Toyota Zelas

Introduction

The Toyota Zelas is a mild sports car, which may not inherit the real genes of a track racer, but still it will definitely suffice your inherent inclination towards thrill. It is available only in fewer markets where the left hand drive system is on role. Among those markets, it shares its complete assembly with Scion tC as well which has nothing different than the name. The design is a three door coupe which has good amount of space inside the cabin and doesn’t fall short for a small family. Storing the luggage is also practical as the folding rear seats extend the already hefty area.

Engine, Mileage and Variants

The Toyota’s bullet proof reliability has always been a huge wall against the attacks of competitors. The engines and other mechanicals from the brand have written great stories with their solid durability and efficiency. The Zelas is equipped with a 2.5 liter inline four cylinder engine which is teamed with a 6-speed automatic gearbox. This car is able to churn out 178 hp at 6000rpm while the torque associated to the same is 234 Nm at 4100 rpm. The car is known to pick up numbers swiftly and can accelerate from naught to 100 km/hr in 8.9 seconds while clocking a top speed of 210 km/hr. The best mileage one may collect with this car is 11.1 kmpl.

Exterior

Design has always been a great forte for Japanese automakers; they always try to picture out their products with lots of lines, curves and engravings. Compared to the European automobiles, the Japanese motors are sophisticated rather than being muscular. The Toyota Zelas is also designed with similar traits in mind and has good amount of curves and cuts. It counts its size with 4425 mm of length, 1780 mm of width and 1430 mm of height. It has a 2700 mm of wheelbase with 155 mm of ground clearance. The car is employed with 17 inch alloy wheels with 215/50 R17 size tyres built around them.

Interior

The car is made quite affordable, especially when seen with respect to the number of equipment inside the cabin. The dashboard is quite simple and easy to do, but still it attracts with the compact design carrying all essential facilities. The standard system comes with a touch screen system which plays the music while catching it from USB, Aux, CD, AM, FM, iPod and Bluetooth. One can upgrade it to a higher version which also has the GPS navigation facility. The steering is leather wrapped and the ignition system is connected to a Push button start. The fabric upholstery may not the most premium one, but it is attractive and the seats are supportive too. At the rear, one may feel it cramped for longer durations but city rides would be good on usability. At the trunk, the 543 liters of space is visibly grand which extends to a good level with rear seats folded.

Safety, Braking and Miscellaneous

The car is loaded with features for entertainment, performance and safety. Toyota has used the best they could get for this car and the low pricing didn’t affect the reliability norms in any way with this car. It has got 5 star rating under crash tests organized by the renowned authorities. There are dual front and knee airbags along with side and curtain airbags. Other safety measures include anti-lock braking system, electronic stability program, cruise control and parking sensor. The seats are inspired from sports car and hence, they are supportive and allow driver to fit in as per the requirement.

Verdict

Toyota Zelas is a great car to buy; It is one of those dedicated two-door sedans that bestow you with the comfort of a saloon accompanied by the sportiness of a coupe.