Singapore 2018: A Closer Look At The All-New Toyota Vios

Late last year, Borneo Motors launched the All-New Toyota Vios - a car that's damn-near identical to the Toyota Yaris Ativ sold up in Thailand, with the biggest difference being the powertrain. The Singaporean variant is packaged with a 1.5-litre petrol engine as opposed to the 1.2-litre petrol engine found in Thailand's Yaris Ativ. 

On the whole it's an iterative improvement over the Vios we already have here, and as we mentioned in our previous stories it is likely that this particular Vios will end up in our market as well. The Vios was put on display during the 2018 Singapore Motorshow and we took an opportunity to get a closer look.

Just a quick recap for those who aren't in the know: the Singaporean Vios is available in both E Grade and G Grade, with the same 1.5-litre Dual VVT-i engine that powers the current Vios on sale here. Engine outputs sit at 105 bhp and 140 Nm of torque, with a CVT-type automatic sending power to the front wheels. 

In terms of equipment, the base Vios E gets :

• Halogen headlights
• Front fog lights
• Wing mirror-mounted side turn signals
• Electric wing mirrors
• Smart Entry and Start
• Tilt & telescopic steering weeh
• Optitron speedometer with MID
• Toyota Telematics System
• 7 airbags
• ABS with EBD
• VSC, HAC, Brake Assist
• Reverse camera
• ISOFIX anchor points

Moving one level up is the Vios G as shown here, which adds :

• Daytime Running Lights (DRLs)
• 16-inch alloy wheels
• 60:40 split folding rear seats
• Steering wheel-mounted audio controls
• Auto air-conditioning
• Rear seat centre conole
• Toyota Telematics with navigation

Both interior and exterior look fairly similar to the current model, and it's understandable if you find it difficult to tell it apart from what we currently have on sale. It also looks like the materials haven't changed a great deal, meaning Toyota may have a tricky time positioning the Vios against its more sophisticated rivals.

At the very least, there have been noticeable steps taken in improving cabin storage space and practicality. By that we mean there are now two cupholders in front of the shift lever, which isn't a huge difference but is still better than a total lack of space.

As Singapore is a fairly high-end oriented market, it's normal for products to be extremely high spec - the one exception being powertrains as a result of Singapore's COE system that targets higher capacity models. In the case of the Vios there's only so much that can be done in terms of packing it with features.