- Fuel efficiency is clearly going to be above 20 km/l in the city if you go easy on the pedal.
- My initial ownership review after 2 days of driving the Hyryder
- My considerations were
- Sales experience
- Initial experience
Fuel efficiency is clearly going to be above 20 km/l in the city if you go easy on the pedal.
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My initial ownership review after 2 days of driving the Hyryder
I have been in the market for a car to replace an ageing Wagon-R for over 20 months and considered multiple cars before taking the leap of faith on the Hyryder. I have followed Team-BHP reviews for a while now and found them to be among the most factual and well-written ones after test-driving a few cars.
My considerations were
- Jeep Compass 2021 facelift: liked the Jeep but the steep price of 34L on-road for the S-variant (and an automatic transmission that didn’t seem the best mating for the engine) held me back.
- Tata Harrier: still in love with it. The lack of features (several of which have now crept into it through the multiple launches) that the Nexon / Safari had and the Hydraulic steering with poor calibration held me back.
- Maruti Brezza: Booked the new Brezza on launch but ended up cancelling it as I read reviews about the K15C engine performance. While it did largely meet my use cases at 17.3L, I felt it was overpriced compared to the outgoing version and no longer the value buy.
I did not consider the Korean twins (safety perception) or the German ones (multiple issues owners have reported post-launch and the compact SUVs appearing more like a large hatchback- no offence to owners). Didn’t consider Mahindra given the waiting time for their SUVs albeit I could have planned this given how long I waited to actually buy.
With other options largely being ruled out and the inertia post-COVID drawing to a close, I ended up booking the Hyryder on launch day expecting its pricing to be around 23L-24L for the V variant. The key factors were a car to primarily handle city driving conditions with occasional stints on the highway. The lack of adequate EV charging infrastructure on the highways and constraints at my apartment meant pure EVs were ruled out. I experienced the Prius nearly 20 years back and was happy to consider a Toyota hybrid.
Was eagerly waiting for the Hyryder review and when it launched at the end of August, felt the car ticked all the boxes I wanted. Two plus months after this, still feel the Team-BHP review is the most comprehensive one and have been following the forum avidly.
Sales experience
The sales experience from Toyota was non-existent through July and August and I ended up booking Grand Vitara as a backup. Clearly, Maruti Suzuki has a better sales process and the dealers were more hungry for business. However, starting mid-September, things changed and once the display cars showed up, interest started building up and I got assurance from the Toyota dealer that they would arrange for delivery by October month-end.
I received a call in mid-October that the car has been allotted and they could arrange delivery around Diwali. I was however stuck with some health issues at home and deferred delivery till early November. Requested the dealer to get Ceramic coating done to avoid an extended waiting period (quote was comparable to the market and also included 3 further coats to be applied at 6/12 month intervals).
It was pelting in Chennai when I took delivery last week. Did a quick PDI and missed out on checking TPMS which showed blank on reaching home (this has since reset itself and is not an issue). Over the last 2 days, have done only city hops and a short ride on a highway that was congested enough to prevent me from going over 85kmph.
Initial experience
Detailing below some observations from my limited driving experience.
- The car is really responsive and getting to 65kmph is a breeze. I drive a 2015 Honda City CVT primarily and I should say accelerating on the Hyryder is slightly easier at city speeds. The electric motor assists with low-end torque and no lag is felt.
- The car goes absolutely silent on start-up and is remarkably silent in EV mode. Didn’t feel the car as noisy up to 85kmph (will check on my next highway trip on how the car behaves at speeds above 100) and given 95 percent of my driving is at these speeds, not feeling the impact of the 3-pot engine.
- There is a clear shudder / vibration that is felt when it switches from electric to ICE at parking. This isn’t as obvious while driving albeit you will hear the engine. I was playing around with the infotainment to understand features and change settings hence I experienced this a couple of times and is clearly something that needs improvement.
- There is a whine that you hear (noted on the Team-BHP review by Vid6639 as originating from the brake vacuum pump which is uncovered). This is noticeable only when you are driving in EV mode in a quiet environment. Not sure if damping even helps in this case and would appreciate any feedback.
- Mileage is clearly going to be above 20kmpl in the city if you go easy on the pedal. Coming from a Honda CVT, this is something I am trained to do.
- The 360 camera doesn’t feel like a total 360 at least in terms of visualisation and only the left side is being shown while driving. While logically this makes sense in right-hand drive cars, this is a feature that can be improved unless I am missing turning something on (enough has already been said on the quality of the images).
- Wireless Apple CarPlay was a breeze to setup and overall things worked as expected.
- Air condition (given Chennai weather) and the sunroof was a concern. The AC is however more than satisfactory when set in Auto mode. Ventilated seats are handy albeit at their highest level can be noisy. Lower fan speed appears sufficient.
- The interior is brightly lit during day time. My son remarked that while he forgets the Honda City has a sunroof, on the Hyryder it is apparent enough. If you are a fan of sunroofs you will like it but given Indian summers, probably best to get a sun film installed.
- Ambient lighting is hardly noticeable. I do not care much about this but this looks like an attempt to just tick the box on the feature list.
- Access to the spare tyre is from the boot and requires using a wrench to lower the tyre should you need to replace it.
- Boot space is limited but will fit the needs of a small family and weekend trips just fine. Didn’t buy a boot mat as it limits the usage of the space further.
Overall, looks like a decent buy and has no buyer’s remorse yet (too early I guess). Got an extended warranty but expect the much talked Toyota service experience and hassle-free maintenance factors to come in handy.
Keyword: 2 days with Toyota Hyryder: Honda City owner shares 12 observations