Have times ever been better for someone with around $20-25,000 to spend on a secondhand, good quality Australian family car? A few weeks ago we drove the overlooked AU Falcon, a large rear-wheel drive car that is now ridiculously cheap. For the dollars and its age, it is simply exceptional value. Other models of the last 3-4 years that we have already driven include the Mitsubishi Magna (we love 'em), the Holden Commodore V6 (pity about the so-harsh engine but still a great package), the Toyota Avalon (another very good car). But we had previously never driven the Toyota Vienta, the V6 version of the Camry.
Available in the same body shape as the Camry (four cylinder) and Vienta (V6), the pictured MCV20R model was released in late 1997, although most guides give this model a 1998 starting date. Driven for this story was a September 1997 Vienta Grande, the top-of-the-line car - although ours did have a few options deleted. New it cost $46,000, but at the time of writing will set you back about $25,000.
And, to save you skipping to the last screen, apart from the steering, we think it's a very good car.
Inside the cabin you'll find rather hard and flat seats, and an interior which initially looks a bit light-on in features for the top-of-the-line luxury model. However, most of the goodies are in fact there; it's just that you need to look for them cos they're not very ostentatious.
Both the passenger and driver's seat are electric, with powered back-rest angle, fore-aft travel and height. However, the height button simply raises and lowers the rear edge of the seat, rather than lifting the whole base. That makes getting comfortable a bit more of a chore - you'll need to adjust the backrest angle each time you change seat height. The steering wheel is adjustable for height, and so the combination of movements will let most people get settled behind the wheel. Leather was standard in the Grande, but the car we drove had been specified without cowhide, a move that saved the original purchaser $760. The same skinflint also deleted the sunroof - another $760 left in the bank.
Behind the wheel are large and plain instruments - just the normal ones; there's no digital trip computer or anything fancy like that. In fact, to give the interior some semblance of luxury, Toyota has followed the ol' woodgrain route - it's there on the centre console, in the middle of the dash, and around the window switches on each door. Mixed with the dominantly plastic interior, it looks terrible.
But we have no complaints about the features to be found in the middle of the dashboard - the climate control and sound system. While compact and easily overlooked, the digital climate control system is easy to use and effective, with temperature selection being by a rotary knob. Operating the front and rear demisters is a straightforward process - the same certainly can't be said for some manufacturers' efforts in this area - and the outside temp can be easily viewed.
Directly above that is a Fujitsu Ten double-DIN single CD radio, which also works in conjunction with a 6-stacker hidden in the boot. With sail-mounted tweeters, large rear deck speakers and front door mids, the system sounds very good - exceptional when you consider that this is a four-year-old system in a non-prestige car. As with the climate control, it's also easy to use.
Suddenly, the interior's not looking such a sparsely featured space...
Look further and you'll find cruise control (operated by the same effective Toyota/Lexus steering stalk that's must have been fitted to millions of these cars), twin airbags, remote locking - and electric windows, external mirrors and vanity mirrors.
Inside space is quite adequate - the only squeezy bit is rear headroom, which for tall adults is unacceptable. Otherwise, there's adequate rear knee- and foot-room, and the safety of a rear centre lap/sash belt, five head restraints and adjustable B-pillar seatbelt anchorages. The boot is large (and the bootlid opens wide), while the rear seat folds down in a 60/40 split. A Commodore or Falcon is bigger, but for many the Vienta will have quite adequate interior space.
And how hard does she go? Under the bonnet you'll find the most sophisticated engine ever used in a locally-built car - the quad-cam, variable intake manifold, pent-roof combustion chamber, dual knock-sensed, 10.5:1 comp ratio, all-alloy 1MZ-FE.
Sound a mouthful? It should be - it's a great engine.
The six-cylinder is basically the same as used in the Lexus ES300 - and in this department, the Toyota makes the Commodore and Falcon look incredibly dated. (And against the Magna? Well, the Magna engine is good, but the Toyota feels even sweeter.) Running direct-fire ignition and an airflow meter, the 3-litre V6 develops 145kW (premium) and 141kW (normal unleaded), both at 5200 rpm. Peak torque is 279Nm, recorded at 4400 rpm. And while the revs at which max torque is generated and high compression DOHC spec might lead you to believe that this is a torque-less engine at low revs, that's not the case.
Basically, the engine hauls everywhere through its rev range. In fact, it behaviour wouldn't be an embarrassment in a $70,000 car... and of course the contemporaneous Lexus ES300 actually did cost that much!
Side-by-side with the V6 in the engine bay is the (also then newly released) A541E automatic trans. This is a superb trans - even when compared with the best of current models. Intelligent and quick to drop back a gear (or two) when needed, it is light-years away from those old mash-it-to-the-floor-and-wait auto transmissions that used to be so common.
Instead, it will hold engine revs to the redline as necessary - or up-change early when you're ambling around. You won't find any manual transmission Grandes - they'll all autos. Apparently the manual trans (in lesser spec trim level) cars are a bit unhappy with lots of power off the line, and with the auto such a good 'un, the absence of the manual box from the Grande is probably no bad thing.
Performance includes a 0-100 km/h time of a flat 9 seconds - but it's the in-gears responsiveness of the trans and engine which is most impressive. Fuel economy in normal urban/country driving is in the mid-tens in litres/100km.
On the road the car is, however, let down by its steering. For a power steering system it's quite heavy, but that extra weight doesn't give it any better feel or precision. Slow around centre, it's also a system that has almost no feedback. On the upside that gives zero torque steer or weight changes under acceleration (even with one front wheel spinning violently under power, the car continues to track beautifully) but it also means that a series of corners can't be attacked with a precise and intuitive steering input. On turn-in it almost feels as if the front tyres are flat, so slow is the response.
That's a real pity because the rest of the chassis is accomplished, the struts front and rear (with the backs located by very long transverse arms) and hefty sway bars keeping the Grande flat and unfussed under cornering demands. Ride is also quite good - the Grande got softer suspension than other trim levels. Helping in the cornering is the precision with which power can be applied courtesy of the wonderful engine/trans combination. But in some difficult and bumpy corners, the Toyota gets up a diagonal pitching motion, and while we didn't drive the car in the rain, we also had the feeling that the tail could come out quickly if you lifted off sharply mid-corner in slippery conditions. Hard braking gets some nose-dive happening but the ABS system is strong and consistent.
NVH is the Vienta is not as suppressed as in the Magna - or even the base-model AUII Falcon. Instead, the engine makes a gravely noise, overlain by some induction roar. Tyre noise is also more prominent than we've become used to - although all of this should be considered in the context that both the Magna and Falcon are very quiet cars in cruise conditions.
The car we drove had 70,000km on its LCD odometer and felt as-new in body tightness, suspension, engine and trans. However, we'd suggest that you only buy a car that has factory service records - this engine would be very expensive to rebuild if it had been subjected to, say, bad oil... But with appropriate maintenance, we'd expect Toyota's exemplary reputation for reliability and longevity to be retained with the Vienta.
And as we started off by saying in this story - Australians currently have an embarrassment of riches in big, used family sedans. And which would we pick? Since we don't need acres of space and the structural strength designed to tow huge boats, we'd be picking either the Magna or Vienta. And of those two? Well, we'd do what we suggest that
you do if you're in the market for one of these cars - go and drive them back-to-back.
But we're sure that you'll find that the Vienta's engine/trans combo is the pick of the bunch...
|