sgusers9的部落格

Toyota's Asian Avanza takes you on an austerity drive down memory laneStop press.迷你倉新蒲崗 Toyota has invented a time machine. It is called the Avanza, a vehicle that will turn back the clock for up to seven people at a time.Step into the Indonesian-made MPV and you will be transported back to the days when hard, hollow plastics dominated car interiors.And when air-conditioning controls were completely manual, gauges were lit by yellow incandescent bulbs, calibration for switches were mere stickers, and the steering wheel could be adjusted only for tilt (and there is no steering lock).Quite easily, the Avanza takes you to the 1980s, when you could peek into the sleeve of the handbrake lever and see what is underneath, or pop the bonnet by pulling a T-shaped lever that reminds you of the choke of old.Really "retrolicious", man.Also, if you leave the headlights on after leaving the car, there is no chime to warn you. You will discover that only the next morning, when you try to start the engine.The car will, however, make all kinds of beeps - when you lock, unlock the doors, open the door, close the tailgate or do the hokey-pokey.And they are very loud, piercing beeps, which were the rage back when disco was the rage.The Avanza is a basic utilitarian seven-seater targeted at emerging markets in South-east Asia. In most of these markets, it is selling like tie-dye T-shirts in the 1970s, largely because of preferential taxes accorded to locally assembled products.But in markets with more sophisticated vehicle tax structures (such as ours), the Avanza faces an uphill task. At about $130,000, it is by no stretch of the imagination a budget buy.It is nevertheless among the cheapest new MPVs you can buy here, now that cars such as the Kia Carens and Honda Freed have bowed out because of prohibitive COE prices (the latter is Indonesian- made too).And if you take the car for what it is - a functional, no-frills vehicle that seats seven - it is not half迷你倉出租bad.It is best, however, with no more than six onboard. The middle seat in the second row is really not all that comfortable.The Avanza's tallish, boxy stance also means it has adequate headroom for all, and good visibility for the driver.It is surprisingly driveable, thanks to a lively 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine paired with a humble but effective four-speed autobox. You would think such a modest naturally aspirated power plant would be anaemic, but it is not.While its century sprint timing of 15 seconds is nothing to shout about, it has enough low-end torque to make city driving relatively breezy. Gear changes could be smoother, but the ratios are spaced intelligently.The car goes around corners with more body movements than a pregnant hippo, but steering response is otherwise nifty and direct.It is not entirely unpleasant at the helm. In fact, the Avanza delivers better driveability than its modest bearing suggests. It has a tight turning circle and is sprung to handle the varying quality of roads in the region.The Asian Toyota is also reasonably refined in the noise-vibration-harshness department. And it offers a decent amount of versatility as an MPV, with second-row seats that can be folded and flipped. Third-row seats can be folded but do not collapse to form a flat cargo area.While the car is generally austere, there are two features that surprise nearly as much as a Coke can in an archaeological dig. First, rear air-con blowers with fan speed controls. And next, a USB port.The car is also fitted with two frontal airbags, anti-lock braking system and electronic brake distribution.Even so, it is still not a thriller of a carrier. For $19,000 more, you can get a Toyota Wish, which is better-looking, better built, more versatile and appeciably more efficient despite its bigger engine.Or if you want to go budget, go all the way with the Suzuki APV, another Indonesian-made multi-seater. It costs about $122,000.christan@sph.com.sg迷你倉