http://www.weg.c o.za go! Drive&CampMay2019|^29
HIGHER GRADE.You’d
beforgivenforthinking
thatyou’relooking
ataLexus interior,
because the finish and
appointmentsexude
an air of luxury. The
two-tiered facia offers
contrasting colours,
while the metallic trim
is tasteful.Ascan be
expectedinthis modern
era, there’salarge
infotainent screen,
and the switchgear
looks long-lasting.thePradoand LandCruiser.
The2ℓengine generates an impressive
127 kW and 203Nmoftorque and usesasix-speed manual
transmission in the entrylevel base GX guise,but there’salsoaCVT
soyoudon’t havetothink about swoppingcogs asyougoupthe
range.The halo model2.5 VX is the only one thatusesaneight-
speed automatic transmission.
There’sausable amountoflow-downtorque on offer from the
2,5ℓengine,which isn’t surprisinggiventhatthis isafairly large
displacementfor justfour-cylinders,but what’sfar moreimpressive
is the motor’s eagernesstorevintotheupperechelons of the
tachometer.This istestamenttoToyota’s continued developmentof
itsVVT-iEvariablevalvetiming system–which has been aroundfor
morethan 20years now.
Inan age offorced induction, the pursuit of perfecting normally
aspirated enginesbythe Japanese brands is something that’snot
only admirable,but because it stillworks, proves thatwehaven’t
seen the end of them justyet.
Adecade ago,the eight-speed automatic
transmissionwasalmostconsidered
overkill andreservedforthemost
luxurious models andsportiest models inToyota subsidiaryLexus’
line-up.Nowadays,it’sbeen optimisedforuse in the morepedestrian
models, helpingtolowertheaveragefuelconsumption, intheory.
Inpractice, it lives uptothehype,aswemanaged an indicated
7,7 ℓ/100kmduring the local launch in northernKwaZulu-Natal,
which included some not-so-conservativedriving as the N2was
particularly plagued with trucks heading in both directions on our
testroute.
Fortunately,the gearboxkickdown is an effortless affair and it’s
not necessarytoshiftmanually,orevenengagethe sharper settings
of sportmode,asthe ECU is smartenoughtosenseyour urgency>