Proud to be grown-up: 2007 Toyota Vios

We all went through that phase, that period in our lives when it was time to grow up and start earning a living, to learn the vagaries of the daily commute, to deal with office politics, and to get used to wearing work clothes day in and day out and how to mix and match so we wouldn’t get tired of our look. Well, maybe some of us did. In much the same manner, the Toyota Vios, the most affordable sedan in the Philippine lineup, has just gone through an important phase in its life. Where it was content before to come across as the cute and fairly cheap runabout that college kids could use and abuse without once tarnishing Toyota’s legendary reputation for durability, the 2nd generation wants to be seen as grown-up, serious, and ready for the big boys’ world.

The look says it all: a little edgier, a little more elaboration with the little details like how the headlamp edges flare into the bumper, or the neat integration of the 3rd brake lamp. Remember the first time you got the length of your necktie just right? The Vios is like that: proper and presentable, just like how you’d expect your supervisor (or maybe you’re the supervisor) to be.

To keep things simple, much of the Vios’ previous fundamentals have been retained, namely the drivetrain and suspension. The 1.3-liter powers the entry level models, while the 1.5 is reserved for the higher-end G variants. The 1.3 is rated at 85 HP and 12.2 kg-m of torque, while the 1.5 still pumps out 107 HP and 14.2 kg-m of torque. The front suspension is still composed of trusty McPherson struts, and the back still uses the space-saving (and surprisingly nimble) torsion beam. The “E” and “J” variants get the basic disk-drum brake setup, while the “G” has more reliable (and expensive) all-disk brakes with ABS.

Unless you’re looking at the Vios as a fleet vehicle, it’s best to choose between the “G” models as they have just the right amount of standard equipment to keep most personal owners happy in this age of 2-DIN stereos, airbags, split-folding seatbacks, and Optitron gauges, all of which the “G” models happily flaunt. And the 1.5 is a peppy little motor to boot.

Drive the “G” in either 5-speed manual or automatic transmission models and it proves to be an eager beaver in traffic, sort of like the new guy at work who’s all piss and vinegar the first few weeks. The stick shift has light clutch effort and a notchy but fairly sporty feel through the gears. The 4-speed autobox, on the other hand, is rarely ever caught flat-footed, always eager to drop down a gear to overtake another jeep. Should you need to shift manually, the Euro-style gate makes for a passable substitute to a more expensive manumatic.

It should be noted that the Vios has a rather short throttle pedal travel. It helps to make it quicker to rev but also lends itself to jerky accelerations if you’ve got a heavy right foot. Steering assist is also on the light side, giving it an artificially lifeless feel at high speed but making that constant in-and-out zigzag along EDSA a breeze. Brake feel is firm as you’d expect an all-disk setup to be, and when you combine this trustworthy stopping power with the rest of the package – zippy drivetrain, nimble chassis – you end up with a lightweight runabout perfectly suited for the guerrilla-like driving style you need to practice in order to survive Manila.

Would that, like the Yaris hatchback, it were bestowed with a cabin to match the rest of the car’s spirit. Like its Yaris sibling, the Vios makes do with a cockpit that seems to use materials from Toyota’s least expensive parts bin. The dashboard with the round A/C vents and the cute center stack with the centrally placed instrument panel looks okay from afar, but a closer look plus a tap on the surface reveals shiny, hard resin that’s a throwback to the early 90’s and its fascination with Armour All.

The A/C dials wobble in their detents and still look like they were supplied by Little Tykes, and in two units (my automatic and the manual lent to fellow writer Manny de los Reyes), the left dashboard cupholder (placed near the A-pillar) would not open owing to the uneven overhang of the dashboard unless you pressed down on the latter to relieve the pressure. What’s more, the left A-pillar moulding of my automatic “G” popped loose one night after one pothole too many, necessitating a firm push with my palm to get it back in place. Maybe the assembly line needs to review these production glitches (the Vios is locally assembled).

Pity then, because the rest of the cabin (and the car itself) is fairly impressive for the price. Four average-sized Pinoys or Pinays will fit as before with room for an unfortunate extra in the middle hump of the backseat, and the front seats have adequate leg- and headroom along with just the right hip length. The Optitron gauges are genuinely beautiful and legible any time of the day or night, while the multi-information computer is a feature usually found in more expensive cars.

In daily traffic, and even with our propensity to floor the gas at every opportunity, the automatic-equipped G also drank unleaded at a miserly rate: 9.8 kilometers per liter. Finally, the firmly tuned suspension is not easily overwhelmed with a full load; handling is not too badly handicapped when you’re transporting your mum and dad and siblings for a change. But just like growing up, the Vios is a process of constant improvement.

It’s dependable, it’s a go-getter, and it’s trying to look more mature. Now it just needs to smoothen out a few rough edges to help get it taken more seriously.