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-   -   Toyota Innova Crysta : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/177320-toyota-innova-crysta-official-review-12.html)

Took a test drive of the Crysta and realised Toyota has played a neat trick to get the performance in "Power mode".

It has taken a leaf out of the Audi 3.2 FSI's bag of tricks. So when you ask for 30% throttle the ECU tells the injectors to provide a 60% response.

Although the power increase feels like a whopping 25 - 30 Bhp increase the actual increase in power would be about 5-7 bhp only and the rest is on account of Toyota's bag of tricks.

Manufacturers would not allow power boosts of 25 -30 Bhp at the press of a button.

How does one expose this trick ? - Release the accelerator and the speed does not come down for a second as the ECU has to first send the signal for the accelerator reduction and then to cancel out the trick. This takes about a second and if you observe closely you can catch Toyota out.

The downside is, if you use the Power Mode while at traffic lights, you could hit the car in front, if you don't hit the brakes in time.

On an expressway at fast speeds, the car just keeps accelerating and while the straight line stability is good, you get the feel of the old Tata Sumo.

If you know the drawbacks of a Tata Sumo type handler, you would make adjustments to provide for the resultant unpredictability.

There was an Audi TT also being test driven on the expressway and the Crysta left the TT for dead.

Probably the TT driver was green.

Whatever, it's so much fun when you can do that in a delivery van that's just paid a visit to a gaudy beauty parlour and runs on steroids.

Update-

Completed 2000 kms. The gearbox now feels smoother to shift and I feel at home driving this car. As I commented earlier that it is an extremely boring car to drive. Now, I would like to change that statement as I find it more involving to drive after gaining some driving experience behind the wheel. The more I drive, the more I am fond of this car. The mileage is hovering between 14-15 kmpl as per MID (60H and 30 City runs)

My AT experience-

One of my friends took delivery of AT ZX. Drove it for a good 20-25 kms and here is my quick review-

The vehicle creeps forwards as soon as you engage D and initial gear shifts are pretty seamless. However, on highways it feels very lazy and confused with gear selections. Where are those 177 horses? One would ask after driving it. If manual feels 148 bhp this feels 120-140bhp max! This is an epic example of a poor gearbox successfully hiding all the power engine has got!
May be my DSG driving experience has set very high standards for automatics. I still feel they could have designed a more responsive gearbox. At one point I shifted down from 4th to 3rd and it took full 2 seconds to execute that request! Suddenly the manual 2.4 version felt more peppy and quick to drive and also more communicating in terms of driving pleasure.

An impromputu roll-on acceleration video. Had to brake as soon as i saw the white innova. Pretty impressed by how the van took off. Transcend DP220.

https://youtu.be/1TTCNrIu8C4

I believe there are different power modes, maybe you were on the economy mode. Also, 177 horses is really not a lot when you consider the huge weight of this vehicle. For e.g. The city has 120 horses but the weight is only around 1060kg.

Nice review GTO, THANKS to Rehan too. that one sentence quoted above is the key for any automobile to succeed.

The front styling of crysta is aggressive but the back end looks a bit boxy compared to its predecessor.

I once met a British national in a train, whose remark about the Honda accord he owned was "very very reliable", the very first remark about the Innova rekindled the memory of the conversation.

No doubt that Toyota is a contender for the top spot in car sales figures in US.

Got these images on whatsapp and thought it would be more relevant to post here instead of the Accidents thread.
















The front has taken the impact quite well. Proof that bulletproof reliability now comes with missileproof safety :D

Airbags deployment should be "simple" like in the Innova Crysta, with very little variables and ifs/buts. Sensors detecting a collision should immediately deploy all airbags.

The problem with "intelligent" airbag sensors which supposedly detect severity of crash or location of impact (side, front, roll over etc) is that not all accident scenarios can be pre-programmed into a deployment system. Better to be safe than sorry.

With all those curtains deployed, the phrase "SAFE AS A HOUSE" gets a whole new meaning

The reason the intelligent ones are supposed to be better is because they are designed to protect from a specific type of injury.

Side airbag deployment in a relatively small frontal impact could mean that a subsequent side impact from roll over or another vehicle cannot be cushioned.

This argument only holds good if the intelligent system works as it should. From recent examples I'm inclined to think the Toyota way may well be better.

Problem with this also is that many of the Indian Folks will start complaining that the system "malfunctioned" in the sense that when there was a small crash as well all the airbags deployed which was not needed at all.

Its been 10 days that the vehicle has arrived and it has been a pleasure to drive Crysta. Completed a 1300Kms drive (Hyderabad - Tirupati - Hyderabad) and fell in love with the way this car drives. Loved the PWR mode. It truly transforms your car into a fast machine. The car gets super aggressive and is wanting to pounce ahead. Used it a couple of times to overtake sedans and there was no way, they could match up this power. I am impressed. The Mileage was about 14.5kmpl (100% AC) which is impressive considering that my speed was between 90Kmph - 120Kmph.

First Service Update:- I completed my first service at 600Kms as i had a long trip planned. The service was fast(1Hr) and the total cost was about Rs. 108/-. They charged me for the windscreen cleaner solution and 2 ltrs of water. I also purchased the Rubber Mats(OEM Toyota). These rubber mats are good and do their job well. I should have got them when i took the delivery. The mat cost me Rs. 2250/- and there was no discount available on that.

Overall, i did not see any difference after the service and the car ran exactly the same way it did earlier. The second service is planned at 5000Kms and waiting to see how that goes.

The thing is, these "smart" airbags aren't designed to save the car owner's money.

If that was the reason, all car manufacturers would be deploying all airbags at every opportunity!


The fact is, airbags aren't big fluffy cushions of air. They are EXPLOSIVES contained by nothing more than a synthetic bag.

They deploy with insane amounts of force, and can cause severe injury or death when they deploy at an incorrect time.


The smartness of airbags, and the ifs/buts are all there to ensure that the airbags will only deploy in a situation where they will not cause any further harm to the car's occupants.


Some related reading in both of tbppjpr's posts here : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post4013485

OT: When airbags deploy in seats with side airbags do they replace the whole seat or just replace the modules inside seat and patch up the leather?

Hi folks, I've been searching for team bhp's official review/thoughts of the 2.4 MT Innova Crysta. I'm especially looking for a comparison between the 2015 outgoing Innova and the new incoming Innova Crysta in terms of performance, FE, new engine vs old tried and tested engine etc. Looks like everyone is gung-ho about the AT options going by the posts and reviews which is surprising considering that almost every Innova on the road is a MT and most buyers (I assume) would explore an MT option also. Especially since the old innova has been discontinued.

From what I know a significant chunk (close to 40% or upwards) of the bookings are AT and most of them ZX - per the largest dealer in Bangalore

That's what is striking. Most of these sales probably represent the low hanging fruit of customers who've been waiting for an AT option or who are "downgrading" from a premium suv such as the CRV. However the bread and butter of innova sales may not come from AT buyers going by past history. For such customers, will buying a new basic 8 seater for 18.5 lakhs (GX OTR Chennai) make sense or will the second hand market for innovas start picking up significantly?