30/08/2026

Contributing Editor Keshy Dhillon / keshy@piston.my Editorial

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SUNDAY | AUG 30, 2026

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Vios HEV is most appealing version, but not complete sedan Hybrid that makes sense makes sense BY SHAUN LEE

There is enough compliance to keep things comfortable, but enough control to stop the car from feeling floaty. This remains one of its biggest strengths. It is comfortable without being soft for the sake of softness, and it feels composed without being harsh. For a small sedan that will spend most of its life dealing with city roads, highways, speed bumps and broken tarmac, this is exactly the sort of tuning you want. The hybrid powertrain suits this character well. It gives the Vios a calmer, more Toyota-like feel, especially in traffic. The petrol Vios was already decent, but the HEV adds a layer of ease and efficiency that makes the car feel more complete. Unfortunately, the old cabin issues remain. Rear headroom is still tight because of the sloping roofline. The rear seats still do not fold, which continues to be a frustrating omission in a sedan. Driver space is also not generous.

transition less than you hear it, which is usually the more important thing. Braking is mostly smooth too. The regenerative braking calibration is decent, although those who are sensitive to pedal consistency may notice that it can occasionally feel slightly uneven. It is not bad, just not completely seamless. Compared with the Honda City e:HEV, I would say the Vios HEV feels a tad more refined in some situations. However, Honda’s hybrid system still feels more sophisticated in the way it operates. The Vios still has some of that CVT sensation when you gun it. The rest of the car feels familiar, which is mostly good news when it comes to ride quality. The Vios still has one of the better suspension setups in its class. The chassis feels rigid, the damping is well judged, and it deals with Malaysian roads with maturity. The Vios just eats up rough surfaces without sounding like it is crashing through them, and without tossing occupants around unnecessarily.

are best treated as a reference rather than a promise. Over nearly one week, without even trying, I averaged an indicated 20.4km/l. The hybrid system also gives the Vios a little more muscle where it is useful. Around town and at medium speeds, it feels more responsive and brisker than the regular petrol car. Overtaking requires less planning, and the electric assistance gives it a useful bit of extra shove. It is not a fast car, of course. At very high speeds, it does run out of steam, so this is not what I would call a proper highway cruiser. But at our national speed limit, it feels calm, settled and refined enough for its class. In that regard, it is not too different from the regular petrol Vios, just a little quicker in getting up to speed. In town, the powertrain is generally smooth. You do hear the occasional whizzing and buzzing from the hybrid system, and when the engine comes on, you know it has come on. It is not imperceptible. But you feel the

WHEN I first drove the current generation (AC100) Toyota Vios back in 2023, I called it a quantum leap, but not without hiccups. The car had clearly moved on from the old Vios. It looked more interesting, felt more modern, rode better, handled better, and came equipped with features that would have been unthinkable in a Vios not too long ago. But the hiccups were real too. The rear seats no longer folded. Rear headroom was tighter than before. The cabin looked more premium at first glance, but some of the plastics felt hollower than the old car. Now there is a hybrid version. The unit we have here is the regular Vios HEV, not the GR Sport, but the fundamentals are the same. It uses a 1.5-litre hybrid system paired with an e-CVT, and Toyota claims a fuel consumption figure of 27.8km/l. As always, official numbers

Looks modern, but can’t fully escape the Perodua vibe.

The hybrid powertrain is the one to go for, should budget permit.