Toyota Vellfire India review: the luxury MPV you didn’t know you wanted

23^rd Feb 2020 11:00 am

The XXL-sized Toyota Vellfire MPV is here to entice you absent from your favorite luxurious sedans.

Autocar India regulars would have browse our thorough first impression of the Toyota Vellfire but what we have here is the final version for India. There are element dissimilarities to the a person we drove ahead of but the USP stays the same – MPV flexibility with small business-course seat comfort.

As the photographs make clear, the Vellfire is a total large amount of MPV. A Kia Carnival could possibly be for a longer time, but the Vellfire’s stubby bonnet portion and slab-like sides equal a enormous cabin and make the MPV glance larger sized than it is. You’ll have to be a little bit imaginative to see the ‘samurai’s piercing gaze’ inspiration to the entrance conclusion but the double decker headlight and chrome heavy grille positive give the Vellfire a deal with like no other. A slanting second row window is your greatest indicator that the colossus aside from you at a website traffic light-weight is a Vellfire though LED lights, a roof spoiler and a generous splattering of chrome insert some character to the cliff-like rear.

Luxury liner

Make what you want of the way the Vellfire appears to be like simply because, like with other MPVs, it’s not what it’s like on the exterior but what it’s like on the inside of that genuinely matters. The Vellfire’s XXL exterior and three metre wheelbase interprets into an enormously roomy cabin which is greatest expert from the comfort of the middle row. 

The large chairs are no considerably less than thrones and are comfortable sufficient to come to feel like they’ve been plucked from a Lexus. And which is ahead of you be aware the compact console tucked absent underneath the armrest for a total array of seat options. The seats can be heated/cooled, the backrest angle is adjustable and you can even alter the angle and length of the driven legrests. With the seats all the way again and at whole extension, what you get is a in close proximity to-flat mattress. ‘Boss mode’ that slides the entrance passenger seat ahead at the contact of a button frees up even more room to stretch out at the again. The Vellfire’s middle row seats are fantastic. Period of time. Just desire it wasn’t as significant a move up into the cabin.

The Vellfire for India sees the inclusion of a thirteen.-inch rear leisure display screen that folds out of the roof. The remote control to summon the display screen and run it, nevertheless, is a little bit far too nineteen nineties. Also aspect of the bundle is a rear sunroof, sunblinds for the second and third row windows, sixteen colour selections for the roof lighting, and vehicle local weather control for the rear portion of the cabin. Fold-out tables and cupholders also aid convert the Vellfire into an business office on the move but frustratingly there are no electric power retailers at the again.

Entry to the third row could have been far better. When the middle row seats slide ahead conveniently, the aperture is not significant sufficient for large adults to stroll in. Said large adults will not have an challenge of lack of house at the again nevertheless. It’s quick to uncover a easy legroom compromise with the middle seat passenger and there’s sufficient shoulder room for three at the again as well. Foldable armrests and backrest recline up the comfort degree further more. It’s really as fantastic as it will get in the third row. The Vellfire fulfils its responsibilities as a load lugger with relieve far too. The third row seats can be split, slid ahead and even folded upwards Innova fashion to no cost up a flat loading spot. A reduced and broad lip make the endeavor of loading luggage fairly easy far too.

Up entrance

The Vellfire is out there with a hybrid powertrain that contains a petrol motor that will work in conjunction with a 143hp entrance axle motor. A 68hp rear axle motor only kicks in when included grip is desired, forming an electric all-wheel push method in the process. Curiously, the India-spec Vellfire’s 2.five-litre petrol motor is rated at 117hp which is considerably down on the Japan-spec model’s 150hp output. A short stint of speed limited driving at Toyota’s take a look at monitor uncovered functionality to be sufficient nevertheless we’ll will need more time in real-earth problems to get the whole photograph. The Vellfire has a pure EV mode far too but you will need to be incredibly gentle with the throttle to push with no emissions from the tail pipe. Curiously, a research by Toyota observed that sturdy hybrids like the Vellfire operate on battery electric power alone for 60 per cent of the time in Indian metropolis problems. The promise of reduced emissions and higher gasoline economic system could be a attract for some.    

For an MPV of the Vellfire’s dimension, it’s remarkably quick to get comfortable driving the wheel of. The steering does not have to have significantly energy, the large glasshouse provides a good watch out and the 360 degree digital camera with a BMW-like augmented fact display screen is slick far too. Also nice is the ten-inch touchscreen unit that consists of Android Vehicle and Apple CarPlay. The plush entrance seats make it quick to shell out long hrs driving the wheel though the entrance passenger will enjoy the driven leg rest far too. Wherever the Vellfire loses details is in high-quality. Certain, there are quite a few leather-lined and padded surfaces but you really do not have to glance far too hard to uncover considerably less particular resources far too. And which is a little bit of a shame for an MPV that goes up in opposition to a Mercedes-Benz V-course.

Vellfire point out

An MPV with a Toyota badge and a in close proximity to-Rs 85 lakh (approximated, ex-showroom) value tag would usually be a hard sell. Of course, the Vellfire is highly-priced for what it is and frankly is not the initially design that arrives to thoughts for a luxurious car or truck consumer either. But for the chauffeur-driven majority who shell out most of their time seated at the again, the significant Toyota really has enormous attractiveness. And which is all down to the superb middle row seats that are fantastic sufficient to swing our vote absent from quite a few like-priced German automobiles. Sit in a person and you are going to get what we’re on about.