Toyota Etios and Liva Diesels: All you need to know!

It's been just a few months since Toyota launched the hatchback version of its Etios sedan and christened it the Liva. Then, the Japanese manufacturer was being extremely tight-lipped about its plans of plonking a diesel engine in either of the Etios cars, but that move has finally been taken care of and the Etios twins are now ready to be launched with diesel power. The petrol variants of both the Etios sedan and the Liva hatch came about as extremely practical machines in terms of their setups and space and that has been the USP of Toyota's smallest cars in India.

While the Etios sedan utilised a 1.5 litre gasoline unit arming it with decent performance, the Liva petrol went the excise duty busting way with its 1.2 litre mill. But when it came down to the diesels, both cars get a 1.4 litre D-4D 4-cylinder engine. The mill churns out 68 PS @ 3800rpm and 170 Nm @ 1800-2400rpm. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox with gear ratios optimised to give the best performance, while keeping fuel efficiency intact. Considering that the overall kerb weight difference between the sedan and the hatch is just about 25kg, expect both to return similar efficiency figures. The Etios sedan which is the heavier of the two small Toyotas has been certified to deliver 23.59 kmpl according to ARAI. Keep an eye out for the complete road test to know more about real life figures though.

The real differences between the Etios and Liva diesels though are cosmetic. For starters, the Etios seems to have gotten preferential treatment over the Liva since it gets three trim levels with the diesel engine, while the Liva diesel will be available only with the base variant. All of the Etios and Liva's diesel counterparts are distinguished by the 'D' suffix for the variant name. Despite the Liva diesel being available only in the GD variant, it still gives customers the option of choosing a safety pack that includes both ABS and Airbags for the driver and passengers, clearly emphasizing Toyota's commitment to safety. As far as the interiors are concerned, the Liva diesel does disappoint somewhat and owing to its low trim level confinement begins to show the car's built-to-a-price values. No such problems with the sedan though and its equipment levels remain impressive.

Price will be the key to the Etios twins' success, but judging by industry standards expect the diesel versions to be around Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 more expensive than their similarly equipped petrol counterparts. Gladly though, the wait isnt too long for the exact price tags to be made available and for the bookings to start. Watch out for the complete road test as well as the Etios and Etios Liva's launch shortly!

Toyota Etios/ Liva Hatchback Diesel