Toyota Innova Crysta

Overview

Clearly, one of the biggest launch of the year 2016 and the most important car from Toyota, the all new Innova Crysta is nothing less than anything being driven in the country on 4 wheels. You can seek anyone using an older generation Innova and the chances of a complaint for this this car still remains zero from the customer side. The name stands for comfort, ease of mind and pocket friendly people carrier which not just satisfies it's driver's desire but also make a great impression on those who are traveling aboard. If this long length praise cannot even define a car with a mild powered engine and simple interiors, I believe the words would go short when the talk starts for the all new Innova Crysta.

Exterior

The curvy old people carrier has evolved into an all-new edgy car with the aesthetics of a more personal belonging than only being a transport medium for all. It is not the Innova that our eyes are familiar with and believe it or not, it starts feeling more dearer every time time you look at it and ignore. The front of the car brings the boldness which was always missing from the older generation. The cuteness of the last face has evolved into a muscular upper lip with stretched headlights and chrome bars, flowing smoothly through the light assembly till the start of the front fender. The lower face works as a large air dam while the design inside the bumper resembles a personalized hexagonal surround seen in nearly every new car of 2016.

The new Innova Crysta looks perfect from the front and rear three quarter views while it's side body makes it feel huge and van like in more or less manner. It cannot be counted negative as the flowing roof line does not make it feel low to the passengers of all rows while its length guarantees the comfort of all. When seen exactly from the rear, the axe-shaped taillights save the car from being called a chopped down MPV. The boot door is large and thus would be pleasing part when placing large suitcases into the place. Spoiler further aids the rear design and so does the shark fin antenna on the new Crysta. Not just carrying the style statement further, the alloy design looks sturdy and builds confidence while approaching the driver seat with it's perfect finish. The doors are huge, clearing visualizing the increased strength of the new comer. The use of large mirror on the sides of the third row seats not just aided the overall design but also helped in making the car feel more alive on the inside.

The car scores 9/10 when seen in the design department as the design provides the best possible comfort and refinement to the car, thereby proving itself again useful in both short and long trips. The placement of indicators close to the the front fog lights saves a lot of space within the headlights, which heartily contains a projector headlamp and LED DRL's. A high beam halogen is also in the place for easy highway driving in low light conditions.

Dimensions and Weight

Undoubtedly, the car has grown in all aspects. It measures 4735 mm in length, 1830 mm in width and 1795 mm in height. The wheelbase remains the same at 2750 mm for the new Crysta. It weighs 1890 kg while it carries a fuel tank with 55 liters of fuel capacity. The ground clearance stands at 167 mm.

Interior

When everyone would be done with the praise of the new Innova Crysta's interior, the owner can easily rest inside the rich all new interior and enjoy his money getting the worth of attention from all aspects. Believe me, Crysta can easily burn most of the 'premium tagged' cars of India in shame with its all new interiors. Starting from the dashboard itself, the car contains all the required premium bits like wood inserts flowing perfectly within its dashboard and carrying a piece of the same wood on the upper curve of the steering wheel. The dashboard is low from the passenger side while a perfectly designed curve makes it higher on the driver side, again matching to the default position of the steering wheel. The instrument console gets its own perfect cabin while the dashboard finally contains the touchscreen infotainment system with navigation, missing from the equipment list of the last generation car.

The automatic climate control knobs below the infotainment system are perfectly placed for their best use while the use of silver instead of chrome for the interior front side lining has kept the elegance of the Innova alive in the new Crysta. The roof has finally received the required treatment of ambient lighting while the air vents would naturally aid in keeping the passengers cool till the third row. Wood and silver on all the doors, wood on the 2nd row fold-able tables and perfectly finished front center space makes the Innova feel richer than ever.

Instrument Console

Innova Crysta offers an excellent looking unit with a large colored MID in the center of a 2-pod instrument console. White back-lit numbers with a blue circle around their placement is one of the best views a driver can get when not focusing on the road itself. The impressive instrument console displays all the necessities proving useful while driving the car. The dials have been perfectly sized for a car of this size and the same has been done with the equally appreciable steering wheel.

Engine and Gearbox

The car has evolved a lot in all aspects and the engines have finally got those attractive magical numbers which were missing from the last generation. Yes, this time, Innova Crysta comes loaded with 2 engine options and most importantly offers an automatic gearbox with the bigger one.

The smaller motor is a 2393 cc, 4-cylinder turbo diesel unit which comes mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. It sounds smaller than the older 2.5 L unit but actually delivers 150 PS at 3,400 rpm and 343 Nm of torque around 1,400-2,800 rpm. The figures are very interesting when compared to the older engine's 102 HP and 200 Nm of torque.

Well, if this is not your choice, you can have the powerful 2755 cc, 4-cylinder turbo diesel unit producing 174 PS at 3,400 rpm and mind blowing 360 Nm of torque at just 1,200-3,200 rpm. The best part is still here as the engine comes mated to a 6-speed automatic gearbox. Both the engines are offered with a rear wheel drive option as Toyota believes that MPV's do not need the 4x4 system or just they wanted to differentiate the Fortuner.

The engines are the real gem to the game as getting a new body on the older engine would have kept everyone low with their desires while now, the option of the bigger engine can help the brand conquer all that lies after the INR 16 lakh price tag for a premium MPV. The only surprising fact is that you will have the option to choose between a premium sedan or the new Toyota Innova, which again would not be easy considering the up sides of both the segments.

Comfort and Safety

Innova Crysta balances both the important aspects of a car. It never let you back on the safety terms while keeping the comfort as it's most important section. The seats on the car have became more premium offering fatigue free long distance rides. It provides the most comfortable front seats the Innova moniker has ever provided, making it more like a driver's car in the real world. This never meant that the middle row was left out as the captain seats on the second row are even more comfortable and offers the best in-class ride experience.

The option of AC vent on each row makes it temperature friendly while the use of a touchscreen AVN unit has improved the overall ride experience. Every door has three bottle holders which are good for 1 liter water bottle each. The third row seats are equipped with an option of one touch tumble while the second row has an option to move the front passenger seat from behind only. The ambient lighting makes the car look exclusive when driven at night.

Safety has been kept on the first hand as Toyota offers a package covering 7 airbags including the driver knee airbag into the new Innova. The other features on offer includes ABS, EBD, brake assist, vehicle stability control and hill start assist. The overall body has been improved for sudden impacts and the new Innova will definitely bring more confidence to the passengers. The car comes with projector headlamps for better driving in low light conditions. The car now rides of bigger 215/55-17 tyres (ZX model), offering better road grip and delivering the overall power in a better way to the ground.

Variants & Shades

The car is being offered in 6 variants named 2.4 G, 2.4 GX, 2.8 GX Automatic, 2.4 VX, 2.4 ZX and 2.8 ZX Automatic. The first 4 variants are offered with an option of 7 and 8 seater while the ZX can only be availed in the 7-seater. Innova Crysta offers a wide variety of shades including White Pearl Crystal Shine, Red, Grey, Avante Garde Bronze, Silver and Super White on the newcomer.

Ex-showroom Price

The base model of Innova Crysta is priced at Rs. 13.83 lakh and the top model is available for Rs. 20.77 lakh. These prices are ex-showroom Mumbai. Innova Crysta is not available in Delhi due to ban on diesel cars (above 2000cc).

Visual Comparison

Infographic

VIEW FULL SIZE