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dcargod 23rd May 2009, 2:01 pmI get the jitters when I think of buying an expensive cars on our deadly Indian roads. They go through a lot of ware n tear and need maintenance. So for a country like India, any product should be such that along with being aspirational, it must also have a dose of practicality and suitability for our roads. So when I set out to survey the 10-15 lakh mark, I hit upon options like the Toyota Corolla Altis, Chevrolet Optra, etc. Of these the latter's TD report has already been provided. So, how odes the Altis perform for itself and against others? Does it manage to tick all the right boxes? Is it worth the money spent? I find out..
EXTERIOR AND STYLING
The older Corolla was a bland looking car, for which it recieved a lot of criticisms. But still it sold in large numbers. The Altis strives to provide that visual appeal to spice things up. For starters, the Altis looks just like a shrunken Camry. The front is an exact copy of the Camry, but a couple of chrome insets would have worked better for the grill. Still the Camry-like grill-on-body look good but the headlamps are the main lookers. It has an aggressive shape with an extended kink towards the side. The Altis looks great when viewed head on. A crisp shoulder line starts from the side of the headlights and continues aggressively towards the stubby boot. The way the curved shoulder line moves, gives the side profile a stylistic, yet aggressive stance. This stance is continued to the rear of the car and the boot, though looking a tad heavy, is no eyesore. The boomerang shaped tail-lamps look great and complements the headlamp design. Moth the front and rear bumpers are well designed- the front looking aggressive and the rear looking a bit more stylish and well shaped. The rearview mirrors have integrated turn signals, which look okay, but larger mirrors would have been more preferable. The door handles operate with a solid feel and the doors shut with a comparatively nice 'thunk' sound. The alloy rim design looks great and its size is 15". The boot is large with 475lt of space and it is well shaped too. The Altis gets a unique feature, i.e. a seperate key with which the lock of the foldable seat and under-boot can be opened. This ensures that no vallet can access your spare saver and other maintenance kit with the standard car keys. The Altis has a 170mm ground clearance, giving it good 'Indian road handling' capacity. Plus, the water absorption pump is situated high up under the boot, giving the Altis awesome water-wading capability to right under the headlamps. The car will move easily even if the pumpers are totally submerged. The chassis itself has been stiffened a lot helping to optimise ride and handling characteristics.
INTERIORS
Peep through the windows and you get that sense of space inside, a must to attract Indian buyers. You will not be disappointed once you enter. Open the doors and ingress and egress are easy, a real good-feel factor for the aged people. The front seats are extremely comfortable and finding a good driving positions is easy and fun with the array of adjustments available. The front seats are powered and adjust for height, slide and lumbar support, which can really give your lower backs a good time. The steering also adjusts for reach and rake to make things even more easier. Then I become stunned to see the amount of storage places available to store my knick-knacks. Altis gets dual gloveboxes which donot drop down or go up easily. This exudes a sense of quality. There are also some small covered storage spaces behind the gear lever which are good enough for storing mobile phones and iPODs. There are also a couple of drawers at the base of the central console which are useful for storing CDs. The door pockets are also pretty well sized and shaped. The front is ergonomically sound with everything falling into my hand with remarkable ease. The only grouse is that the internal rear view mirror could have been a little larger in size. Most of the things work with a quality feel except the headlight and wiper stalks, which need further damping. The dash quality, though good, hasn't quite reached Honda-standards. The leather quality of the seats are very good but boistering is a tad on the firmer side. It is also loaded to the gill with features. Some highlights are a 6-CD changer with 6 speakers and AUX-in facility to play iPODs. It sounds great and is a treat to listen to. It gets electro-luminiscent dials which look great even during daytime. Plus it is very legible and easy on the eye too. It also gets real time mileage indicator which is pretty accurate and refreshes frequently. It also gets electrically foldable door mirrors, a boon in our kind of roads, 8-zone automatic climate control AC which cools so fast and well that i feel like sitting inside a refrigerator, and the list goes on and on...
The rear seats are very comfortable and passengers are seated high up. There is hardly any lack of room and spending hours in the backseat will become a pleasure. The cabin feels pretty airy and so no cramped feeling, though the rear glass area of the window could have been bigger. Sitting 3 abreast is easy but the middle passenger has to deal with the hump of the arm-rest. The transmission channel is nearly absent, so legroom isn't a problem. The rear central arm rest is convenient to use and also gets cup holders. Theres also a remote control stowed away in a small compartment is the dash near the steering wheel for the audio system. This facilitates backseat driving. Plus, the dual tone interiors also look pleasing to the eye and feels good and cheery. The wooden inserts on the dash board are well placed and look good too, but their quality is suspect. Overall, it is one of the best interiors you can get at this price.
ENGINE, REFINEMENT, SUSPENSION SYSTEM
The Altis gets a reworked version of the Corolla engine producing 130bhp and a little more torque. It is also claimed to be more powerful, responsive and efficient. But due to the increase in the Altis's weight, it has been negated quite a bit. It is responsive, but feels fidgety initially. But once that initial drama is over, the motor responds well and the car goes offline smartly. It is best to shift up early and enjoy the midrange than to work it in higher revs where it feels strained, coarse and alarmingly noisy for a 13lac car. In traffic, you can amble around at higher gears with ease. This augments FE. The strong midrange makes overtaking and cruising very easy and enjoyable, plus the enhine sound is less too. On the highway, the car responds to throttle inputs eeven in 4th or 5th gear, negating the need to downshift much for overtaking. It is perfectly suited for those single-lane overtaking moves. The gearshift action is alright, but there is an inherent vagueness about it. Try and execute a quick shift and you get lost pretty easily. Though it is light, some effort is needed to slot those cogs.
The suspension of the Altis has been well sorted out after so much of criticism. The ride is smooth and silent over most roads and at most speeds. But the sharper bumps will put it offline, especially at higher speeds. The quietness of the suspension is what surprised me. Still there is a considerable amount of road, wind and tyre noise. Straightline stability has improved quite a bit and it feels quite planted at high speeds. The flipside is the handling. It tries to strike a balance between the two but doesn't succeed that much. It wont break into a sweat around corners, but doesn't feel enthusiastic either. It is pretty planted through corners and can go through them at respectable speeds, but body does roll and there is a fair amount of understeer from the otherwise well-weighted steering. This understeer can be coped with by braking a bit and adding an extra lock. But doing this all the time will irritate you and you will prefer going slow. The steering has seen a fair degree of improvement in response which is a welcome change. Plus the brakes have also been improved, not needing much effort to slow down and stop the car either. They are pretty good and inspire some confidence in you.
Overall, it isn't a very good driver's car, but it does the job. It is more suited for chauffer driven people.
FUEL ECONOMY
FE is said to be improved over the older one and the driving characteristics also help to this effect. With my driving mainly on city roads with a dose of expressway speeding with 100% AC on, the mileage indicator showed me an impressive figure of 11.5, which is pretty good for the class. A maximum figure of around 15 can also be achieved on the highway.
OWNERSHIP
Toyota has a lot of confidence on its products and offers a staggering 3yrs/1lac kms warranty on its vehicles, which, to my knowledge, can also be extended. Plus there is also Toyota;s hassle free ownership and bullet proof reliability on offer.
VERDICT
The Corolla Altis is a car which ticks all the right boxes of a sensible person. It has got good looks, comfort, understated luxury, driveability, fuel economy, hassle free aftersales service, good resale value, etc. It isn't spicy by any means, but is a soft, subtle and gentle machine which appeals more to the matured. It is also priced well and ongoing discounts also make it worthwhile. It is a good buy for those who are not too concerned about swankiness and prefer mature material comforts. It is a Toyota at the end of the day and you can also rest assured that you are in good hands. It can be a 'practical alternative to the civic'.
EXTERIOR AND STYLING
The older Corolla was a bland looking car, for which it recieved a lot of criticisms. But still it sold in large numbers. The Altis strives to provide that visual appeal to spice things up. For starters, the Altis looks just like a shrunken Camry. The front is an exact copy of the Camry, but a couple of chrome insets would have worked better for the grill. Still the Camry-like grill-on-body look good but the headlamps are the main lookers. It has an aggressive shape with an extended kink towards the side. The Altis looks great when viewed head on. A crisp shoulder line starts from the side of the headlights and continues aggressively towards the stubby boot. The way the curved shoulder line moves, gives the side profile a stylistic, yet aggressive stance. This stance is continued to the rear of the car and the boot, though looking a tad heavy, is no eyesore. The boomerang shaped tail-lamps look great and complements the headlamp design. Moth the front and rear bumpers are well designed- the front looking aggressive and the rear looking a bit more stylish and well shaped. The rearview mirrors have integrated turn signals, which look okay, but larger mirrors would have been more preferable. The door handles operate with a solid feel and the doors shut with a comparatively nice 'thunk' sound. The alloy rim design looks great and its size is 15". The boot is large with 475lt of space and it is well shaped too. The Altis gets a unique feature, i.e. a seperate key with which the lock of the foldable seat and under-boot can be opened. This ensures that no vallet can access your spare saver and other maintenance kit with the standard car keys. The Altis has a 170mm ground clearance, giving it good 'Indian road handling' capacity. Plus, the water absorption pump is situated high up under the boot, giving the Altis awesome water-wading capability to right under the headlamps. The car will move easily even if the pumpers are totally submerged. The chassis itself has been stiffened a lot helping to optimise ride and handling characteristics.
INTERIORS
Peep through the windows and you get that sense of space inside, a must to attract Indian buyers. You will not be disappointed once you enter. Open the doors and ingress and egress are easy, a real good-feel factor for the aged people. The front seats are extremely comfortable and finding a good driving positions is easy and fun with the array of adjustments available. The front seats are powered and adjust for height, slide and lumbar support, which can really give your lower backs a good time. The steering also adjusts for reach and rake to make things even more easier. Then I become stunned to see the amount of storage places available to store my knick-knacks. Altis gets dual gloveboxes which donot drop down or go up easily. This exudes a sense of quality. There are also some small covered storage spaces behind the gear lever which are good enough for storing mobile phones and iPODs. There are also a couple of drawers at the base of the central console which are useful for storing CDs. The door pockets are also pretty well sized and shaped. The front is ergonomically sound with everything falling into my hand with remarkable ease. The only grouse is that the internal rear view mirror could have been a little larger in size. Most of the things work with a quality feel except the headlight and wiper stalks, which need further damping. The dash quality, though good, hasn't quite reached Honda-standards. The leather quality of the seats are very good but boistering is a tad on the firmer side. It is also loaded to the gill with features. Some highlights are a 6-CD changer with 6 speakers and AUX-in facility to play iPODs. It sounds great and is a treat to listen to. It gets electro-luminiscent dials which look great even during daytime. Plus it is very legible and easy on the eye too. It also gets real time mileage indicator which is pretty accurate and refreshes frequently. It also gets electrically foldable door mirrors, a boon in our kind of roads, 8-zone automatic climate control AC which cools so fast and well that i feel like sitting inside a refrigerator, and the list goes on and on...
The rear seats are very comfortable and passengers are seated high up. There is hardly any lack of room and spending hours in the backseat will become a pleasure. The cabin feels pretty airy and so no cramped feeling, though the rear glass area of the window could have been bigger. Sitting 3 abreast is easy but the middle passenger has to deal with the hump of the arm-rest. The transmission channel is nearly absent, so legroom isn't a problem. The rear central arm rest is convenient to use and also gets cup holders. Theres also a remote control stowed away in a small compartment is the dash near the steering wheel for the audio system. This facilitates backseat driving. Plus, the dual tone interiors also look pleasing to the eye and feels good and cheery. The wooden inserts on the dash board are well placed and look good too, but their quality is suspect. Overall, it is one of the best interiors you can get at this price.
ENGINE, REFINEMENT, SUSPENSION SYSTEM
The Altis gets a reworked version of the Corolla engine producing 130bhp and a little more torque. It is also claimed to be more powerful, responsive and efficient. But due to the increase in the Altis's weight, it has been negated quite a bit. It is responsive, but feels fidgety initially. But once that initial drama is over, the motor responds well and the car goes offline smartly. It is best to shift up early and enjoy the midrange than to work it in higher revs where it feels strained, coarse and alarmingly noisy for a 13lac car. In traffic, you can amble around at higher gears with ease. This augments FE. The strong midrange makes overtaking and cruising very easy and enjoyable, plus the enhine sound is less too. On the highway, the car responds to throttle inputs eeven in 4th or 5th gear, negating the need to downshift much for overtaking. It is perfectly suited for those single-lane overtaking moves. The gearshift action is alright, but there is an inherent vagueness about it. Try and execute a quick shift and you get lost pretty easily. Though it is light, some effort is needed to slot those cogs.
The suspension of the Altis has been well sorted out after so much of criticism. The ride is smooth and silent over most roads and at most speeds. But the sharper bumps will put it offline, especially at higher speeds. The quietness of the suspension is what surprised me. Still there is a considerable amount of road, wind and tyre noise. Straightline stability has improved quite a bit and it feels quite planted at high speeds. The flipside is the handling. It tries to strike a balance between the two but doesn't succeed that much. It wont break into a sweat around corners, but doesn't feel enthusiastic either. It is pretty planted through corners and can go through them at respectable speeds, but body does roll and there is a fair amount of understeer from the otherwise well-weighted steering. This understeer can be coped with by braking a bit and adding an extra lock. But doing this all the time will irritate you and you will prefer going slow. The steering has seen a fair degree of improvement in response which is a welcome change. Plus the brakes have also been improved, not needing much effort to slow down and stop the car either. They are pretty good and inspire some confidence in you.
Overall, it isn't a very good driver's car, but it does the job. It is more suited for chauffer driven people.
FUEL ECONOMY
FE is said to be improved over the older one and the driving characteristics also help to this effect. With my driving mainly on city roads with a dose of expressway speeding with 100% AC on, the mileage indicator showed me an impressive figure of 11.5, which is pretty good for the class. A maximum figure of around 15 can also be achieved on the highway.
OWNERSHIP
Toyota has a lot of confidence on its products and offers a staggering 3yrs/1lac kms warranty on its vehicles, which, to my knowledge, can also be extended. Plus there is also Toyota;s hassle free ownership and bullet proof reliability on offer.
VERDICT
The Corolla Altis is a car which ticks all the right boxes of a sensible person. It has got good looks, comfort, understated luxury, driveability, fuel economy, hassle free aftersales service, good resale value, etc. It isn't spicy by any means, but is a soft, subtle and gentle machine which appeals more to the matured. It is also priced well and ongoing discounts also make it worthwhile. It is a good buy for those who are not too concerned about swankiness and prefer mature material comforts. It is a Toyota at the end of the day and you can also rest assured that you are in good hands. It can be a 'practical alternative to the civic'.
