maedi
and here is news for those waiting for the FORTUNER...i asked him about the estimated launch date and what he said shocked me...
The Fortuner is NOT coming to India and was a false report by ACI....the next car that might hit the indian market is the yaris or the Vitz with a 1.6l VVTI engine....
Hi Gautham,

First of all, the sales guys job is to sell whatever cars are available to him at the moment. So he will give you all kinds of explanations to be able to sell the innova.

Secondly, Toyota needs to compete with the likes of Endeavour, Scorpio, Safari, etc. and to a lesser extent the Pajero and the Terracan as well.. So in all probability Toyota will have to launch the Fortuner in india as well. Next, my personal feeling is that the Fortuner will be atleast expensive by 1 Lacs..

Thirdly, both the Innova and Fortuner are based on the same IMV platform. Recently Toyota Kirloskar motors overhauled their whole assembly line for the IMV platform.

So i have every reason, that the salesman was lying to you.

Cheers,
Manish.
man23ish is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 19:45   #27
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Bangalore, India
Posts: 88
Thanked: 0 Times

Sounds absolutely logical to me Manish.

Sometime back i had read this article in BusinessWorld about Toyota's Strategy for India by Mohit Malik. THe article can be found at http://www.businessworldindia.com/se...xclusive03.asp

There was another article that threw light on Honda's strategy for India (Can't seem to find it right now)....

What the article said was that Honda launched a geared scooter in India (even though it didnt have one in its stable) just so that it could eat into the biggest contributor of the R&D budget of Bajaj, it's biggest local competitor (Hero is a partner). this would result in less money for product development and so the co. would die a slow & natural death.

Factoring that in (since toyota and honda both treat Sun Tzu as god) i would tend to believe that the Fortuner would come, to upgrade the Scorpio buyer, grab the Safari Buyer and displace the Endeavour and CRV.

I personally am looking forward to the Fortuner....coz its a toyota meaning low cost of ownership and a diesel engine.....

Hey that said, the innova engine could also power the fortuner (if they decide on 2 engines)....wouldnt make economic sense for toyota to use engines across models? On that thought, do you think the coroalla would be launched with the CRDi engine? Would make it a killer proposition wouldnt it?

Wonder what would happen to octavia sales then..... :(
maedi is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 19:56   #28
Senior - BHPian
 
islero's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Chennai
Posts: 1,574
Thanked: 13 Times

Yea baby Toyota's back and rockin'!! Although its VERY ugly and a little pricey, too. Still, the extra powerful and economical enignes and tech should justify that.
islero is offline  
Old 25th February 2005, 21:48   #29
SuperSyn
 
Posts: n/a

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samurai
Since they have only quoted Gross Weight, let's guess the the best case Kerb Weight. Say 8 adult guys weighing 70Kg each. That would be 560 Kg, making Kerb Weight 2240-560 = 1680Kg. Now, some say Kerb weight includes driver, some don't. Even then 1680Kg is a lot at 102PS or 136PS. And if the car is loaded fully, we are talking gross weight of almost 2300Kg.

I have actually driven fully loaded minivans like Nissan Quest, Toyota Sienna, etc. For a driving enthusiast, it is a nightmare. You have keep lots of distance from the front vehicle, accelerate slowly and brake much in advance.
Innova's kerb weight is 1685-1740 Kilograms depending on variant. When I talked about better performance, it was in comparision to the Qualis. In any case, minivan's are hardly a driver's car, so to speak.
 
Old 25th February 2005, 22:16   #30
SuperSyn
 
Posts: n/a

maedi, all this talk of "market positioning" is what we can expect from auto executives/ suits in India since most of them are of the marketing type with little insight into technical aspects other than what they have been exposed to while working for their organization. They feel they have to say something about the new products to occupy media attention, and the result is the usual marketoid diarrhea.

Toyota could care less about taxi manufacturer image. The only reason they are charging a premium is because there is a pent up demand and they know they can get away with it thanks to the general incompetence of the competition. Can’t blame them, they are a business not a charity.

I have followed IMV project very closely over the years. Monocoque versus ladder-frame was one of the serious debates internally. The reasons Toyota settled for frame construction are :

1. Cheaper to manufacture, with easy migration for assembly lines

2. More models can be developed on a single platform with maximum component sharing, right down to the frame, drivetrain and suspension components. There are three models already on the IMV.

3. Feedback from India showed how taxis are often overloaded, and body on frame was preferred construction for this rugged application.
 
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks