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During the launch of the Toyota Alphard and Vellfire, it was revealed that UMW Toyota will introduce the “improved” Vios, and it appears a launch could be imminent. A big thanks to paultan.org reader Adam Lee, who spotted several units of the new Vios on a trailer outside the company’s Subang Jaya service centre.

A few details highly suggest that this is indeed the new Vios, starting with the red paintjob, which doesn’t appear to be offered for the current Vios (Medium Silver Metallic, Silver Metallic, Attitude Black and White). The ‘J’ badge seen on one of the cars point towards the same variant nomenclature used currently.

The wheels seen here appear to retain the same eight-spoke design, although higher variants could adopt a new design like the ones we saw in Bangkok earlier this year. Speaking of the Thailand-market Vios, the model gains several notable improvements from before as well.

This includes a new 2NR-FBE 1.5 litre Dual VVT-i engine, which replaces the 1NZ-FE VVT-i mill (currently on the Malaysian-spec Vios). The Dual VVT-i unit is paired exclusively with a continuously variable transmission (CVT), which sees the end of the old four-speed automatic gearbox.

Safety also sees an improvement, with the addition of vehicle stability control (VSC) on top of the usual ABS with EBD and brake assist. For the Thai market, VSC comes standard across the range, along with two airbags. However, we’ll have to wait and see if the new Vios destined for the Malaysian market will benefit from these improvements.


GALLERY: 2016 Toyota Vios at the Bangkok Motor Show

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