New Toyota gets X-Citable

ORANGE ACCENTS MAKE THIS LITTLE HATCHBACK STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD

Powered by threecylinder 1.0-litre petrol engine.

In replacing the Agya, the Toyota Vitz became the Japanese carmaker’s most affordable local car. The Vitz is another product of the collaboration between Toyota and Suzuki, and shares a platform with the Celerio. But to be fair, the Toyota Vitz has lot more in common with the Suzuki Celerio than just a platform.

Unlike other shared products between the two manufacturers which feature distinctive styling differences, the Vitz look like nothing more than a re-badged Celerio.

By applying a few paint strokes with an orange brush, Toyota has addressed the issue with the addition of two Vitz X-Cite derivatives.

While the X-Cite models offer no addition specifications to the standard ones, the orange splashes do give the little hatch a more outgoing personality.

Up front, the Toyota Vitz X-Cite receive orange accents around the fog light housings and at the rear, a bright orange spoiler.

The side mirrors are wrapped in black, grey and orange details, the side mouldings get a splash of orange and distinctive orange X-Cite badging is added to the rear doors.

The Citizen Motoring thought the orange worked well with the Urban Silver paintwork our test car, in XR guise, was clad in. The combination was further complemented by the gloss black 15-inch alloy wheels.

The inside also gets generous amounts of orange to break the predominantly black hues.

These include the orange air vent cowls, gear frame bracket, rear window control housing and door inserts.

The R219 900 Toyota Vitz X-Cite Xr features no spec upgrade from the standard Xr derivative.

Features include remote central locking, air conditioning, steering wheel controls for telephony and audio functions, electric mirrors and windows.

The touchscreen infotainment system features Bluetooth connectivity as well as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Safety comes in the form of two air bags and electronic stability programme.

The Toyota Vitz X-Cite Xr is powered by a free-revving three-cylinder 1.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine.

It sends 49kW and 89Nm to the front wheels via five-speed manual transmission.

Toyota claims the Vitz will only sip 4.4 litres for every 100 kilometres. We made no attempt to save juice and still managed to achieve a credible 6.1l/100km.

The Toyota Vitz is fuss-free and easy to drive.

The clutch is light, the gear lever easy to operate and a turning circle of only 9.4 meters makes it easy to manoeuvre.

Boot space of 295 litres takes care of school bags, sports bags and the groceries, while head and leg room in the rear is enough to keep rear occupants comfortable on short city trips.

While its still a little hatchback, of which there are many, the orange accents at least make it stand out from the crowd, or, pardon the pun, adds X-Cite-ment.

The Toyota Vitz X-Cite comes standard with two-year/ 30 000km service plan and threeyear/100 000km warranty.