If you are a rather well-heeled traveler, you’ll know that not all of first-class, or business class, cabin encounters are created equal. But you’d know that it’s hard to go back to flying market – and that’s pretty much why you see those descriptors so often when it comes to luxury cars. There simply is no better, or more relatable, benchmark.
How does Toyota Vellfire Looks?
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Larger than it is, for starters. Dimensions at (LxWxH) 4,935mm, 1,850mm, 1,895 make it the tallest of its type, taller than the Mercedes-Benz V-Class, even though it isn’t as long as it sounds, or as long as something like the Kia Carnival. However, given that the elevation, it will quite literally stick out.
Helped no doubt by the enormous vertical nose, with chrome’armor’ segments large enough to work as grilles for several smaller-sized cars. Toyota states, that using this metal, no quantity of chrome may actually overpower the plan, and in the flesh, so it would almost seem that way. The hyper chrome 17-inch wheels don’t seem overdone, contrary to the huge expanse of the sides of the Vellfire.
How’s the Interior of Toyota Vellfire?
Powered sliding doors reveal another row of captain chairs that would appear more at home in a Boeing. Toyota provides a choice of two interior colors – beige, and the black you see here, and the beige helps the interiors look much more lavish and spacious.
Back into the rich-leather coated seats, which you tap into and feel enveloped by the moment that you do. Fully electrically operated controllers are present in a flip-open panel to bend the backrests, lift the footrests, and then stretch them, and even slide the seats back and forwards. Another arm remainder flips open to show a folding desk, with a cup holder neatly packed from the way but well within reach.
It is the type of seat you wouldn’t wish to get from, let alone want to, with all presented to you personally, such as seat heating and venting, 17-speaker JBL sound system and entertainment, through the reverse down 13-inch display on the roof, complete with 90’s style remote control. There are two sunroofs, one for the next row, along with a manually operated upfront. The large windows open almost down and have equally large manually managed sunblinds.
Even with all the driver’s seat set to my height (5ft 11in), there was sufficient space from the recliner right behind it to extend my feet out on the rests without touching the front of the seat. Of course, this is with the next row slipped into the stops.
Toyota Vellfire 2020
Climb to the third row at this setting and you’d still figure out how to fit a grownup back there in relaxation, but a little give-and-take with the next row setting will lead to the most comfortable third-row experience we’ve seen up to now. Toyota says the Vellfire is a 7-seater (2-2-3), but we reckon two people in the next row will be the most comfortable. We don’t have a number yet on the cargo capacity but together with rows up, you still ought to be able to stand up two big suitcases, or even more.
The front of the cabin is in which you feel somewhat more of these plasticky surfaces when compared with the trunk where you can tell efforts have been made to put soft, plush materials at key touchpoints. The leather-covered dash comes back to meet you, using a large 10-inch touchscreen proud on top of the middle tube. Seating remains broad and expansive, but as soon as you’re used to the back loungers, you are going to be spoiled for life. What is good is visibility all around, helped by a transparent 360-degree camera. As regular, 7 airbags are offered, offering full coverage into the next row.
How does it drive?
A CVT manages the power manual control is given through the gear lever, without a paddle shifters present. This will be the only powerplant on offer, and it should be the next most important issue to stick out about the Vellfire following the second-row seating.
Toyota asserts a 16kmpl fuel performance figure, a massive number for a car that carries a curb weight of 2,280kg. I have not explained the power amounts yet the petrol engine we get is said to be rated at 117PS rather than 150PS as on some international versions, with a max torque of 198Nm between 2,800-4,000rpm, while the front engine is rated at 143PS along with the back at 68PS. However, Toyota is a little hesitant to claim a combined system output signal but instead estimates’near 197PS’ of power can be obtained, without a word on torque.
On our brief drive in Toyota’s test course, we discovered that the Vellfire to be far easier to drive than its size indicates and more than prepared to pick up the pace at a gradual pace. Like any CVT, measured throttle inputs are crucial, also to be certain the powertrain stays in electric mode. The change between the electric motors and the petrol engine is easy, and sometimes the only way to tell is by the power split graphic in the instrumentation.
And just like the smooth build of speed, the ride quality also seems to be well-judged, with nominal roll and pitch. Though, the one small break in the tarmac we managed to find, showed that the Vellfire is sprung on the side but we’ll have to wait for a road test to state that with any certainty.
Conclusion:
I don’t have any doubt that the 60-odd Vellfires we spotted at the Toyota plant will find buyers shortly it delivers a cosseting second-row experience before everything else, luxury sedan flagships included.
We haven’t tried the Mercedes V-Class Elite, however (that’s the one with lounger seats) but that variant is a great deal more expensive than the anticipated ex-showroom cost of Rs 80-85 lakh for the Vellfire. In reality, I struggle to find holes in the bundle, except in its likely pricing. At the cost, nothing else comes near the exceptional experience you get out of it.
