Road tripping with the Toyota Avanza X

Its been a year since I got married. A long time in terms of a stable relationship. So, the wife demanded that we go out somewhere on the occasion of our marriage anniversary. At the very same time, my parents, as well as hers, chipped in to join us.

Now, we have a hatchback at home and taking it will mean that one half of the family has to take a cab or a rental. A couple of days ago, Toyota had just launched the facelifted Avanza X. This upmarket take on the workhorse Avanza had already garnered more than 4,000 inquiries.  A quick call to Toyota did the trick. The Avanza came home for the test and what better way to combine business along with pleasure. We set out for Kota Kinabalu islands, a 6 hours drive from where we were located.

When the car arrived, the family was happy to see it. After all, who wouldn’t love a lofty seating position? The climb inside too is easy thanks to the running floorboards. Easy access to the third row and a big boot add to the convenience. The all-grey interior, however, wasn’t welcomed by the family. Given the heat waves we face in Malaysia, this one adds to the misery.

However, there are some nice gloss black touches to the dashboard and this adds to the charm. I liked the way the seats hold one in place and so do the rear backrests that have recline function added to them. For the Avanza X, Toyota has added a bit of leather touches noticeably to the steering wheel as well as the gear lever. Both look and feel premium. My mother has a bit of a motion sickness issue and it gets compounded in our hatchback. But no such issues here. The large windows as well as airy cabin add to the feel and she too was more than comfortable.

There was enough of luggage space even with all the seats in their position. The last row though wasn’t as comfortable and every time we stopped for a tea break or for relieving ourselves, places used to be traded. The standard navigation available does let one know about the various stop points and the like.

As we approached the winding roads leading to the island, I started noticing how quiet the engine was. The 103PS/136Nm dual VVT-i petrol engine packs enough punch and is an eager-to-rev machine. The four-speed automatic may be outdated but with the power on tap, it does its job well. That being said, kickdowns were achieved in a bit of unhurried fashion and a couple of overtakes didn’t go that well. Cruising is one of the engine’s forte and it does it with an elan. It even gave a combined efficiency of 13.4 kmpl. The brake feel though could have been better, however, the anchors themselves stop the Avanza X in a quick and linear fashion.

While the Avanza being an MPV has a high centre of gravity, it doesn’t roll too much into corners and the handling stays composed. With a full load, even bumps were absorbed with ease with none of the shocks being transmitted into the cabin. However, the NVH could improve as most of the wind noise as well as tyre chirp was seeping into the cabin at higher speeds.

RM 78,035 is what Toyota commands for the Avanza X. This is nearly RM 2,000 over the G trim. While it does make the Avanza look good, there isn’t anything significantly better than it does more than the G. All being said, the Avanza makes for a great cruiser irrespective of if you choose the X or the regular trim.