Toyota Taisor

The Toyota Taisor sits somewhere in between a premium hatchback and a sub-compact SUV. It is based on the same platform as the Baleno. In fact, the Urban Cruiser Taisor is the rebadged version of the Maruti Suzuki Fronx and they have a similar relationship as the Baleno-Glanza, Ertiga-Rumion and Grand Vitara-Hyryder. Much like the Fronx, it goes  up against the likes of the Hyundai Venue, Mahindra 3XO, Skoda Kylaq and Tata Nexon. 

I’ve driven the Taisor extensively as a city car, a road trip car and even as CarDekho’s video production support car. Here’s why you should consider buying it and what it could do better.

Design has always been quite a personal and subjective topic. But I  feel the Taisor is a car that looks clean and mature. 

The grille’s design takes inspiration from the Innova Hycross with a sleek chrome bar connecting both the DRLs, whose signature has been lifted from the Urban Cruiser Hyryder. These design changes will appeal to those who like subtle styling and less flash. 

The side profile is very SUV-coupe like with the sloping roofline and a raked rear windscreen. While you can see its hatchback connection, the heavy dose of body cladding and 190mm of ground clearance lend it a more rugged look. I like the styling of the 10-spoke 16-inch wheels, while lower variants get either steel wheels with covers or black-painted alloys.

At the back, the main noticeable change you’ll be able to see vs the Fronx are the new lighting signatures from the Urban Cruiser Hyryder. Top-spec G and V variants come with illuminated connected LED tail lamps, which look wow at night. 

My favourite colour option is Lucent Orange and you can also get this car in Sportin Red (available with two-tone), Cafe White (available with two-tone), Enticing Silver (available with two-tone) and Gaming Grey.

Design & Quality

The cabin is primarily finished in hard plastics and while I have no complaints regarding quality, the texture finish could have been better. Also, at this price point, I do expect some premium materials on the dashboard. But thankfully, touch points such as the elbow rest and centre armrest have a soft padding. No complaints regarding fit and finish across the cabin, which feels well put together. 

While Toyota has made an effort to give the Taisor its own identity on the outside, the black / maroon dashboard with champagne colour inserts is identical to the Fronx, save for the Toyota badges.

Front seats

Ingress egress in the Toyota Taisor is fairly simple. The driver gets tilt steering-adjustment as standard, and telescopic adjustment and height adjustable seats in the higher variants, which helps finding a comfortable driving position with ease. The seats themselves feel comfortable for short journeys with soft cushioning and large side supports. But slightly firmer cushioning would’ve improved comfort on longer journeys, and offered more support for those of a heftier build.

The visibility is great from the driver’s seat and you can spot the edges of the vehicle easily, which will give confidence to new drivers. The Taisor also gets a movable front armrest

Rear seat

The Toyota Taisor’s rear seat is a comfortable place for two adults. There’s ample space for a six-footer to sit comfortably behind their own driving position. For the 6ft occupants, footroom and knee room is adequate too, however, the sloping roofline eats into headroom.

There are three headrests at the back and if needed, the Taisor can accommodate three average sized adults, but it will be a tight squeeze with compromise in shoulder room. Like the front, the sense of space here feels lacking due to the dark cabin theme and XL-sized headrests that block your view forward.

You do get rear AC vents, surprisingly, a rear armrest has been given a miss. Subsequently, there are no cupholders either.

Practicality

It gets 1-litre bottle holders in all four doors, two central cupholders, a glovebox big enough for the car’s documents and some smaller items (it isn’t cooled), and a storage area underneath the front central armrest. 

I found the open space beside the steering wheel to be rather useful, which can be used to store loose change or receipts. Rear passengers only get a seat back pocket on the front passenger’s side and a small space to store your phone underneath the rear AC vents.

Charging options

There’s a wireless phone charger that’s been angled downwards to help avoid the phone from being tossed around. You can also use the 12V socket or the USB type-A port up front, while the rear passengers get type-A and type-C charging ports.

Overall, the Taisor’s cabin offers a good balance of space, practicality and ergonomics. You won’t really see any benefit vs the Glanza here in any parameter, save for the slightly easier access to the seats owing to the raised ride height.

Features 

The Taisor gets all the creature comforts you would expect from a small family SUV. These features have also been executed well-keeping usability in mind.

It gets a 9-inch infotainment system, which has a slightly cluttered interface but is still easy to use with big graphics and a simple user experience. Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are also offered with this head-unit. 

You don’t get a fully digital display, but the small MID gets the job done in a simple manner. It relays basic information like trip details and fuel efficiency. Alternatively, there is a head-up display, which relays information like speed, RPM readouts and even shows turn-by-turn navigation inputs.

The ARKAMYS-tuned 6-speaker sound system offers a surround sound-like feel and maintains crispness and clarity and higher volumes. There’s also a wireless phone charger which could benefit from a cooling vent as phones heat up when placed here quite easily.

While the Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor does not get 6 airbags as standard, it still gets plenty of other equipment as standard fitment. Six airbags are available from the G Turbo variant, while features like 360-degree camera and auto IRVM are limited to the top-end V variant. 6 airbags should have been offered as standard as their current placement makes this crucial safety feature unavailable for people who don’t want to buy the Taisor turbo-petrol.

The Taisor does not get ADAS features, and while this car has not been crash tested by Bharat NCAP or Global NCAP, the made-in-India Fronx (which the Taisor is based on) was crash tested by Japan NCAP, where it scored a 4-star safety rating. Notably, its platform-cousin, the Baleno was crash tested recently by the Bharat NCAP earning a 4-star safety rating.

Toyota claims a boot space figure of 308-litres. The boot is deep, and you can store a small, medium and large trolley bag with ease, so it will accommodate four people’s worth of weekend luggage without any hassle. This is something that’s hard to do even in some compact SUVs! The 60:40 split in the seat back offers versatility for you to store larger items or luggage if there’s nobody sitting at the rear. You might have to be careful while loading/unloading luggage though, as the boot lip is a little high and requires effort.

In the CNG variants, though, the space on offer is restricted with just enough room for small duffle bags. The spare tyre is placed vertically ahead of the CNG tank too, so the usable space is hampered.

The Toyota Taisor 2025 is offered with two petrol engine options: a 1.2-litre, four-cylinder, naturally aspirated and a 1-litre, three-cylinder, turbocharged engine. The naturally aspirated engine can also be had with a factory-fitted CNG kit. 

1.2-litre petrol

This naturally aspirated petrol engine is tried, tested and dependable. The previous generation of the Swift and Dzire also had this engine while it is still used in the Baleno and Glanza. This engine is well-known for its performance, fuel efficiency and refinement. 

City Performance 

This engine is perfect for city usage as it has been tuned in such a way that it offers a smooth experience all round. The performance isn’t enthusiastic or exciting but it picks up speed in a smooth and linear manner. The acceleration is enough to make a quick overtake at city speeds.

The 5-speed automated manual transmission (AMT) offers convenience in heavy city traffic. But, you can feel the occasional jerk during gear shifts, especially when driving enthusiastically. It also upshifts quickly in order to maintain fuel efficiency, which is okay to keep pace with slow moving traffic, but you have to get on the throttle more than you would for better performance. 

And for that reason, I would recommend you to go for the manual, which is easy to use with a light clutch and slick gearbox. You will enjoy driving the car with the manual, and in the moments where you are revving it out before making that upshift near the redline, you will appreciate the sporty sound from the engine as well. 

You can expect a fuel efficiency of around 12-14kmpl in the city from this engine. 

Highway Performance 

I found the highway performance to be just about adequate. You won’t have any issues as long as you’re commuting in a relaxed manner, and want to simply cruise between 80-100kmph. However, if you want quick overtakes at these speeds, you will want a bit more punch. 

The experience with the AMT will involve jerks and head nods, as it takes time to react and downshift for a quick overtake. Doing it with a manual is much easier as the downshift doesn’t require a lot of effort. You can expect a fuel efficiency of up to 18kmpl on the highway. 

Overall, this engine is one of the best naturally aspirated units in the entire segment, and if you want a relaxed and refined drive experience, primarily for city usage, this is the one to pick. 

Taisor CNG

Despite the drop in power and torque numbers when compared to the petrol version, the drive experience isn’t all that different. You will feel a marginal drop in acceleration at city speeds, but it is still enough for all commutes.

The drop is more significant on the highway, and it will feel underpowered with a full passenger load or in hilly areas. It only comes with a manual transmission.

Of course, the dip in performance comes along with a big bump in efficiency. If you primarily need a city commuter, the Taisor CNG makes a good case for itself in the long term.

1-litre turbo-petrol

This 3-cylinder engine offers strong performance, but it isn’t as refined as the naturally-aspirated engine. You do feel more vibrations on the floor especially when the engine has just been started and is cold. But the overall NVH is still more than acceptable. 

City performance 

The Taisor becomes an enjoyable car to drive with this engine. The performance is strong once the turbo spools and kicks in, but the surge in power isn’t something that is overwhelming.

As a result, city overtakes are effortless, and it has enough power at lower speeds to keep pace with the traffic too. 

While the manual pairs well with this engine and is the transmission to get if you want maximum performance and fun, you can opt for the 6-speed torque converter automatic for its ease of use. It offers a smooth experience in regular usage, but is also quick when needed. It isn’t as quick as the DCT found in the Sonet and Venue, but it gets the job done without any real delay that would hamper the experience. The automatic usually gets its shift points right but if you feel the need to take over manually, you do get paddle-shifters.

With the Taisor’s turbo-petrol engine, you can expect a fuel efficiency of around 11-13kmpl in the city. 

Highway performance

The open road is where this engine comes alive. Performance is quick enough to put a smile on your face and it’s just about 1 second slower than a Kia Seltos turbo-petrol in the 0-100kmph sprint. 

This performance doesn’t taper down post 100kmph, and your overtakes won’t require planning. The automatic downshifts without much hesitation, but I found using the paddle shifters is better if that window for the overtake is a tiny one; say when you’re filtering through trucker traffic on the ghats.

From an efficiency point of view, you can expect the turbo to return around 17kmpl on the highway. Aggressive driving can drop that number quickly though. To sum up this engine, I would recommend it to someone who’s going to use the Taisor in both city and on the highway equally.

Ride comfort 

The Toyota Taisor’s suspension offers a good balance between ride and handling. Ride is super comfortable and potholes, undulations and irregularities don’t affect its composure. Add its 190 mm ground clearance to the mix and you don’t have to slow down over bad roads. It’s only the really nasty and sharp potholes that catch out the suspension with a sharp thud, otherwise going over speed breakers and broken roads remains flat and easy. 

Even at three digit speeds, the Taisor remains composed with undulations and expansion joints barely unsettling the cabin. Straight line stability is commendable and doing long journeys in the Taisor is no sweat. It doesn’t let you down even if you’re in the mood for fun as this set up doesn’t come at the expense of handling.   

Handling

Its steering feels light in the city, so finding and placing the car in a tight parking spot or taking a U-turn is effortless. 

If you are going to a hill station and find a good windy section of road - the Taisor feels fun and inspires confidence. And because of its suspension balance, the occupants too won't feel nauseous as you take the faster line through a turn. Adding to the experience is a steering that weighs up adequately as speeds increase and lets you feel in control, even when pushing in a corner. Overall, the Taisor manages to strike a good balance between ride comfort and handling.

• Toyota offers the Taisor in six variants: E, S, S +, G & V.

Toyota Taisor E variant

• Only gets the 1.2-litre petrol engine option with the manual. CNG is also available.

• Gets standard safety features like dual airbags, ABS with EBD, electronic stability control, rear defogger and hill assist.

• Covers all basic equipment like power windows, auto AC, tilt steering adjust and adjustable head rests (front and rear).

• The lighting setup is halogen but it does get 16-inch steel wheels with covers.

• There is no music system of any kind on offer. 

Toyota Taisor S variant

• Offers the option of an automated manual transmission (AMT) with the 1.2-litre petrol engine.

• Body coloured ORVMs with turn indicators is the only change in design here.

• The highlight here is the addition of a 7-inch touchscreen with a 4-speaker sound system.

• Functional additions include electric outside mirrors, steering mounted controls, and rear parcel tray.

Toyota Taisor S+ variant

• Improved looks with LED DRLs, LED headlights, and painted 16-inch alloy wheels.

• Apart from auto headlights, there’s no significant difference in the feature and safety department.

Toyota Taisor G variant

• This variant is offered only with the turbo-petrol engine.

• Boasts a full LED setup with connected LED taillights, and rear wiper and washer.

• Notable functional feature additions include telescopic steering adjustment, front central armrest, height-adjustable driver seat, and rear view camera.

• Improved infotainment package with six speaker sound system and coloured MID display for driver.

• Wireless phone charger, push button start/stop, rear AC vents, and type A and C charging ports are also included. 

Toyota Taisor V variant

• Offers the most premium look and feel with 16-inch machine finished alloys, dual tone colour options, and leatherette steering wheel.

• The infotainment package gets better with a 9-inch touchscreen, and Arkamys-tuned sound system.

• Top additions include cruise control, auto-folding outside mirrors, auto-dimming IRVM, head-up display and 360-degree camera.

• It also gets the UV-cut glasses for better heat insulation and a leather-wrapped steering.

CarDekho Recommends:

• We would recommend the S variant of the Taisor if you are on a tight budget. That variant offers the option of an automatic transmission, while covering all the basic must-haves of a family car. Alternatively, if you plan on putting aftermarket accessories, then you can go for the base E variant.

• The G variant of the Toyota Taisor offers the most value for money with its mixture of functional and creature comforts.

The Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor is a stylish looking car, has an interior that feels nice to spend time in, comfortable for four occupants and has all the features one would need for daily use. However, the package isn’t complete. There are a few missing bits such as a sunroof, leatherette seat covers with ventilation and a rear centre armrest are a must at this price point. 

But what makes up for this is the drive experience. The 1-litre turbo-petrol engine is massive fun and offers more than enough performance for your commutes. Even the 1.2-litre petrol is smooth and refined to drive. And the icing on the cake is the well balanced ride and handling setup, making it a car you’d want to get behind the wheel of. 

Other Cars To Consider 

Maruti Brezza

Reasons to consider

• Taller height and square proportions offer better presence

• More headroom for rear passengers

• Gets a sunroof

Reasons to ignore

• No turbo-petrol engine

• Not as stylish

Tata Nexon

Reasons to consider

• Offers more features

• Option of diesel engine

• 5-star safety rating

• Turbo petrol gets a quick-shifting DCT 

Reasons to ignore

• Inconsistent fit and finish

• More expensive

• Not as practical

Kia Sonet/Hyundai Venue

Reasons to consider

• Offers more features

• Option of diesel engine

• Turbo petrol gets a quick-shifting DCT

Reasons to ignore

• Ride is not as comfortable, especially at high speeds

• No CNG option

Nissan Magnite/Renault Kiger

Reasons to consider

• Smooth CVT automatic transmission option

• 6 airbags as standard

Reasons to ignore

• Turbo-petrol engine isn’t as exciting

• Overall package feels less premium