Toyota Hyryder strong hybrid: A Toyota Etios owner's perspective

The overall mileage figures hovered between 15 kml & 18 kml. Not a huge leap over the XL6 I test drove before.

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Today, I finally test drove the Hyryder (strong hybrid) - V in red colour - looks stunning - first at Ravindu Toyota, Avalahalli, Bangalore to get a sense of highway ride and then another short ride at Nandi, Whitefiled. Also, had a peek into strong hybrid G-midnight black, V-blue and Neodrive S-white - all look stunning, especially from outside, well nigh all angles. Here are my thoughts based on TDs:

• Overall ride quality is very good - more so for city driving and highway drive was not half bad either.

• Suspension was a wee bit on the tighter side, but absorption of undulations or varied road conditions was never an issue - good.

• Performance was acceptable (don't want to overstate, but it can be easily construed as "good") in all kinds of driving - drove at 0-122 kmph in almost all conditions. At slow speed up to 50 kmph, it is a veritable EV with absolutely no sound or fuss whatsoever. The switch between EV and ICE is just seamless and so also the e-cvt - you will never notice the continual switch and transmission. That said, to gain this you have to play soft pedal and sudden acceleration or quick throttle response is always accompanied by sound you will likely not like and it indeed beats (pun intended) my Etios 1.5 petrol NA on NVH. Power or response to kick will not be an issue up to 140 kmph (i think this is enough), but that NVH will bother you for sure (3-cylinder engine bane) and more so since it runs on EV at low speed - hence the boom is more prominent.

• Mileage - Given the TDs were full of varying speeds, sudden acceleration, deceleration and all kind of stress test - overall mileage of the first trip was 15+ kmpl and second ride was 18+ kmpl. Impressive but mind you not a big leap from mild hybrid/Neo drive (my TD of XL6 MPV eked out a mileage of 15 kmpl).

• Inside the cabin - A lot has already been talked about by BHPian friends and experts - only incremental points - first row, driving seat: very comfortable and decent ergonomics for all types of driving position and style provided you are not more than 6'1". Only issue i noticed was left knee rubbing the dashbaord when i put my foot on dead pedal - not sure if others felt, but was not enjoying at all. Co dirver's seat was comfortable with enough leg, elbow and headroom. Second row as averred by everyone was indeed a dampener - 3 average or lean adults can sit comfortably, but ceratainly not in "Seth ji" style. While the comfort of a typical sedan was definitely conspicuous by its absence, it should be acceptable given the segment it belongs to and the design. Headroom was definitely a deal breaker for me and could be for many - however, there is a positive surprise i noticed albeit at the cost of the sought after "sunroof" feature - the S variant of Neodrive (probably strong hybrid, as well; will check), which is sans sunroof - has much better headroom and i really liked - that claustrophobic feeling was not there. Just to give a comparision - i am 6' - my head was rubbing (not touching) the roof of G/V strong hybrid with sunroof when i sat upright in the second row vs a gap of at least 2 inches when seated in the same position in the second row of Neodrive S variant.

• Boot space was claimed about 250L for strong hybrid, about 341L after removing the trays and about 400L in Neodrive - I am fine with these and will not consider it a deal breaker.

• Build and Safety were kind of in the middle - Maruti-Toyota - certainly not usual Toyota type, but strong enough to grab an NCAP rating of 4*.

To sum up - it is a very good package at a little premium price - courtesy all stakeholders, including govts, and competes well with the Korean, German and Indian counterparts.

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