Toyota Verso - mature and very family oriented
Once the Corolla Verso, now just the Verso, is the third iteration of Toyota's compact minivan. However, this time he has a bigger task ahead of him - he must also replace his older brother Avensis Verso.
How will he do it? Firstly, it is longer than its compact predecessor, although not by much, because it is 7 cm. The technical base used by the current generation of Avensis is more important here. As a result, the wheelbase has increased significantly - by as much as 18 cm! Despite this clear ambition to be more than just a compact minivan, the car is visually reminiscent of the Corolla Verso. Most of the changes will be seen from the front - the headlights, although still large, now have a more aggressive look, and the bumper has become more massive, which gives the car a more expressive character. However, there are fewer differences at the back - Lexus look lamps were again used there, which is why the Verso is easy to confuse with its predecessor.
We will notice a lot more changes when we get behind the wheel. The dial of the clock has now moved to the center of the dashboard, where the elements trimmed in controversial aqua plastic have disappeared. While the second change is undeniably a plus, the first may not appeal to many potential buyers. As a consolation, however, it is worth adding that the watch is strongly turned towards the driver, thanks to which it is not tiring to spy on them, contrary to appearances. Whether the fact that passengers do not see them is a disadvantage or an advantage, we must decide for ourselves. An element that, in turn, resembles the Corolla Verso, is the location of the gearshift lever at the bottom of the dashboard. However, since the Verso offers plenty of room for driver and passenger, no one has to bang their knees on it.
If we talk about spaciousness, then the passengers of the second row of seats will not complain about it either. Three seats with separate longitudinal adjustment and backrest adjustment. They will comfortably accommodate even tall passengers, although we must remember that someone sitting in the middle seat will receive a minor injury. It is narrower than the outer seats, and besides, the ceiling upholstery drops noticeably over the head of the fifth passenger.
The trunk also offers a good, if not spoiled, volume - in the tested 5-seater version, its base volume is 484 liters. If that's not enough, we can fold down the rear seats (it's impossible to remove them), thus obtaining a flat surface with a capacity of 1689 liters.
In general, the car, as befits a minivan, seems to be quite family-oriented and focused on transporting its passengers in comfortable conditions. We'll see it best on a short drive - the Verso's suspension handles the imperfections of Polish roads well, and the car seems to flow over smaller bumps. What is important, the stability of the car when cornering does not suffer from this. Of course, this does not contribute to the dynamic overcoming of mountain serpentines - the power steering system does not give enough road feel - but the suspension settings, although comfortable, provide a satisfactory margin of safety.
We will appreciate the light steering when driving through the urban jungle, where you often have to turn the steering wheel in a healthy direction. When maneuvering through narrow streets, we appreciate the very good visibility provided by the Verso – the glass A- and C-pillars, large windows and side mirrors can be invaluable. Similar to the parking sensors (with a very uncomfortable and unreadable visualization in the form of a microscopic picture of the car located at the bottom of the dashboard, around which red lights are lit) and the rear view camera that the test car was equipped with.
The engine-gearbox duo should be criticized. We tested the more powerful of the two petrol options (1.8L, 147bhp) mated to a continuously variable automatic transmission, which isn't ideal. Its biggest drawback is that this type of transmission keeps the engine at a constant speed during acceleration, which can be very annoying and reveals another weakness of the Verso, which is not very good internal damping. If we want to move dynamically from under the headlights, the tachometer needle jumps up to 4. revolutions, which leads to a very loud and unpleasant sound of a tired engine. Luckily, once we reach a speed that suits us, the revs drop to 2. and the car becomes pleasantly quiet. Compensating for that annoying constant hum of the engine under acceleration is performance similar to the manual transmission version. Unfortunately, they are worse - the acceleration time to 0 km / h has increased from 100 to 10,4 seconds. Fuel consumption is also not optimistic - the manufacturer promises a consumption of 11,1 l / 6 km in suburban traffic and 100 liters in the city. However, the result achieved by us "on the road" turned out to be a liter more, and when driving through Krakow it dangerously approached 8,9 l / 12 km.
I wrote earlier that Verso is a typical family car, but, unfortunately, it lacks some elements typical for this segment, the most important of which is the lack of storage compartments. We have two of them in front of the front passenger, under the front armrest, pockets in the doors and ... that's it. The class's predecessor, the Renault Scenic, offers many more options. A ceiling mirror would also be a nice addition so you can control what the kids in the back are doing. The interior is also uneven - the material on the dashboard is soft and pleasant to the touch. On the other hand, on the center console we find not the highest quality plastic, sometimes trying to imitate aluminum. However, what surprised me the most was that I could not find the optimal driving position for myself. The seat, although it was lowered to the maximum, seemed too high to me, and the steering wheel, although raised and pushed forward, was still too far. As a result, I got the impression that I was sitting in a chair with my legs bent at an angle of almost 90 degrees, which is not a comfortable solution. Unfortunately, the only alternative was to hold the steering wheel as far as possible with outstretched arms, which is also uncomfortable and dangerous.
Overall, though, Toyota has done well by merging the two models. We got a car more spacious and mature than the Corolla Verso, but much more comfortable than the Avensis Verso. What is important, the price tag has remained at the level of a compact minivan and we will get the cheapest Verso for less than 74 thousand. zloty. The tested version of Sol with the Business package costs 90 thousand. zloty. If we add an automatic transmission, metallic paint and a navigation system, we get a price of almost 100 7. PLN. That's quite a lot, but in return we get 16 air conditioners, parking sensors with a rearview camera, a panoramic glass roof, alloy wheels and a leather steering wheel. The competition will not be softer with our wallet and will not be more generous when it comes to hardware. So if we're looking for a family minivan, the Verso should be on our list.
