Toyota Agya shines despite lack of power

Remember the movie Titanic? Written and produced by James Cameron in 1997, it starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, recreating the sinking of the RMS Titanic on its maiden ocean voyage in 1912.

The movie took 160 days to film, with the production costs running to $200 million. In theatres, it ran for three hours and 31 minutes. So, you would think they could find just five minutes, somewhere, for a car chase. Not expensive stuff, understand – we only ask for some high-speed panel bashing and maybe a barrel-roll, with cheap, old vehicles.

But no, that was too much to ask, and audiences everywhere had to live with the compromised end result. Yet, Titanic was met with huge acclaim, rewarding its backers with 11 Oscars and becoming the first movie to earn a worldwide gross of $1.84-billion.

Even without a car chase. Shows you – compromise does not always end in disaster. So it is too with the recently-launched Toyota Agya.

Landing here as Toyota’s new entry-level weapon, the vehicle is small and competitively priced, which inevitably led to some compromises. But, that will not necessarily torpedo its competitiveness in the market place. A week with the Agya 1.0  as house guest gave us some insight of the little car’s good and less attractive attributes.

Toyota Agya rear view

It comes to South Africa at a price of R182 400, which should make it a solid player in the market for youngsters buying their first vehicle, plus older people buying their last vehicle. The test car’s looks drew attention, with the aggressive front grille, slanted LED headlights and front lip spoiler adding much to its matt-black alloy wheel rims in 175/65 R14 tyres.

On the practical side, the Agya offers four doors, interior space for four adults in comfort and five at a squeeze. It has cloth seats, airbags for both front occupants, electric windows all round, keyless entry, electric mirrors, remote control central locking, air conditioning and a sizeable luggage space.

There is also an onboard computer with multi-information display, Bluetooth connectivity, a USB port, plus keyless starting. And, the spare wheel is full-sized – rare, among entry-level cars, and meeting with the full approval of this writer.

Which brings us to the compromise. The Agya is powered by a normally aspirated, three-cylinder, 998cc petrol engine that produces 49 kW of power at 6 000 rpm, and 89 Nm of torque at 4 400 rpm, which goes to the front wheels via a manual five-speed gearbox. It is not enough.

Toyota says the car will go from standstill to 100km/h in 14.6 sec. Maybe, but that would be at the coast, with only a very thin driver onboard. They also say it has a top speed of 165 km/h. Maybe, but that would be at the bottom of a very, very long downhill.

Toyota Agya interior

We found the Agya able to stay with Gauteng traffic, but any sort of uphill on the highway would dictate a downshift from fifth gear. By the same token, in town one had to rev the engine harshly to affect any overtaking manoeuvre, and its lack of torque at low engine speeds meant it disliked being driven in fourth or fifth gear at under 60 km/h.

All of which seemed ironic, given the car’s aggressive appearance, which seems to have slight echoes of Toyota’s awesome World Rally Championship contenders.

On the positive side, the test car felt nimble and planted in corners – not always the case, with entry-level vehicles. Ah, maybe we are just nit-picking – the Agya’s projected customers will not be interested in the car’s performance.

They will concern themselves with its affordability and low fuel consumption. We averaged a figure of 5.1 L/100 km during the test, which generally took place in city traffic.

So even though we think the Agya is too slow, its projected buyers should be more interested in its looks, appointments and frugality. Which raises the question: Hell, what do we know? The Agya comes with a three-year/100 000 km warranty and service plan.

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