Far from dimming new Toyota Starlet keeps shining

Taken into consideration, the Toyota Starlet is, at blatant and obvious best, a rebadged Suzuki Baleno at a higher price.

Runaway success

One of the original models to emerge from Toyota’s partnership with Suzuki’s Maruti division in India, the other being the Urban Cruiser based on the Vitara Brezza, the Starlet, besides reviving one of Toyota’s most iconic monikers, has been a smash-hit sales success since being introduced two years ago.

Almost entirely unchanged from the Baleno inside and out, bar the Toyota badges, the initial monthly sales projection of 500 units ballooned to almost double in a move that surprised many, including Toyota itself.

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Setting records is successor, the Etios, never matched in the same timeframe, the introduction of the new Baleno earlier this year soon resulted in the obvious being asked; will there be another Starlet?

This was quickly answered not long after with the unveiling of the new Glanza in India, a moniker incidentally used as a performance designation on the very last Toyota-made Starlet produced between 1996 and 1999.

In a welcome departure from the previous generation though, the Starlet is now better differentiated from the Baleno and after spending the customary seven days in the company of the top-spec XR, it became clear that a dip in popularity is unlikely to occur soon.

Being different helps

As mentioned, the previous “slap-dash” undertaking has been reversed in the form of a front facia design that is sportier and not as bland as the original.

Rather than simply heading the rebadged route, Toyota has fitted the Starlet with a thinner grille and a chrome V logo bar, as well as a restyling the bumper with C-shaped chrome fog light surrounds not offered on the comparative Baleno GLX.

At lower end, the Starlet boasts a deeper air intake with a honeycomb grille encased in U-shape outer edge, tweaked projector-type LED headlights and stylish 16-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels of Toyota’s own design.

Less of a change is the rear where the Starlet, apart from the Toyota badges, is unchanged from the Baleno. Despite this, it still rates as a massive step-up from the old Starlet, made even more appealing by the by Shadow Black Pearl paint option.

Welcome inside

The inherent good start continues inside in the guise of a completely new interior that is roomier and much more up-to-date than before.

Like the Baleno, Toyota has opted to stick with an attractive combination of a blue-and-black interior for the Starlet, broken-up by black cloth seats, piano-key black inserts and a silver insert on the dashboard.

Visually more appealing than before, the modern appearance doesn’t offset the hard plastics used on the dash, with the mentioned silver inlay feeling particularly cheap and clunky to the touch. 

More worryingly though was an intermittent knocking noise that started developing after a few days from the dashboard.

Subsequently, Toyota informed The Citizen that a change in component design is to blame and that it has reverted to the previous design method that never resulted in squeaks or rattles being present in any previous generation Starlet or Baleno tested.

The assurance is certainly welcome as the rest of the cabin is clean, minimalistic and ergonomically sound, despite the lacking of a physical volume dial for sound system.

Kitted-out…

For its part though, the new nine-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is a massive improvement over the old seven-inch setup that froze on a number of occasions in the Baleno.

Easy to understand and fathom, it’s inclusion bolsters a feature-rich specification sheet comprising push-button start and keyless entry, a 4.2-inch TFT instrument cluster display, folding electric mirrors, all around electric windows, automatic climate control and cruise control.

Standard safety items include a reverse camera with parking sensors, six airbags, ABS with EBD and Brake Assist, Hill Start Assist and Vehicle Stability Control.

…but still missing something

In fact, the only omission, an issue that remains the biggest gripe with current Suzuki models, is the lack of auto lock/unlock doors that as this still requires the pushing of a button on the driver’s door.

What’s more, the Starlet XR does without the new Heads-Up Display and surround-view camera system offered on the Baleno GLX, though reportedly, this was done at Toyota’s discretion rather than being requested by Suzuki.

On the practicality front, rear passenger legroom remains plentiful, but headroom still at a premium in compete contrast to front occupants. Not rectified is the lack of a rear armrest, however, air vents are provided for the first time.

As before, the Starlet’s boot is deep but smaller than before with luggage space rated at 314-litres versus the 355-litres of the previous model. A 15-inch space saver spare resides underneath the bonnet board.

Where did the pep go?

Up front, the Starlet, like the Baleno, now derives motivation from Suzuki’s 1.5-litre K15B petrol engine that produces 77kW/138Nm.

While up seven kilowatts and eight Newton Metres up on the old 1.4-litre K14B, the unit doesn’t feel as peppy as before and needs to be encouraged by using the upper regions of the rev-range.

Despite sharing the same Heartect platform as the Baleno, the Starlet is a touch heavier at 985 kg versus the Suzuki’s 980 kg, although this is unlikely to be blamed for the comparatively sluggish performance, even at altitude.

One the move, the engine offers a decent amount of shove, but runs out of puff on hillier sections, requiring a fair amount of rowing of the five-speed manual gearbox.

With the exception of the clutch bite point, which remains too high and in need of fair amount of revs to avoid stalling, stirring the ‘box is an otherwise effortless affair as the changes are slick and positive and the clutch itself light.

As before, the Starlet’s ride is soft but comfortable and more than capable of soaking-up imperfections, while the steering provides a bit more feel than before while remaining light.

The uptakes in power, torque and weight over the previous model reflected in the Starlet’s consumption, which came to an indicated best of 5.8 L/100 km.

Admittedly, a lower figure could have been on the cards hadn’t not been for sporadic use of the air-conditioning and prolonged spells town driving.

Conclusion

As much as the Toyota Starlet represents an improvement in nearly every single area over its predecessor, the question of the Suzuki Baleno prevails, especially in the case of the GLX that offers the mentioned spec items at R19 000 cheaper than the XR.

Regardless though, the presence of the Toyota badge ultimately remains the Starlet’s biggest trump card over the Baleno that will result in buyers being more than willing to part with their R294 900 than realising the relation between both models.

Taking the Baleno out of context, something unapologetically difficult, the Starlet remains an honest, well devised and now good looking package worthy of its respective accolades, yet unlikely to escape the comparison from those in the know.