The public may have recently made a faux pas on social media over a “new Toyota Vios,” but the real deal has been revealed for the Thailand market. The B-segment sedan has been updated in the land of smiles for 2016 with a brand new engine and transmission combination.
Although it looks exactly the same inside and out (save for a new gearlever), it’s all-new under the bonnet. Out goes the familiar 1NZ-FE VVT-i mill, replaced by a flex-fuel 2NR-FBE 1.5 litre Dual VVT-i engine capable of running on E85 biofuel – expect other markets to receive the facelifted Avanza‘s regular petrol-powered 2NR-FE instead, also fitted with Dual VVT-i.
The Thai-market version produces the same power as our current Vios, and is actually slightly down in torque – output is 108 hp at 6,000 rpm and 140 Nm (down 1 Nm) at 4,200 rpm.
However, the new engine should provide improved fuel economy, especially now that the old four-speed automatic gearbox has been banished in favour of a new continuously variable transmission (CVT) with a seven-speed stepped-ratio mode. The five-speed manual has been dropped.
Safety kit has also been given an upgrade – while airbag count stays at two, the 2016 update adds, surprise, surprise, VSC stability control on top of the usual ABS with EBD and brake assist, and for the Thai market it’s standard across the range too!
The new Vios range in Thailand is slightly more expensive than before, with price increases of up to three percent compared to the outgoing models. Prices start at 599,000 baht (RM69,500) for the 1.5 J – up from the current car’s 589,000 baht (RM68,300).
The price tag rises to 669,000 baht (RM77,600) for the 1.5 E (current price 654,000 baht, or RM75,800) and 714,000 baht (RM82,800) for the 1.5 G (current price 699,000 baht, or RM81,000). As ever, the 1.5 S tops the range, priced at 749,000 baht (RM86,900) – that’s 15,000 baht more than the 734,000 baht (RM85,100) that buys the current model.
New for 2016 is an Exclusive model that slots above the 1.5 G variant, adding a new bodykit with integrated LED daytime running lights, black leather seats, grey dashboard and door trim, piano black steering wheel and gearlever trim as well as a T-Connect infotainment system with a seven-inch touchscreen and Bluetooth connectivity. It is priced at 719,000 baht (RM83,400).
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Finally..da dinosaur engine have been replace..although its not a direct injection..
I hope toyota can up the torque. Suprima s 205Nm of torque. So much difference with almost same price.
Dual VVT-i not helping at all. Look at their Camry, Altis get almost no gain in horsepower. And almost no contribution to fuel economy also.
I dare to say this as I have Camry hybrid and 1st gen Vios at home. The former Vios is really a charm.
I said 2.6bils times: You won’t go wrong with sushi car, especially Toyota.
Besides, no VSC won’t kill you but your driving attitude does!
Unfortunately, most Vios owners drive their cars like they are driving F1. But without the driving skills, if you know what I mean.
even the current specs price higher than Honda City full spec
How the Vios gonna price with all this,
100k+ ?
new engine ? but almost the same ?
just add on something on the engine, they claimed it has new engine.
The diff, gain little FC … zzzz
boring
Good move. UMW to follow, with 6 airbags in addition.
600k baht to 750k baht is not small amount, especially to the Thai people; why so overpriced? They learnt from Mahadear?
Anything but Toyota.
Is it April 1st already? A little too early for april fools joke. NO way this ancient dino will change new engine n gearbox
Still an ugly car.
Apart from the number of airbags, the Vios will be a better bet against Honda City. UMW Toyota is one great company.
Boooooo, no its not…
tell me what Vios > city ?
FC = City , Power = City , Handling = City
Safety = City
which one vios better than City u faker
Last time when all the Toyota salesman laughed the CVT of Honda City. See where they going to hide their face.
With these new features, expect prices to be marked up as well. At least now got more safety features.
Embrace for above 95K la. But can always wait for big discount one
We all know it will be much cheaper in Langkawi. The reason you know why lah
No exterior change… :(
Yup, I was expecting at least better-integrated DRLs ala Altis instead of the current very cheap looking ones. But the mechanical changes more than make up for that though. Now, if only UMW would bring it here…
why la give cvt gearbox? should give 6 speed auto la. or even 5 speed auto is already good.
Toyota’s CVT gearbox is not like Proton’s. It’s smooth as butter and wonderful to use. I don’t see what’s wrong with that. At least it’s no longer the same ol’ 4-speed auto, which is quite good, but not as good as Toyota’s CVT.
6 speed with that punny 1.5 engine? brace for gear hunting problem. cvt is the best bet for small engine.
mmmm…but the overall feel good factor of car ownership still belongs to the city , cuz hands down the city’s interior is miles ahead of the vios…
Wow they really rushed the technical improvements without waiting for next facelift update – which I assume will be sometime by mid to end 2016, considering this Vios was released in 2013.
I wonder if this is a desperate move to regain back market share?
Quite a number of car manufacturers now do tech upgrade during facelift instead of during brand new model change to spread r&d costs and timeframe.
Still same 2 airbags? Ha ha ha
Nonono… Definitely got typo… Not believable.. There is an obvious attempt to troll us…!
Good to hear this Toyota! But no words when it will enter Malaysia yet. The old stocks not yet clear. So i suppose this news to turn down the old folks tat all the while been looking for only reliabilty and simplicity. This cvt and 7 step ratio will join the Altis camp!
Altis camp..? Any problem with altis..?
TRD for 110k…
If TRD is 110k then i rather top up a bit to get the F30 316. Ok is quite a lot to top up but I’ll settle with the X1 2nd hand diesel.
But wait, this is not Malaysia. No need to get excited yet. But there’s hope it might trickle down to Malaysia too.
Wah wah wah… this is BIG news ! Who would have thought that Toyota Thailand/ TMT would be the first in ASEAN to standardise ESC on their Vios ? If you told me this last year, I would have laughed it off… but today, I’m not all that surprised. Because of Thailand’s new car emissions taxes, car companies have to upgrade their products (especially engines) to remain competitive, price wise.
This new flex-fuel 2NR-FBE 1.5L…. I’m guessing it emits under 150g/km of CO2, and is probably a Euro 5 engine. And thank God, the old 4-AT is gone. I hope the new CVT is the smoother torque-converting type… but Toyota’s CVTs are generally quite nice, I’m not too worried. Sad to see that there won’t be a manual Vios in Thailand anymore… sigh. :(
Thailand’s car sales have been falling for some time now, so Toyota is forced to add value to entice more buyers. This should explain the standard ESC/ VSC. But whatever the case, I fully applaud TMT’s move. The 2015 Vios J didn’t even have ABS in Thailand, so this is a huge step forward. Not even the City in Thailand (or even Malaysia for that matter) has standard ESC.
And so what if the exterior design looks the same ? What’s important here is that the Vios finally has a new competitive engine, new CVT and standard ESC across all variants. It’s the insides that matter most, looks can only go so far.
Now all eyes are on UMWT. Will they bring the new engine and CVT here ? I doubt it, there’s no incentive for them, and it will cost them dearly. And besides, we don’t need ‘flex-fuel’, just petrol…. but that CVT is good. However, it may or may not be possible to pair it up to the old engine currently in service today. But the very least UMWT can do, is to fit in ESC for the mid and top-spec Vios.
UMWT may never bring the new engine here, because Malaysia still doesn’t have ANY emissions based taxes… you can drive your 30 year old, catalytic converter-less, carb, Euro ZERO Saga 1.3 and still pay the same road tax as a new Euro 4 Iriz 1.3…. which is a good thing for us rakyat, but ultimately, it gives no incentive for manufacturers to upgrade to newer, cleaner and more competitive engine-transmission pairings. Ultimately, we still lose in the long run, because manufacturers will ‘dump’ old technology here, milking them for as long as possible.
If emission-based car tax imposed here but Proton still low sales, what is your excuses again? Blame rakyat?
Did you even read his comment properly before bashing? What he meant is emission-based tax system will make the market more competitive for carmakers and beneficial for car buyers.
If an emissions based tax is implemented here, it is Proton who might gain the most. They already announced that their new engines will be ready by 2018. The GDI ones are Euro 6c compliant, less than 100 g/km of CO2. Meanwhile, the CamPro Turbo is Euro 4/5 compliant, with around 200 g/km of CO2, and the IAFM+ 1.6 does around 180 g/km. I don’t know what kind of figures are behind the Saga and Iriz 1.3, but I expect it to be above 150 g/km but less than 200 g/km.
Perodua’s current models won’t suffer too much either, and they are also building a new engine factory. But of course, all the old Protons and Peroduas will suffer greatly, especially those 90s models with carburettors.
Don’t worry, BN won’t implement an emissions based road tax, it would be a death wish for them. It’s almost as bad as the ‘vehicle end of life’ policy they’re trying to implement now.
On the contrary BN may collect even higher car tax and forcing carmakers here to sell more eco cars. It’s down to BN on how they explain it as simply a win-win new tax system.
I think if they study it properly, there is still a way to benefit those low emission vehicle. In example the tax exemption for hybrid/eev. To further benefit and as a move to support the low emission vehicles, they can as well introduce special discount on road tax rate for those low emission car. I believe this to achieve a win win which the 90′ carb stick back what they are paying, and those who manage to meet the criteria are enjoy a cheaper tax rate.
Najib’s BN might consider emission tax on non-eco vehicles as inducement for pipu to use public transport instead of buy car. But thats only if he stays
Proton will not survive competiting in the new tax system and you will run away hiding crying in bedroom just like when you mostly missing from comments during that week-long news on Proton failures, misadvantures and self-comforting fairytales.
And even if the new tax implemented rest assured it will be tweaked to unfairly against cars above 1.6L and thus keeping who-else appear cheaper price artificially, as usual. Same crap, different tricks.
Vsc std across range is a good move!
orang yang baru beli sebelum 1.Mach, semua jadi “noob”.
:P
Please give vios a chance, why? Well last year Honda City was the best seller in Thailand and then the Hrv never got to those who booked due to over demand and now the Brv everybody waiting nice very nice to drive and spacey cheap too but looong waiting in Thailand and then the Civic cruising up and down daily in Bangkok street very tempting beutiful car coming and most important all have VSC, so back to give Vios a chance becos next vios gonna have VSC they got it right now
This is what happens when consumers are becoming wiser and stopped buying cars without proper safety features or plagued with issues.
Finally they ditched the paleolithic engine and prehistoric transmission. Long overdue.
I think it’s time to buy a 4D for this date, Toyota actually ditched the dinosaur age engine and transmission!
Now, I wonder how long this combo will soldier on, only time will tell.
wow…thats one hell of a ugly sideskirt/bodykit
seriously? r v obsessed with ugly sideskirt/bodykit?
y all car co here seems to slap on sideskirt? freaking low quality and ugly kit
At last they replaced the engine and trasmission ( cvt with 7 speed stepped transmission ) Hope they ( umw toyota ) don’t omit the 7 speed funtion when sold in Malaysia. Honda City omited the paddle shifters for Malaysia. Always shortchanged Malaysian buyers. Our car prices are already high yet specs are minimum. Blood suckers. Last but not least reinstate the temperature gauge. We feel very annoyed with just idiot lights ( green and red ) installed. Even Perodua Myvi have proper temperatue gauge.
If priced around 80k, good.
Basic spec is 60k wow, I wonder how much Malaysian can afford to drive a car, consider loan for saga also just nyawa2 ikan. Plus thai dont provide full loan atleast 25 percent down pymnt n max 6 years… I wondering..
Malaysian Vios doesnt need a facelift, all of the changes are not needed here.
Altis is selling like hotcakes for the 1.8G variant, people are not concern about VSC.
Selling like hotcakes but why still give discount? Maybe your term for hotcakes is not so hot as consumers standard.
AEON also selling very well everyday, and yet they are still doing promotion and discount.
There are still 2015MY Altis available. Is that really hot-selling to you? The only hot-selling model in UMW lineup is the Hilux. Even that may change when the much pricier but still poorly-equipped new Hilux is launched.
Hilux will always top the pick up truck segment sales chart, this has not changed in the past 20 years and same for the next 20 years.
Toyota finally started to feel the heat from Honda in ASEAN market
waiting eagerly for this model
wil consider to change with my dugong x
I’m guessing that this 2NR-FE engine will eventually find its way into the Alza and the Myvi 1.5 as well as Perodua has the new engine factory in Sendayan. http://paultan.org/2015/07/11/perodua-sendayan-engine-plant-ready-q4-2015/
and it probably means that UMW Toyota can source their Vios engine from Perodua itself, so no excuse for price to go up.
sales continue point down, Toyota only willing to add more safety features… lets’ see that soon
DRL would be better inside the headlights not at the bumper.Once kena divider drl not so pretty with sepet eye
I cabar UMW to equip VSC as standard across the entire range from J to TRD, while being competitively priced with the City. Ada brannn ke?
Next step, remedy the VSC-less Altis 1.8 range.
The altis can no longer compete the civic no matter how much effort by toyota, the coming civic which is currently seen testing in bangkok at this moment will be the star at this soon bangkok motor show don’t take my word see for yoursel please in bangkok save your money fir this one don’t trust me but only if you see one sitting by the roadside, ha ha i bet you’ll…comin car of the year
When it will come to Malaysia? Anyone?
Great that a farang has bought new Toyota Vios 2016 but salesman forgot to say it is nearly impossible to buy E85 fuel in Thailand
Every Ah Bengs dream car but every parents nightmare, becoz their Ah Beng son will ask them to ready cheque for downpayment..the target market is Ah Beng tats why the DRL look so cheesy ahaha