2019 Toyota Sienta Hybrid: More seats for less price
If you want one single car to go about pushing city traffic during weekdays and travel across the country with your extended family for weekend getaways, the Sienta might be the best priced option that does it all
The Toyota Sienta is a mini MPV (multipurpose vehicle) which seems to tick all the boxes in terms of an econobox. It is almost a perfect showcase of Toyota's ethos in one single car. It is efficient, ergonomic and has seven seats to spare– the feature which inspired the Sienta moniker from the Spanish word "siete" translating to the English word "seven".
If you want one single car to go about pushing city traffic during weekdays and travel across the country with your extended family for weekend getaways, the Sienta might be the best priced option that does it all. Or does it? For this feature, we drove a Sienta around Dhaka's crowded streets to find that out.
To be honest, while the Sienta might excel in practicality, it is definitely not the looker. Unlike the much larger Noah and Voxy, this does not try to superficially look good either; it's rather mature, particularly with its curved edges all around. The high roof line ensures more people can fit without feeling claustrophobic and it also welcomes a big wind screen making the visibility great.
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What stands out though, are the headlights; which beautifully complements the rather bland styling of the Sienta. These take up a chunk of the front fascia with the casing and come with DRLs and HID LED lights. We found them to be adequately bright and perfect to cut through the lights from the buses and trucks coming from the opposite direction at night. Under the headlights comes a big chrome lined grill and fog lights on either side.
The rear fascia also contains funky tail lights too, also complementing the overall style, but when it comes to the actual body, not much describable drama is there.
The interior of the Sienta is very much like any regular hybrid Toyota. It is simple and straight to the point with the short blue gear lever beside the steering, knobs for climate control and buttons to control the infotainment.
For features, our variant came with heated front seats, a huge array of ports to charge devices, leather wrapped steering wheel, soft touch faux leather dash, and a rather beautiful optical gauge cluster which lights up different colours depending which gear you are in.
One very interesting quirk I would like to point out is the use of the orange colour throughout the interior; it is common in every second generation Sienta I have tested, and is a standard feature no matter which colour Sienta you get, orange piping on the dash and seats. One could wonder what went through the designer's mind; a clementine maybe.
The half cloth, half leather seats are comfortable and front passengers receive individual seat-fitted armrests making long trips a bliss, particularly with the ample legroom and legroom present.
Jump to the back and you will realise it retains automatic sliding doors, an up-trim Sienta feature, and a true people carrying hallmark, carried forward from the first generation, and also available on the newly announced third generation.
The seats on the second row are comfortable, and can easily fit three people. Since the roofline is so high, tall people will have no problem with their head bumping on the ceiling. This is carried over to the third row too, but the legroom is compromised. Long trips in this last row will be uncomfortable, but hauling seven people in Dhaka will never feel easier with the Sienta. Once you fold the third row though, you get a total of 575 litres of space, which is plenty for any application at all; long or short trips.
What makes the interior stand out, in comparison to other Toyota models, is the openness of the car. A lot of natural light comes in due to the huge windscreen and tactically placed windows, and visibility is one of the best in the market; at least better than the Avanza.
Driving the Sienta is surprisingly fun. You might think since it's a seven seater, the suspension tuning will be rather stiff with minimal load in the car, but in reality, it absorbed bumps with ease with two people on board. The popular 1500cc 1NZ-FXE hybrid engine, used across all of Toyota's 1500 cc hybrid lineup, produces a maximum of 106 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and maximum torque of 140 Nm at 4,200 Nm.
While this will not make the Sienta win podiums by any means, the torque is fantastic for day-to-day use, with good throttle response. And similar to other hybrid Toyotas, the efficiency is spectacular. Our unit averaged at around 16 km/l around Gulshan during our test.
The Sienta overall, is targeted to either young people getting their first economic car. This is evident in its overall styling and funky paint options to choose from such as neon or teal. In reality, it's another iteration of Toyota's perfect formula for a car that will be able to get through the highest degree of abuse with ease, while serving what it was designed for.
Starting from Tk25 lakhs, it is not the most common MPV on the roads. However, if your budget is strictly below Tk30 lakh, the choices are quite narrow. Hence, from a price to feature ratio, the Sienta makes for an ideal 'economobile' recipe.
Specifications:
Engine: 1500cc 1NZ-FXE, Dual VVT-i
Gearbox: CVT
Max power: 106 hp at 6,000 rpm
Max torque: 140 Nm at 4,200 Nm
Price: Starts at Tk25 lakh (Approx.)
