Showing posts with label Toyota Verso. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toyota Verso. Show all posts

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Geneva 2011: Subaru Brings its Trezia Toyota Clone to Europe


Daihatsu isn't the only Japanese brand to add a rebadged Toyota model to its European lineup as Subaru did the same with the Trezia which is nothing more than a Toyota Verso-S with different logos. With a length of just under four meters, the small MPV is Subaru's newest proposal in the European minivan B-segment.

Subaru's designers only made a few changes to the front of the car, adding the brand's signature grille, a revised bumper and rounding up the headlights. As for the rest, it is virtually identical to Toyota's Verso-S. On the inside, changes are hard to spot too, with only the logos differentiating the two models.

The Trezia offers 429 liters of boot space, which can be extended if the rear bench is folded (60/40). With all seats in place, the car can accommodate five passengers plus “three large suitcases” (Subaru's claim). Buyers have a choice of two engines, none of which being a boxer - a 1.3-liter petrol and a 1.4-liter diesel unit. Both are sourced from Toyota and offer 99 and 90 horsepower respectively.

The naturally aspirated gasoline engine is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox which enables it to post an average fuel consumption of 5,5 liters/100 km (42.7 mpg) and CO2 emissions of 127 g/km.

As expected, the turbo diesel is even more fuel-efficient, returning 4.3 liters/100 km (54.7 mpg) and 113 g/km. In base trim, the diesel is also linked to a six-speed manual, but on higher trim levels it gets the Toyota six-speed multi-mode automated manual gearbox (M-MT) which has the clutch operated by an electric motor fitted to the transmission. In manual mode, the driver can change gears from paddle shifters.

The Trezia will not replace the similarly-sized Justy, as Subaru says the two models target different customers.



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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Euro NCAP's Best and Worst Performers of 2010


The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), which is similar to the American IIHS testing regimen, has released a list with the safest car in each vehicle category and the two worst performers overall of 2010. The cars that attained the coveted five star rating and achieved the highest overall score in their respective segment are:

------ Executive category: BMW 5 Series
------ Small Family category: Alfa Romeo Giulietta
------ Supermini category: Honda CR-Z
------ Small off-road 4×4 category: Kia Sportage
------ Small MPV category: Toyota Verso

On the other side of the fence are two models that achieved the poorest results of 2010. These are the Citroen Nemo with three stars and China's Landwind CV9 that received only two stars.

The European body noted that the cars in the top list "accomplished a high combined score based on the scores in each of the individual four areas of Euro NCAP’s assessment, while notably exceeding the thresholds for a 5 star overall rating". Along with the five top achievers, Euro NCAP said that the Suzuki Swift, Kia Venga, BMW X1, VW Sharan/Seat Alhambra, Citroen C4 all exceeded the 80% mark in overall score putting them on the runner-up list for the safest cars of 2010.

Commenting on the results, Dr Michiel van Ratingen, Euro NCAP Secretary General said: “Every year, car manufacturers constantly work to innovate and make their cars better and safer for the driver, whatever the size of the vehicle. The presence in these categories of high performing 5 star cars demonstrates car manufacturers’ commitment to safety for all sizes of vehicles.”

In early 2009, Euro NCAP implemented tougher crash testing procedures that make it more difficult for vehicles to receive a five-star rating. Last year, the European body crash tested a total of twenty-nine vehicles from numerous categories, of which 65 per cent reached the five star rating, compared to 90% in 2009.



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