Toyota Etios Liva: Engine & Transmission

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No matter how good the Toyota Etios Liva looks, the USP of the car is always going to be what’s under the hood. Considering Toyota has always delivered on that front no matter what segment we’re talking about, the Liva shouldn’t disappoint either. The car’s been debuted with a petrol engine and a diesel may be on the cards soon, but the Japanese aren’t telling us when. Regardless, here’s a look at what the Etios Liva comes charged with.

1.2-litre four-cylinder engine

There was a lot of talk of the Liva getting the big 1.5-litre engine from the sedan. But anyone who knows the Indian market would know that the hatch would be looking to exploit the maximum benefit of the excise duty concessions that the Indian government has on offer for small cars. That means that under the Etios Liva hood is a 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine. On paper, it isn’t all that bad, 80PS @ 5600rpm and 104Nm @ 3100rpm. In fact these figures are pretty close to most of the competition and better than some as well. With the Liva’s approximately 900kg kerb weight, it should also make for a great power-to-weight ratio, to score high on performance. But somehow, that’s not the case because the Etios Liva’s brief seems to be rather straight forward – better efficiency. With the gear ratios matched to make life in the city easier, the car does feel peppy enough at low revs and accelerates cleanly off the line. But the excitement tapers off much too soon and you really need to work the engine to get to past 120km/h. Our instrumented tests did see the car cross the 150km/h mark but it took a lot of patience and even more stretches of empty roads to get there. Read about how we think the new Etios Liva's 1.2-litre four cylinder engine will fare against the existing competition here : Read : Liva Competition Check 

5-speed manual gearbox

The 5-speed manual gearbox may be the culprit here with gear ratios more conducive for city driving rather than highway cruising. However that does have a rather positive effect on fuel efficiency. The ARAI certified stat reads 18.3kmpl cumulative but real world conditions should see you get about 14.3kmpl in the city and 16.1kmpl on the highway. Considering the prices of petrol today, that’s not a welcome proposition! All through the test, the Liva’s gearbox exuded a positive feel and slick shifts all the way to fifth. Predictably, the Liva didn’t scorch the acceleration runs, taking over 17 seconds to cross the 100km/h mark. To read about our thoughts and drive experiences on the new Toyota Etios Liva click here : Read : Road Test

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