Toyota came into India with what was (so everybody thought) one of the ugliest vehicles on Indian roads, the Qualis. There was a method in this seeming madness - the Qualis was actually an old South African model (phased out there) selling under a different name but Toyota was more intent on delivering quality and stamping the Toyota brand firmly on the Indian psyche - that was suggested by the name and borne out by the fact it was bulletproof reliable. The Qualis did it's job which is the reason so many commercial operators (including the call-centre cabbies) opted for the Qualis. Having established the reputation Toyota took the next step by phasing out the Qualis and bringing in the super-stylish Innova (compared to the Qualis) which was actually an MPV. By the way, MPV stands for Multi Passenger Vehicle and not Multi Premium Vehicle as the ad copywriters would like you to believe. But for some high net worth individuals, the Innova is looked upon as a very customisable car, with a couple of armchairs, a private bar and lounge fitted with a premium music system and TV screens. Take a look at the specifications of the Qualis. It is powered by a 2494cc, 2KD-FTV Diesel with an intercooler and a turbocharger. The inter cooler cools the intake air resulting in more oxygen going into the engine and promotes better burning of fuel while the turbocharger just sucks more of this charge in than the engine can suck in on its own, thus creating more pressure inside the combustion chamber of the engine and thus a bigger bang results when the fuel ignites. That leads to more torque, which for this engine is 200Nm and is spread from 1400rpm to 3400rpm. The power output is 102ps at a peak of 3600rpm. This is transmitted to the wheels by a five speed manual transmission. The Qualis is 4585mm long, 1760mm wide and 1760mm tall (which is why from the rear it is a bit of a box when viewed). The wheelbase is 2750mm and the Innova rides on 165/80 R14 tyres.

The 2012 Innova is available in a variety of shades which includes Grey Mica, Blue, Silver Mica,Dark Red Mica and Silky Gold Mica in metallic as well as White for the Cabbie-spec cars and Super White for the V. The facelift does make the Innova look a lot fresher, thanks to three things – There is a new grille, the headlamp clusters are new and also, the front bumper or air dam has been redesigned as well with the grille edges slanted the other way to give the front a rather different look overall. Finally the whole look is helped by the black surrounds on the fog lights. The profile hasn't changed much except for the fact that the the new Innova sports a rather decent set of alloys now.

While there is an eight-seater model as well, the car I was driving was the seven-seater top-of-the line V version which comes with a lot of bells and whistles compared to the base model, also the cabbie variant. For comfort, the V variant has a single-zone climate control system and along with that there is a six-speaker, 2 DIN, LCD touch screen with DVD, music system. There is a new four-spoke steering wheel too with repositioned control buttons. Personally speaking, maybe the channel select buttons should NOT have been larger than and below the volume control buttons – often while trying to change the volume one changed the radio channel instead. The mode button on the steering wheel is meant for the display which cycles through FM, Bluetooth and AM. The music system is pretty good and 95 FM, the all-day Western music channel in Delhi sounded pretty good. In terms of seating, there are two bucket seats in front for the driver and the passenger followed by a split three-seat and finally two jump seats which I kept folded up and away. The interior, while not overly bright, is heightened by the line of beige running across the two-tone fascia. Being the V version, the car had airbags for both the driver and the front-seat passenger. These are not available in the Cabbie-spec Innova.

The Innova is easy to drive like a car - it is also easy to forget the length of the car and swipe the rear end on another car while cutting in and out of traffic. On at least two occasions loud horns from my rear quickly reminded me of this length as I was about to swing into another lane. Its a good thing then that the door mirrors are large and offer a good view of what is happening at the rear. I collected my car from the dealer in far away West Delhi and despite my reservations about being mistaken for a cabbie looking for a fare to pick up I have to say it was a rather pleasant drive. The high sitting position offers a commanding view of everything in front of you. While the seats are very comfortable, engine noise is very much there. In fact, above 3000rpm it is really LOUD!! The Innova also bounces a lot driving over undulations. The Innova's suspension consists of Double Wishbones at front and multi-link set up with a lateral rod at the rear. Negotiating potholes is very easy and comfortable, but there is quite a bit of body roll while doing so. At highway speeds the loud engine noise makes one feel that an additional gear would have been handy. Driving at 60kph in fourth gear the engine is at 2000rpm and changing up to 5th gear drops the revs to a more quiet 1500rpm. Driving at 50kph in fourth gear results in the same engine speed but the engine doesn't like being driven like that, it labours a bit. At 80kph in 5th gear the engine is doing 2000rpm and taking the Innova to 100kph in fifth gear results in an engine speed of 2500rpm.

WU Likes: The new steering wheel, the reversing camera, the DVD music system with the display that doubles as the display for the reversing camera.

WU Dislikes: The engine noise needs to be sorted out and maybe Toyota could do something about the body roll.

WU Verdict: I have to say that a lot of my fears were unfounded. Apart from the jibes from friends and relatives, I wasn't hailed for rides on the road. To tell the truth, the V version and the Cabbie-spec car are so different it is glaringly obvious. Blast the music and you will not hear the engine so much. One HAS to keep the length in mind while driving, at least till one has got used to it, because driving the Innova is pretty much as easy as driving a small car. For large families that like driving out for long distances the Innova is just the ticket.

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