Toyota Etios Sport: Sugar-coated wholesomeness

By Martin Pretorius

There's an entire generation of drivers out there for whom the idea of Toyota as a sporting brand is a completely foreign concept. The glory days of RSi, Celica and Supra have almost faded from popular memory, and with a line-up of very conservatively-engineered cars and commercial vehicles, the brand has acquired a rather stodgy image over the past decade or so. Not that this should be of too much concern to Toyota, mind you – millions of happy drivers are proof that their customers don't care about cutting-edge technology and daring design, as long as the cars are robust and durable.

Proof of this lies in the popularity of the budget-oriented Etios range. Since it landed in South Africa in 2011, this very basic, Indian-built little car has become a firm favourite amongst value-conscious buyers, which is why so many of them serve in government departments and rental fleets, and why it's become one of the default choices for first-time buyers and retirees alike. The Etios has always been a solid value proposition, with a reasonably eager yet economical engine, plenty of cabin space, and pretty much indestructible mechanical bits.

But absent from the Etios's list of virtues is any sign of sportiness. Yes, it has fairly perky performance, but that's mostly because it has a relatively large engine (for this class) and because it doesn't weigh a lot. However, the standard suspension tuning does little to encourage enthusiastic driving, while rather skinny tyres limit the amount of grip it has on the road. And besides, the normal Etios isn't exactly styled to get your pulse racing – it still comes from the “blind man with a machete” school of styling which Toyota embraced so eagerly a decade or so ago. Sensible it is, sexy or sporty it isn't. 

So what about this new Etios Sport, then?

This isn't the first time Toyota decided to apply the Sport badge to an Etios, but the execution is somewhat different this time. In its previous iteration, the Etios Sport scored a set of side skirts, bumper extensions front and rear, a spoiler on top of the tailgate, and some snazzy alloy wheels. But since then, the Etios has had a facelift (to emerge as the slightly more attractive “Sprint”), and alloy wheels are now standard on all models except the entry-level Xi derivative.

This time around, Toyota took a different approach. The newest Sport still gets a tailgate spoiler, but its wheels are taken from the Cross variant instead of being bespoke items. The side skirts and bumper extensions disappear, but some other detail changes make their appearance instead. The roof, mirror caps and grille inserts are now finished in gloss black metallic paint, as is the oversized rear spoiler. The effectiveness of these cosmetic enhancements are however somewhat questionable, as the black roof and spoiler adds to the Etios hatchback's rather top-heavy look, but at least the blacked-out grille changes the normal Sprint's rather inane grin into a slightly more assertive visage.

And inside?

It's much as you've come to expect from the Etios once you settle into the driver's perch. In line with last year's mild facelift, there's a Bluetooth-enabled audio system with a USB input which is far more user-friendly than the earlier Etios radio. The seats are upholstered in cloth, while hard, scratchy plastics still make up the dashboard and door trims. At least it's much better screwed-together these days – our test car was almost entirely devoid of rattles and squeaks, unlike any other Etios built before about 2015.

Equipment levels are reasonable too, with two airbags, electric windows all round, remote central locking, air conditioning and power steering. Nothing radical, but not quite from the bargain bin either. 

The only real change brought about by the “Sport” treatment is a new instrument cluster. Yes, it's still mounted in the middle of the dashboard, but it's an altogether funkier-looking display unit with an LCD bar graph doing rev counter duty, and a redesigned (but still analogue) speedometer to its right. It's a whole lot more legible than the blue-and-white dial faces of the normal Etios, but its location is still a problem: it's simply too far away from the driver to be readable at a glance. It does look a whole lot funkier than before, though.

Any mechanical changes?

Absolutely none at all. The Etios Sport still uses the same 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder engine as any other local Etios, driving the front wheels through a 5-speed manual gearbox. It's really a good little engine, even if it lacks modern touches such as variable valve timing, forced induction or direct injection, and it's tuned to deliver an even spread of torque across its (limited) rev range – the limiter stops the fun just before 6000 r/min, but in compensation, the torque peaks at a reasonable 3200 r/min. 

Outputs peak at 66 kW and 132 Nm, which is enough to make the Sport (just like any other Etios) feel quite lively around town. It's not entirely useless on the freeway either, and easily keeps up with fast-moving traffic. The gearshift is actually quite delightful, with a slick and secure shift quality, a nice spread of gear ratios and a light clutch action. Top (fifth) gear is surprisingly tall, which gives a nicely loping gait at the legal speed limit, and keeps mechanical noise levels down to endow the Etios Sport with decent (and economical) cruising abilities.

The brakes are utterly conventional as well, with ventilated discs in front and drums at the rear, backed up by ABS with electronic brake force distribution. But, in spite of their humble specifications, stopping power is well up to the modest performance demands made by the engine, with a nicely progressive pedal response. The Sport also brings no upgrades to the suspension, which still boasts Indian-spec extended wheel travel and a rather tippy-toe ride height. There's plenty of body lean around corners, but outright grip and traction are at least equal to the performance on offer. Alas, as with all other Etioses, the Sport is also somewhat sensitive to cross winds, so care is advised at higher speeds. 

None of this sounds very sporty, though!

If you think that the Etios Sport is nothing more than a cosmetic upgrade package, you're absolutely correct. In fact, the only sporty thing about this car is the little badge attached to its tailgate, and maybe the rear spoiler. For the rest, it's still the normal Etios as we all know it, with no changes to its vices or virtues at all. That means that it's a pretty safe car (with a 4-star NCAP rating), generous cabin space (albeit with a rather small boot), enough features to keep you comfortable in the daily commute, and a sturdy, dependable drivetrain.

Make of that what you wish, but with a modest price premium of R2500 over the normal Etios Sprint hatchback, at least it offers some visual enhancements to set it apart from the thousands of other Etioses out there. At its list price of R178 800, it's still very good value, just as long as you don't expect any real sportiness....