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Petrol consumption figure in cars play a huge roll today not entirely due to the price of fuel, but in the fact that there’s a cap in a citizens allocation in Malaysia. You have seen overseas reviews where they stress alot on fuel consumption figures, we had the privilege to gloss over it. Now though consumption figures have never been sexier, and the sexiest of them all has to be the recently launched Vios HEV GR Sport.
Whats the hardware?
Toyota’s hybrid powertrain is a tried and tested 25 year old evolution which sports both 1.5 litre 4 cylinder NA producing 91PS and 121Nm, and an electric powertrain putting out 80PS and 141Nm. Both send the power to the front wheels via an E-CVT gearbox.
Other important things to know
Has a 4.3Ahr battery (0.7kWh) battery which goes underneath the rear seats. Keeping the boot space same as the non hybrid Vios. The HEV variants get a bigger 10.1 inch screen instead of the 9 inch in the regular Vios. The instrument display also has a special ‘hybrid’ meter instead of the usual tachometer. For the GR Sport variant, there are unique bodykits front and rear, the seats are different and the steering wheel is lovely, looking almost like the GR Yaris’s.Toyota also claims the springs, dampers and the steering wheel is tuned differently for the GR Sport variants. For an RM6000 increase over the standard model, its an amazing bargain, and genuinely worthy of the ‘collector’ title.
The most important bit
Is of course the consumption of the vehicle. Toyota claimed a motorbike-like 3.6l/100km or 27.8km/l. We clocked a barely believable 26km/l which works out to be 3.84l/100km. Of course this was from the onboard computers calculation, but we were amazed that we had already covered over 400km on just half a tank. With the first half being hooned by the rest of the teams who daily modified cars.In a single day we covered a 154km loop between Shah Alam Seksyen 35 to Meru just before Pantai Remis, then cut into Puncak Alam to Sungai Buloh, Sri Damansara, Ampang via the MRR2, Chan Sow Lin and back to Shah Alam to the UMW headquarters. We were rushing for time during the entire day, and yet the fuel gauge only dipped by one bar.
How is that relevant to today’s users?
Say I drive a car that returns a fuel consumption figure on average of 7.5L/100km or 13.3km/l, and i average 120km per day. That works out to be 9 litres of fuel usage per day, and in 25 working days that works out to be 225 litres of fuel usage. Thats 25 litres of unsubsidised RON 95 or RM98 for the last 333km of travel instead of spending RM49.75. This brings the monthly fuel bill to RM496. This number rises exponentially as the consumption rises to a monthly average of 8L / 100km (240L / month), 9L / 100km (270L / month), and will increase more if the monthly travel distance increases too.In the Vios, since the real world consumption struggled to reach 4.5l/100km, we are looking at a monthly fuel usage of ONLY 135 litres. Thats only RM268.65 of RON95 bill per month instead of RM496 despite a ridiculous amount of monthly travel. Thats a theoretical savings of RM2728.2 / year on fuel bills alone. Bear in mind this is with the caveat that the car compared can actually provide a 7.5l/100km average consumption figure for the whole month, in our mad, greater Klang Valley traffic. Which is way easier said than done.
Technically a superior format in our opinion
This format of battery assisted drive is our favourite. You dont have to lug around a heavy battery pack once depleted like a plugin system. Nor are you at the mercy of the extremely lob sided charging network on our roads out of the Klang Valley like a BEV. Plus they hold their value far better than full on plugin hybrids, as the battery replacement cost is far cheaper and far more straightforward.The best part is Toyota and UMW are backing up the car with an extensive amount of warranties. 5 years on the car but 8 years and UNLIMITED MILEAGE for the hybrid powertrain, which includes the battery, inverter, and power management ECU. There’s even an option to extend it for another two years.
Which makes the extra RM20,000 premium on its class rivals worth it.
The regular Vios Hybrid goes for RM103,900, while the GR Sport version with its bodykit, uprated dampers, steering rack, steering wheel and rims, you have to cough out another RM6000. Compared to the non hybrid rivals in the size segment this car is definitely commanding a premium, which in a 7 year repayment period with a 10% downpayment work out to be about RM300 plus a month more. But for those who travel alot for their daily jobs, or have a longer than usual commute, this car can recoup the extra premium in the first 3 years. If consumption and making most of your Budi allocation is your priority then the Vios HEV is the king of the hill with the least long term liability.
