Toyota Etios Liva

Etios Liva from Toyota competes with cars from manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai. Toyota has been able to put together a delightful hatchback and that is rather commendable. This is ascribable to its intensive market research. Toyota has extracted information on what the customer desire right from the horse’s mouth and it is this customer orientation that has led to the development of an incredible little automobile – Etios Liva!
It is derived from its sedan sibling, Toyota Etios, and shares many of its features. Its spacious interior can house five passengers with utmost ease and provide them supreme comfort. The controls are light, the steering provides tilt function and the clutch is extremely light. The well-tuned suspension makes it a safe ride and the superb after-sales service of Toyota is a cherry on the cake. Weighing a little less than 1000 kg, Liva is extremely light and thus quite fuel efficient. The sleek chrome-treated grille highlights the frontage of Etios Liva. The fin-shaped rear combination lamps enhance the dynamic look of the hatchback. The blacked-out B-pillar along with the stylish alloy wheels add a tinge of sportiness to the looks of Liva. The ambience inside is a perfect match to the spectacular exterior. The colour scheme is bi-tonal and the ash brown color lends immense elegance to the interior of Liva.
Toyota Etios Liva comes with both types of engine variants – diesel and petrol, both offering superior mileage. The diesel engine registers an incredible mileage of 23.59kmpl and the EFI petrol engine, on the other hand, delivers a mileage of 17.71kmpl. Vehicular safety is ensured by safety features like SRS airbags for the driver and the co-passenger, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD), engine immobilizer, keyless entry, driver seatbelt warning and door ajar warning. The small turning radius of 4.8 m makes Liva easy to maneuver and adding to the kick is the remarkable ground clearance of 170 mm. Parking would not be bothersome too as it fits into tight spots effortlessly. Owing to its marvelous mileage, it is quite a fantastic city car. Its wheelbase is shorter than the Etios, from which it is derived, but is still very spacious. It is reasonably priced between 4.54 L and 7.12 L, and comes in seven colours – Classic Grey, White, Symphony Silver, Harmony Beige, Celestial Black, Vermilion Red and Ultramarine Blue.

Toyota Etios Liva is an insightfully designed and supremely attractive hatchback. It is neither too curvaceous nor too muscular – but strikes just the perfect balance! Its frontage is highlighted by a sleek yet bold grille that has a brilliant chrome finish to it. The front fog lamps and intermittent wiper adds to the appeal. Toyota has kept the bumpers, door handles and the Outside Rear-View Mirrors (ORVMs) of the same colour as the body and this underscores the visual delight that the car generates. The wing mirrors come with built-in turn indicators that pronounce the marriage of style and functionality.

The sleek, fin-patterned rear combination lamps add to the dynamic look of the automobile. The blacked-out B-pillar and the sturdy yet stylish 12-spoke alloys give it a dash of sportiness. Liva comes equipped with a foldable, roof-mounted antenna and the chrome garnish on its boot spices it even more. Dimensionally, Toyota Etios Liva measures 3.78 m in length, 1.7 m in width and is 1.51 m high.

On prima facie, the interior of Etios Liva makes two words pop up instantaneously – Space and Comfort! It provides abundant legroom, headroom and shoulder room to the passengers, and the comfortable seats make journeys seem like cakewalk. The bi-tonal premium interiors add volumes of sophistication inside. The dashboard is beautifully textured, the seat fabric is marvellously soothing, and the ash brown colours lend a dashing and swanky look. The tri-spoke steering wheel and the shift knob have silver accents on them, and the door trims have a wood finish that adds a chic touch to the interior of Liva.

The driver’s seat is height-adjustable and so are the headrests. The hatchback comes with power windows and the one on the driver’s side comes with auto-down function. Etios Liva is equipped with front cabin lights, a 12 V power outlet, cooled glove box, day/night inside rear-view mirror, and sun visors for the driver and the co-passenger. In-cabin entertainment is high in Liva, thanks to the refined audio system that comes with a remote and four speakers that boast an incredible sound quality. For easy access to the driver, audio controls are mounted on the steering wheel as well. The AC unit is pretty effective and so is the air filter.
The boot has a capacity of 251 L and Liva also has storage spaces in the guise of seven bottle holders, and front and rear door pockets. For added convenience, the fuel lid and the tail gate are remote-operative.

Etios Liva comes in both types of engine variants - Petrol and Diesel. The transmission is a five-speed manual type.
The diesel engine is a 1.4 L, 1364 cc, 4-cylinder, 8-valve, SOHC, D-4D. It generates a maximum power of 67.06 bhp (@ 3800 RPM) and produces a maximum torque of 170 Nm (@ 1800-2400 RPM). The fuel supply system is Direct Common Rail (DICOR) Injection type.
The petrol engine is a 1.2 L, 1197 cc, 4-cylinder, 16-valve, DOHC. It generates a maximum power of 78.9 bhp (@ 5600 RPM) and gives a maximum torque yield of 104 Nm (@ 3100 RPM). The fuel supply system in the petrol engine is an Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) type.

Toyota Etios Liva Diesel registers an incredible mileage of 23.59 kmpl. The EFI Petrol engine, on the other hand, delivers a mileage of 17.71 kmpl. The fuel tank has a capacity of 45 litres and hence, the diesel variant has a driving range of about 1061 kms and the petrol variant gives a range of about 797 km.

Toyota Etios Liva has ventilated disc brakes for the front wheels and Drum brakes for its rear wheels.

Vehicular safety is quite important for Toyota and hence, Etios Liva comes loaded with safety features like SRS airbags for the driver and the co-passenger, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS),Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD), engine immobilizer, keyless entry, driver seatbelt warning and door ajar warning.

Etios Liva’s front axle comes equipped with a MacPherson Strut type suspension system and its rear axle has a torsion beam type suspension. Liva’s small turning radius of 4.8 m makes it highly maneuverable and it offers a spectacular ground clearance of 170 mm.

Derived from its sedan sibling and bearing conspicuous similarities to it, Etios Liva is a hatchback that packs performance and comfort without breaking your back! It is reasonably priced between 4.54 L and 7.12 L, and comes in seven colours to choose from – Classic Grey, White, Symphony Silver, Harmony Beige, Celestial Black, Vermilion Red and Ultramarine Blue. Toyota, after a delayed time frame, entered the budget car segment in 2010, and took a major risk to compete with the hatchback segment heavyweights like Maruti and Hyundai but the automaker was able to produce the cheapest Toyota model in the world in the form Toyota Etios Liva. After a few hiccups initially, the revised model helped Liva to achieve some success. After the launch of 2013 model, Toyota targets a 10% share in the segment by the end of 2015. Toyota changed and adapted the suspension system as per the requirements of the Indian roads. There is a whole plethora of mechanical changes that went along with the aesthetic improvements. These amendments, such as a thicker insulation, hydraulic engine mounts for reduced Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) level, an updated exhaust system, slightly-increased ground clearance, strong bumper retainers, and an enhanced suspension make for a substantial change. The slight facelift in the new model is noticeable but the company still needs to work on the interior quality for the car to compete in this segment. Despite having a lower power output, it is able to compete with the others in terms of power to weight output due to its lower weight, giving it certain respect. It does carry the trust of the brand Toyota with a very well-structured management system called as Kaizen, which helps the company to continuously improve on its strengths and weaknesses. In terms of safety features, it has everything like ABS, EBD, Airbags, etc., which are not available in a few models of Swift and Ritz. However, it still needs to work on the quality of its interiors and certain basic comfort features that one expects from a brand like Toyota. It also has a very small turning radius, which makes it a great city drive car. Thus, Liva comes out as a good buy in this segment as it gives the others a run for their money in terms of its price, brand trust, great mileage, spacious inner cabin space and boot space.

In the B-segment hatchback category, Toyota Etios Liva faces a major challenge by the champions of the hatchback segment in the form of the Maruti’s and the Hyundai’s. It competes with Maruti Suzuki Ritz, Maruti Suzuki Swift, Hyundai i10, Hyundai i20, Volkswagen Polo, Skoda Fabia, Fiat Punto, Honda Jazz, Nissan Micra, etc. Toyota, known for its impeccable research, entered the Indian hatchback budget segment in 2010 with Etios Liva. The pricing strategy worked in the favour of the company. The sales have gradually started picking up for the company post the launch of the tweaked-up version in 2016. Liva has an 8-valve Single Over-Head Camshaft (SOHC) diesel engine that produces 67.06 bhp of power (@ 3800 RPM) and yields 170 Nm of torque (@ 1800-2400 RPM). This is slightly lower than the engines of its competitors like Maruti Swift and Maruti Ritz. This is corroborated by the fact that Liva takes 2 seconds more than Swift to reach the speed mark of 100 kmph. Etios Liva’s biggest advantages are its low-speed ride quality, comfort that it provides, and its amazingly spacious cabin that is made possible by a near-flat floor and ample knee room. On the other hand, Swift has a much better engine; another factor that works in Maruti’s favour is the wide and expansive dealer base, and its long presence as the leader in this segment. The Japanese company has worked really hard to reduce the weight of the car, which makes it 80 kg lighter than Swift and 120 kg lighter than Ritz, thus making the power to weight ratio at par. Fiat Punto is longer by 212 mm than Liva, which measures 3775 mm in length and is also heavier by 250 kg than Liva. Hyundai i20 also has great engine performance with a power of 98.6 bhp (@ 5500 RPM) and a torque yield of 136.3 Nm (@ 4200 RPM). Liva does have a problem of high levels of NVH above 3000 RPM, as compared to other diesel engines in its category. This segment is very sensitive to price variations but Liva leads the pack with the lowest pricing strategy, though this is glaringly evident in the inferior interior quality and this is an area of concern that the company should look into. Some features, like doors not locking automatically while driving, are amiss in Etios Liva. Some believe that Liva is in a different segment than i20 and Polo as there is quite a major price difference between them. Liva registers an incredible mileage of 23.59 kmpl as per the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and scores over the other powerful engines in its segment. Even with the shortened wheelbase, i.e., 90 mm shorter than Etios, Liva can easily carry 5 adults. Space packaging is top-class and interior room is equal to many C-segment sedans. It has many small spaces very innovatively designed in the dashboard and the doors to keep readily usable things like bottles, cups, etc.