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Old 15th September 2008, 01:26   #31
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My Cousin's Got his Altis Delivery

He drove the corolla 1st , then his civic and then my vRs

Obviously he claimed vRs to be the best performance car.

But he too felt that the corolla despite having the same power as the civic feels slower.

Anyone else felt the same?
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Old 15th September 2008, 01:28   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by akshay1234 View Post
your misunderstanding. ................................

..............the earlier gen corolla base model 'he' came without alloys and climate control and even a music system i think. that was priced at 9.xx lacs sx showroom.
Oh, my terrible misunderstanding if that is the case. But yea by old version, i did mean the earlier gen Corolla(and its comparison with the Honda Civic). Anyways my apologies, and thanks Akshay for that piece of info.
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Old 15th September 2008, 10:48   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abhinav.gupta88 View Post
...

But he too felt that the corolla despite having the same power as the civic feels slower.

Anyone else felt the same?
I have mentioned the same in my test drive report posted earlier in this thread comparing Civic and Altis. Even the high speed capability above 160 kmph was found lacking in Altis GLV. But then, it is tuned more towards FE and comfort. So we cant complain much.
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Old 21st September 2008, 08:37   #34
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My two cents on Altis 1.8G TD.

The exteriors :

Agree the front looks like a baby Camry, and rear very similar to old corolla. Not a head turner, but has its own presence on the road. It doesn’t looks that big in dimension as comes out on paper. The ground clearance is definitely a boon on Indian roads.
The build quality is much better than the earlier model which felt like tin.

Limited color choice, black or midnight blue would have enhanced the beauty (subjective).

The interiors :

Very good use of space available with ample pockets within arms length reach.
Both the front door accommodates big size water bottles comfortably. The beige colored fabric upholstery goes well with the similarly colored interiors. The rear seat are very comfortable. The 60:40 split is available. The boot accommodates 4 big ( 24 inches I guess) suitcases easily, in other words the rear wheel arc is not a big hindrance.
The dash looks and feels good. The wood finish is again personal choice, mine is not.

The mechanicals

The doors open 90 degrees so , entry and exit is quite ok. The high stance makes it more comfortable for seniors as compared to Civic.
The driver seat height adjustment, tillable steering, driver and passenger seat belt warning, door puddle lamps, height adjustable seatbelts are there.
The climate control is good and controls are well placed. The a/c chills fast. Though no vents for rear passengers, the cooling is uniform inside the cabin.


The drive :

The car fires up quietly , the tweaked engine drives better. The driving in bumper to bumper traffic is very comfortable compared to Civic. Overall visibility from the driver seat is better than the previous model. The EPS makes the turning at slow speed effortless.

On the speed test the car is good but few shades lower than Civic. The steering is light at high speed but feels connected with the road. Drove at 160+ , the feed back was good.

The gears felt a bit notchy , may be one needs to get used to it.The NVH is very good, as compared to the old one, and the supplied ICE is okay for average music lovers.

The horn will take a while to get used to. It needs a push at center or at base points to respond. This may be due to softer material used as compared to harder plastic on other car steering.

In Summary

A good city car with occasional getaway drives. The features, safety and goodies makes it excellent VFM .
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Old 22nd September 2008, 10:17   #35
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Spot on with the observations, Hackett. Great review.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hackett View Post
It doesn’t looks that big in dimension as comes out on paper.
Tell me about it! Mumbai seems to be flooded with maroon Corollas. It doesn't look anywhere as big as the pictures indicate. Still a great sedan though....perfect for those looking at practicality in the 10 lakh segment.
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Old 5th October 2008, 08:40   #36
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Managed to get an extended one hour TD in traffic of the Altis.

I'm not going to comment much on the exteriors since that depends on how one looks at it. I for one like the design. It won't blow you away like the civic neither will it disappoint. Rather than a new design it's more of an evolved design of the old Corolla.

Coming to the Interiors. The interiors feel quite plush. For a change a car in this price range has again started to have soft touch rubber feel dashboard and doorpads. Space wise more than the Jetta both front and rear but not as much as the Civic. With the front seats full back for me there is barely enough space for a person to sit in the rear. It's better than the Lancer and Jetta but lesser than Civic. Ingress and egress is a breeze with doors that open wide and seats which have a high H-point. The rear flat floor also makes it comfy for a 3rd passenger. The front door pads are scooped out above the map pockets which prevents tall legs from hitting the door pads all the time. Airconditioning was very good and it cooled instantly at start even in teh rear without dedicated rear ac vents.

It's got great features, xenons, power seats, auto headlamps, ABS, EBD, airbags, headlamp washers, rear sun shade and other nice touches like the one touch up and down drivers window which is usually just one touch down in other cars. The power window also has anti jam so if your hand is caught it will retract back down. The doors lock after 10kmph and can only be unlocked by the driver.

Overall build quality seems to be better than the Civic but not as good as the Skoda/VW. Attention to detail is not as good as the Skodas/VW, for example, none of the storage compartments were felt lined to prevent stuff from rattling. The leather seats quality was not good. Leather quality appeared to be cheap especially compared to the Jetta's vienna leather package.

Started up the car and it settled down to a very quiet idle. Let go of the clutch slowly and almost stalled. Low rpm torque is better than the civics but not great. I feel the lancer's low range pickup is better. Performance otherwise is good, acceleration is strong with good mid range. I took me a long while to get used to the throttle but still wasn't perfect. Revmatching was really tough as the throttle response wasn't linear. Sometimes it would be too less and sometimes it would just jump forward. Gearbox is a joy. Just loved it. Super slick and short precise throw. Steering is EPS so not great feedback and very light like the ONHC. I guess all the car's now are using EPS so can't complain.

Ride and handling was pretty ordinary. Nothing impressive. Handling is pretty good, not much roll when cornering but won't get your pulses racing. Ride quality is decent. I say decent because unlike the really old Lancer the Altis does not have rear independent suspension. But it works better than the Lancer's as it's on the softer side.

Trip computer showed mileage of 7.8kmpl after flooring the car in 1st and 2nd only through bumper to bumper traffic thanks to a huge jam around the congress office in my area.

The car does not do anything special but does everything right. It's got decent performance, ride and handling coupled with good features. It if difficult to find major flaws in the package at the same time it's also difficult to find anything great in the car.
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Old 5th October 2008, 08:49   #37
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Hey all, seems like people are actually liking this car. For a family car, it is quite ideal.
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Old 5th October 2008, 12:17   #38
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Suddenly quite a number of Corolla Altis is visbile on the roads of Mumbai and Thane. Looks like it has managed to touch the VFM cord of the most. And more so of people who are upgrading from one or two segment below.
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Old 6th October 2008, 01:05   #39
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I have seen many Altis in the past few weeks
Seems Honda Civic does have to worry.
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Old 6th October 2008, 08:52   #40
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Well everybody who had back problems hence no Civic, were scraping their piggybanks for the Jetta and suddenly the Altis arrives.

For the money saved (6 lakhs), the cheaper diesel running cost is offset

Meanwhile, Vw are about to raise prices, pass the pipe over here

Enough Said
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Old 6th October 2008, 10:44   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vid6639 View Post
The car does not do anything special but does everything right.
As I told you earlier, this one line sums up the Altis just right.

Your reviews are always informative (and fun to read). I like your focus on practicality. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 25th October 2008, 07:00   #42
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Great review. I would personally prefer the TCA over the HC.

Any idea on the actual FE figures in Bangalore? Also, how quick is the Auto box in the TCA.
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Old 25th October 2008, 23:15   #43
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Test drove an Altis today.

Let me just talk about the performance.

Cockpit : Like people have said before it isn't as big as it says on paper. I was feeling a lack of shoulder space when i drove the car and my arms kept banging against the door/window when ever i tried to turn the car. Driving position was good.

Engine : Good low end torque, will cruise effortless forever but push it beyond 5000rpm and you definately notice the engine straining itself.

Acceleration and Gearing : Found the gearing to be just awesome. I rem doing around 125-130kmph and the car was already redlining 3rd. There wasn't much drop in acc even after shifting into 4th and 165kmph came pretty quick (considering that the A/C was on and i had 3 passengers).

Handling and Braking : This was a big let down. The car has been softly sprung for ride quality and it has ruined the handling and high speed stability of the vehicle. The car kept swaying at speeds above 120 and braking at 165 saw the car wanting to veer towards the left for some reason (prob an issue with brake balance). Frankly, iv taken our Innova to 150kmph and Vtec to 185kmph on that same stretch and never experienced such an issue.

Overall : It's a nice comfortable car as long as you're being driven around at a relaxed pace.

Shan2nu
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Old 10th December 2008, 03:04   #44
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Are most test driving the stick shift or Auto, I drove the Auto-Altis and though it does not have optiond in D's but the standard itself carries lot of punch and kicks lot of dirt when pressed for action.

for me..i came out pretty happy and comparing with Civic, i would say it was the usual affair.

honda is smooth as silk and toyota you can feel the wheel and to each his own
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Old 15th December 2008, 11:52   #45
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Heard that Toyota is coming with a Stripped down version of the Altis, cheaper by at least 2.5L next year.
Anyone confirmed the same?
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