We drove the 2022 Toyota Glanza for 400 kilometers on a single tank of fuel. Here is everything we have to say
Photography: Sarath S
The Glanza has always been an alter-ego of the popular Baleno hatchback. Earlier in its life cycle, it used to literally be a Baleno with a Toyota logo and barely noticeable changes in certain areas of its exterior design. The 2022 facelift puts an end to this, by marking clear visual deviations from the Suzuki sibling. We had discussed this in detail in our first look story. We’ve now lived with it for a few days to get a better idea of how the drive and usability have changed on the facelift.
Table of Contents
2022 Toyota Glanza Specifications:
The new Glanza gets the K12N petrol engine from Baleno 2022. ‘N’ essentially means the 1.2L engine now gets the Dualjet system, which gives each cylinder two injectors, dual VVT, and a higher compression ratio, bringing about more efficient combustion, better refinement, and improved performance. We had talked in detail about this in our Swift review. A 5-speed manual transmission and 5-speed AMT are available now. The previous CVT has been ditched for the more affordable, fuel-efficient AMT, bringing a proportionate cut in prices as well. Our test car, however, was a manual.
Drive Impressions:
We wanted to test this car extensively so that we could get a comprehensive taste of what is on offer ( especially considering the fact that all we got to drive the new Baleno for was a few limited kilometers!). The most important thing you would notice on the new Glanza’s engine would be the refinement. The K12N feels super smooth and soothingly silent.
The power is up by 5hp, currently tipping the scale at 90 hp, and there is the 113 Nm of torque offered as before. The Dualjet has brought about better combustion and smoother delivery. You would find the power delivery to be linear and to gradually rise with revs. Then again, this motor is never too fast or exciting. The mid-range is weak and gets nearly flat towards the upper ends. There is hardly any juice at high revs.
This nature of the engine calls for a decent amount of playing around with the gears in city runs, and slow-moving scenarios. But complain not. The clutch is light and the shifts are smooth. The new Toyota Glanza can get to the minimum three-digit speeds without much struggle. However, it might be hard to push it further up. Should you try to do a speed run with this, you might even encounter multiple instances of the engine running out of juice.
In terms of handling and dynamics, the changes are all heartwarming. The new Glanza feels quite stable at speeds (those which it can afford!) and behaves better than its predecessor around corners. Of course, this is not something you can carve corners with, nor something that would let you set lap records. However, you do feel better confident in driving this fast, than what you’d have felt with the old one. Thanks for these be to the all-new suspension setup. New springs, a torsion beam at the rear, 20 mm of extra travel, and recalibrated damping are all present on the 2022 car. Also, the steering now offers more connection to the roads than the previous car’s. The car being heavier further contributes to the overall speed manners.
Another major improvement brought by the improved suspension setup is in the ride quality. The new Glanza/Baleno feels super comfortable to be in. While the old car’s suspension felt stiff at times, the new Glanza is evidently soft-springed (without eating much into the overall handling!). We were specifically impressed by its damping and think this could be the best in its class in terms of the ride comfort offered! All the small undulations on the roads are literally gulped by these shocks! Quite a perfect fit for a family car for the cities. Also, we felt the new Glanza to have improved in braking performance.
2022 Toyota Glanza Mileage: Thoughts After Driving 400 Kms!
The K12N engine has been quite loved for its fuel efficiency. With the Dualjet tech, the mileage figures have had great leaps up. We had previously experienced this in the new Swift, and Dzire. The same continues in Glanza 2022. We could achieve around 19 kpl with sensible driver behavior in mixed traffic conditions. In our total drive amounting to nearly 400 km across combined road/terrain conditions of cities, highways, inclines, and rough patches, the mileage figures averaged similar numbers. Maruti/Toyota’s claims of 22.9 kpl efficiency figures for this car are not always to be disbelieved…
Impressions On The Cabin Experience And Features
The overall cabin experience seems to have improved a lot. The only physical-design change here could be the Toyota logo replacing the Suzuki logo on the steering wheel. However, a thorough overhaul has been implemented on the cabin colors. Glanza’s rather conventional Beige-Black colorway could seem much more convincing to the average Indian buyer, than the Blue-Black on the 2022 Baleno. The material quality and build are identical to those on the new Baleno and are again great improvements in themselves.
We particularly liked the quality and efficiency of the Head-Up Display. The HUD gets a set of display adjustments to best suit the driving position you are in. In the long run, this could get you hooked to the convenience on offer. There is every piece of information on display, from the speedometer to the climate control readings, in neat, legible fonts.
The 360 camera offers good display quality and is quite practical. How seamlessly the various camera feeds blend in, is what we liked the most about it. There is a cleanly simulated 360 experience offered. Also, the feed quality is much better than many other cars with overlapping pricing.
The overall efficiency of the climate control is great and there are rear AC vents for added passenger comfort.
Glanza Or Baleno: What To Buy?
This could be more of a matter of personal preference, as the key difference between these cars is mostly cosmetic. However, from an ownership perspective, the Glanza could offer some advantages. We’ll tell you more about it.
Even while both the cars remain identical mechanically and feature-wise, the Glanza is slightly more expensive than the corresponding Baleno variants. But it comes with better and longer warranty packages than the Maruti Suzuki. Toyota is offering 3 year/ 1 lakh kilometers standard warranty on the Glanza while Maruti Suzuki is offering 2-year/ 40,000 km coverage as standard. The extended warranties on the Toyota offer up to 5 year/ 2.20 lakh km coverage over the significantly lesser 5 year/ 1 lakh km mark of the Baleno’s. Considering these, the initial price premium could easily be ignored
However, it should be noted that Toyota has a lesser number of sales outlets and touchpoints across the country than Maruti Suzuki, especially in rural areas. So now you know what parameters to consider while making this decision!
Vehicle Provided by: Nippon Toyota, Kochi.
