Toyota Echo being repeated as a sporty number

By ALASTAIR SLOANE motoring editor Alastair Sloane.

Toyota New Zealand has begun the first stage of a campaign to appeal to younger buyers with the introduction of the Echo TS, a sports version of its award-winning hatchback.

The TS stands for Toyota Sport, a world brand created to give Toyota a youthful, competitive image.

The idea behind TS is to emphasise the carmaker's expanding role in motorsport - its World Rally Championship and Le Mans 24-hour campaigns and its entry into Formula One next year.

Toyota has already taken the wraps off its first Formula One car, which will make its debut at the Melbourne Grand Prix next March.

The high-profile Formula One project is seen as essential to Toyota's plans to beef up its image and attract new buyers.

The swept-up TS Echo isn't the first road-going Toyota to get the sporty treatment. A Celica carrying the TS badge is selling overseas and the carmaker is planning to upgrade more of its models.

The next Camry, for example, is said to be quite sporty, both in appearance and performance, and will be powered by a larger 2.4-litre, four-cylinder engine.

The manual-only TS Echo comes on to the market 16 months after the standard 1.5-litre sedans and 1.3-litre hatchbacks first appeared.

Toyota has been selling an average of 26 Echos a week since then - two to one in favour of the three and five-door hatchbacks over the sedan.

The Echo - the New Zealand Herald 2000 Car of the Year - has set a new standard for small cars with eye-catching looks, good ride and handling, and a clever interior highlighted by its design and use of space.

The TS variants expand the range to eight, four powered by the 1.3-litre engine and four by the 1.5-litre engine. The TS badge is available only on the hatchbacks. The three-door TS costs $30,5000, the five-door $31,750.

The 1.5-litre VVTi engine delivers 80kW of power at 6000 rpm and 142Nm of torque at 4200 rpm.

It is not go-fast GTi oomph, rather a modest but flexible reserve of power best exploited through the five-speed gearbox above 3000 rpm, when the sporty engine note kicks in.

The reworked suspension gives the car a handling edge over the standard model. The ride is firmer but Toyota has done a good job of insulating occupants against the worst effects of lumps and bumps.

The Echo and the Toyota Celica were the first new cars to be sold by Toyota in New Zealand with variable valve timing.

The optimising effect of the VVTi technology makes the engine's intake system breathe the mix of petrol and oxygen more efficiently. The result is a fuel-frugal car with low exhaust emissions.

Besides having increased performance and handling, both TS hatches have enhanced exterior styling including 14-inch alloy wheels, front fog lights and sports-type rear lights, side skirts and rear spoiler, body-coloured sculptured bumpers and a black sports-type front grille.

Safety features include anti-lock ABS brakes, dual front airbags and front seatbelts with pre-tensioners and force limiters as standard equipment.

The interior of the Echo TS has a sporting look and feel, with a leather gear lever and steering-wheel cover, and body-hugging sports-style front seats with black trim.

There are digital instruments including a tachometer and dial heater controls. The dash area is finished in dark grey, while the scuff plates on the door sills have a metallic finish.

Front windows are power-operated, and the driver's window has an auto-down function. Air-conditioning is standard on all Echo models.

A four-speaker audio system including a single in-dash compact disc unit with security system is standard. Among other audio choices available as optional equipment is a six-disc in-dash CD unit.