Stupendous review to the minutest details and not to miss the minutely detailed photography as well. Hats off to the team.
But more than that, hats off to Toyota. IMO, Toyota really pulled a grand trick out of its hat but what a time it took to do so.
Overall, my sentiments remain, Old Wine in New Bottle & Wrappers and with what style, although Toyota surprisingly did not launch it amidst much fanfare!
A couple of observations from my end:
1. Checked the chassis layout and components, and even if not in complete ditto, majority of layout and components seem ditto, direct lift and direct fit, be it overall chassis, cross-members, suspension setup. This surely does not look like an All New IMV platform but simply a reworked one that too on a very minimalistic levels. That should save quite a few $$$ for Toyota when it comes to parts without much investment. Toyota has been claiming the All New Innova even for miniscule updates to front grill and bonnet and interior trims. So no wonder, when it brought this out, it became even more All New Innova. The new dressing up on the old chassis and structure seem to have done wonders inside and outside yet retaining the old form factor.
I am sure going to try do a comparative underbody snapping next time I am in for service.
2. All New Engine?
IMO, a grand-grand trick by Toyota. After looking over quite some facts (ref wikis:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Innova,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_KD_engine,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_GD_engine#2GD-FTV) and some simple computations, it clearly comes out as the same engine retuned and rebadged. The same could and should have been plonked by Toyota long time back.
Change of 92 bore X 93.8 stroke engine measuring 2494 cc to restrict stroke, 92 bore X 90 stroke to convert into an engine measuring 2393 cc, supplement it with VNT to raise output from 101 bhp (102 PS advertised in 2005 brochure) to 148 bhp (150 PS advertised in 2016 brochure) and finally rebadge it from 2KD to 2GD. In mechanical terms, displacement is directly proportional to the stroke. Voila, you have a grand new engine developed free of cost literally. That is why the characteristics of the new engine got to be similar to old.
I wonder why can’t Toyota do it much swiftly when others are doing so swiftly and publicly and apply even more swift actions to plonking the Petrol engine.
3. Specs comparison of the Old and New
That much more power and torque at lower revvs must be making it a sprinter at the signals, cold start-offs and overtaking maneuvers. Other than that, in regular drives, I doubt if it makes that much more difference including FE. The old Innova anyways delivered 10-12 kpl in city and with conservative driving at 80-90 kph, a max of 16 kpl on highway.
Do we get performance graphs for new Innova like the 2005 below? These were there in 2005 brochure itself.
4. What bugs me also is what did the new Innova do with the added dimensions?
What did it do with the 200m length-wise? From the looks of it, the 200 mm seems to be all gone in increasing the overhangs, primarily exhausted by front-end derriere, making even more difficult navigating rough terrains. Though the front overhang seems to be angled up at front so have to see how it affects practically. The interiors space seems ditto. How many are finding different/lesser is quite amusing and must be effect of interior combinations or non-experience with one earlier.
Similarly,
60 mm width-wise, is it effect of the wide ORVMs / turn indicators protruding?
50 mm height-wise, is it effect of the Shark-fin antenna jutting out on top? It sure looks odd on this van. Glass printed antenna like Fortuner would have made better sense.
5. For the benefit of forum, A/C schematics are as below in Innova, I have been digging into it since long when I installed the rear a/c unit in my Innova in 2011. All schematics are available publicly on various Toyota websites.
http://www.japan-parts.eu/toyota/gr/...ooler-piping/3 http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/g_G_200...-GKMDYM_1.html
What lies behind the right quarter panel are these blower and cooling/evaporating coil that drip water on condensation. There should be drip outlets for both front and rear independently and the a/c water drippings should be found at 2 locations, front under body and rear right tyre.
6. They do have some nifty storage spaces, good and much needed. Additionally, the door pockets used to restrict one 1 ltr bottle per pocket and 2+1 on 3rd row sides, totaling 7 bottles in car requiring to carry additional supplies in cartons, bags, stow under the seats etc. But the new designed pockets with 3 bottles each capacity should serve pretty good for trips.
7. The bonnet really looks nice now instead of the nose-dived one earlier. However, I still can’t digest that front, am sure they could have done better. Essentially, as been pointed out earlier, seems a direct design transplant from Highlander to make it feel masculine. It is certainly hit or miss. Yet it is not going to stop Innova from flying off the shelf. The inverted side indicators seem like a fill in gap design and IMO it would have definitely looked good to have thin integrated LED slats split across the tail light parts on dicky and quarter panel. As somebody mentioned, it is nice to see no chrome slat at rear finally.
8. Rear quarter panel increases difficulty in rear visibility which was earlier just about limiting in the IRVM. Better use of ORVMs along with IRVM will be essential in dense traffic conditions. In addition, it does reduce that much green house and reduces passenger's vision outside, which used to be like open house earlier.
9. Toyota has kept some small nifty things still nice, tools kept in that nice leather pouch. That is pretty good quality, I still have mine intact as it is all over these years, been used decently enough. The rubber band that holds the toolkit seems like an everlasting one for sure as I have seen over these years.
10. The jack is another nice thing they seem to have retained. As I have used in tricky places too, when stuck in boulders, sand etc, it is pretty stable and easily goes underbody to the needed beam at tricky places, provides firm base to lift the car.
11. I just wish they had done something to negotiate the sad problem of operating spare. It is such a hit or miss and when it does miss, it can really get frustrating. The chain mechanism is pretty good and held well over years. But there are some plastic coupling parts in there that can give away and cause jamming problems, in which case, you just have to break it off, however, that does not cause any problems to the chain pulley mechanism.
12. The Innova GX if compared against G3 at that time, starts at about 5 lacs up after 11 years. That is understandable given the economy I guess, but it will keep on attracting both +/- opinions on its worth over what it offers now against bare bones earlier. For those who don’t need to think twice about economics, it’s a direct lift, with lack of competition. XUV500 is a lucrative one though which should be the only other contender now.
Overall, after knowing the engine facts, I am wondering what benefit does the 2.4L engine offer over the same old 2.5L. I would someday test whether the re-tuned old new engine and gear box give that similar performance as in the overdrive range on each gear on old Innova, which I use frequently when needed, although having to bear the undamped screams of the engine.
However, whatever nitpicking be done, this is definitely a grand way forward, albeit a little late. Late or not, it doesn’t hurt Toyota, it just digs deeper into consumer’s pockets, who seem more than willing to shell it out with clearly a lack of proper competition. At one point, we were tipping towards Aria when it was launched instead of another Innova. But looking at Tata’s lackluster support swayed away to get another Innova. I just hope someday, Aria to be Hexa makes its way strongly and really is able to build its base as strong competition to Innova.