Team-BHP - Toyota Innova Crysta : Official Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 4310681)

NGT ban is (hopefully) on new vehicle sales, and not on vehicles already sold. If they buy it now, they should keep the vehicle long enough.

I would also hope that it doesn't happen for old vehicles. But, we have taken some crazy decisions like.

Blanket ban on sun films to prevent rape
80 kmph speed governor for all yellow boards.
Blanket Tax increase for hybrids because some companies misused the term - hybrid.
Last, but not the least, the 2000 cc diesel ban in Delhi

And none of these decisions made any sort of sense and were all knee jerk reaction instead of trying to address the real problem. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor (Post 4310681)

Thanks, @Amalji.

NGT ban is (hopefully) on new vehicle sales, and not on vehicles already sold. If they buy it now, they should keep the vehicle long enough.

It hasnt slipped past me, but each person's preferences to his own.

Btw, we are on our 4th Tata, continuously since 2000. Except for a months' gap in 2013.

Crysta MT diesel should have the most FE and resale value.

The NGT ban on diesel vehicles in Delhi is for all vehicles: already sold or new ones. I guess if the NGT bans in other cities, it would be on similar lines.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediKnight (Post 4311044)

Crysta MT diesel should have the most FE and resale value.

People buy AT for the convenience it offers. More discussion on that here. In today's world, AT would be my pick for a vehicle like the Innova especially when it's for private use.

SPecifically for the Crysta, I hated the automatic. Had to change my style of driving way too much. This was confirmed over a long 150km drive in my friend's Z.

I currently have the Jazz automatic and have no such adaptation issues. So, it is definitely the car!

So, Crysta AT buyers, please do a long test drive before deciding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sridhu (Post 4311106)

SPecifically for the Crysta, I hated the automatic. Had to change my style of driving way too much.

Could you please elaborate on this? I tried driving the AT for reasonably long distance and felt it was fun. More than the gearbox, it was the torque spread of the engine that made the difference. In whichever rpm you are, just slightly push the accelerator and the Crysta cruises ahead. You don't really need a down shift at all for passing acceleration. And most of the driving, I was doing in eco mode because the torque availability is above par in most situations.

And the best thing is that it does have a manual shifting option as well on the automatic gearbox.

Quote:

Originally Posted by amalji (Post 4311111)

Could you please elaborate on this?

Basically I found the lag between me doing something (pressing the accelerator) and the vehicle doing it (accelerating) too high. The drive became too jerky as a result.

On the return trip, I figured it out and was a lot smoother.

I drive /drove automatics in the US from 1991. So it is not unfamiliarity with automatics either.

I currently own a Jazz cvt - while it is not responsive, I have no issue with liking what it does.

My driver & wife (separate people!lol:) concur with both observations.

I really wanted to buy the automatic but was put off by this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sridhu (Post 4311418)

Basically I found the lag between me doing something (pressing the accelerator) and the vehicle doing it (accelerating) too high. The drive became too jerky as a result.

It has to do with the change in fuel used in the cars owned by you and the Crysta.

The Diesel 2.8 L is definitely crude when compared to a Jazz Petrol. Similarly the CVT is going to be less jerky when compared to the 6-speed Torque converter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAS (Post 4311590)

It has to do with the change in fuel used in the cars owned by you and the Crysta.

Good thought but no cigar!

The Jazz is about a month old. I just sold my Duster - 85 BHP. The Crysta replaced a 10 year old Innova, which had done 2.5 lakh km.

So, I have had decent exposure to diesels.

I agree though that my feeling of absolute smoothness in the Jazz could be because I have returned to a petrol after 4 years.

I love the Crysta manual. It is the Pujara of cars - just does its job efficiently without any flashiness. The automatic, not much.

I realize I might be in a minority in this but, man, I do hate the Crysta auto!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sridhu (Post 4311714)

I agree though that my feeling of absolute smoothness in the Jazz could be because I have returned to a petrol after 4 years.

It's because of the CVT which continuously varies the ratios rather that shift to fixed ratios.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sridhu (Post 4311714)

I realize I might be in a minority in this but, man, I do hate the Crysta auto!

I've driven the 2.8 AT just once and loved the experience. As I mentioned before, almost 90% of the drive I used the eco mode, because the torque was more than what was required at any rpm. The eco mode might have prevented aggressive downshifts as well. This engine rarely requires downshift because the peak torque is just 400 rpm away from idle rpm compared to competition where it's >800 rpms away. And the big engine small turbo design ensures that there is zero lag for that turbo to start spitting venom!

Since we're talking about the auto, I have to chime in and say I also do not like the crysta AT. It is a bit too laggy, and the Jazz AT with paddles feels better as a transmission than the crysta.
One of the major downsides of the innova AT is the lunging forward nature of the car when you release the brake pedal vs the Jazz or polo or ameo I have that do it in a much smoother manner.
In the end, if it absolutely has to be the Innova, I would still buy the AT. MT is just too much hassle.

It makes a lot of sense to buy A/T Innova you plan to spend/drive a lot in maddening city traffic. But if you are buying Innova for Highway drive, M/T makes more sense. It feels more peppy, engaging and frugal.

My two cents on our 4 month old 2.8Z.

As the engine is opening up after doing more than 3000kms, the NVH is settling down . While the A/T is a boon in DELHI-NCR's start stop traffic, it has been a very comforting and tireless highway runs too as compared to previous generation Innova and XUV 500 that we have owned and do own respectively.
As for the mileages: CITY: 10-10.5km/L (WITH AC ON, HIGH TRAFFIC)
HIGHWAY: 15.0-15.2km/L (With AC ON, PLAINS)
HILLS : 11.0-11.2 km/L (Uphill, Partial AC ON)

The highway mileage figures are better than the previous generation Innova M/T and much more comofortable both for the driver and passenger.
Overall, a big thumbs Up.:thumbs up!

Thats a nice headunit :thumbs up I have the same in mine which I installed myself. To get rid of the parking brake connection requirement and the extra wire apart from what goes into the PnP coupler I used a parking brake bypass module which i bought from amazon.com.

Has anyone tried raising the height of the LED low beam projectors on the ZX model yet?
I find them to be quite low for highway driving, and staying in high beam all the time comes with moral conflict.
I found two screw like adjusters behind the low beams on both the headlamps, but couldn't get them to move either way, thus the query.
Thanks in advance.