2020 Toyota Hiace Super Grandia - First impression

Toyota Hiace is quite a popular vehicle not only in the Philippines but also in many other Asian countries. Its spacious interior allows carrying a large number of people comfortably, making it the segment leader. Now, Toyota has just launched an all-new Hiace and it is called the Super Grandia. So what is this van all about? Let’s find it out in our first impression.

The first thing that comes to our minds after having a first look at the brand-new 2020 Toyota Hiace Super Grandia is that it looks very similar to the Toyota Alphard. It wouldn’t be wrong to even say that it is a younger sibling of the Alphard; it is that similar. And we mean that in a good way because the Alphard is the most expensive and most luxurious van that Toyota has to offer in the country. The Hiace Super Grandia features an attractive front end thanks to the stylish LED headlights that come with integrated LED daytime running lights. Also, the large front grille with subtle chrome embellishments adds to the overall appearance of the van. Toyota has also included LED fog lamps. So, the Super Grandia has all-LED lighting. Everything on this variant looks premium and modern.

Now let's jump inside. Getting in and out of the new 2020 Toyota Hiace Super Grandia is easy. The power sliding rear doors open up to quite an extent providing a good amount of space for the passengers to climb in. Also, the placement of handles to hold while ingressing and egressing the vehicle helps. There's a large step right after the door easying out the process even further. A similar kind of setup is provided for the driver's side.

Once you are inside the new Hiace, you'd instantly notice the amount of luxury it has to offer. There is a seating capacity for nine people. The first two rows include captain seats which, as we all know, take the comfort to a whole new level. Also, the leather upholstery just makes things even better. Toyota has taken care of smaller things like providing USB ports for each row of seats.

Things have also improved for the driver. The seat is much more comfortable and lower set because of the semi-bonnet body type. This means that the engine has been moved forward making space for the front seats to be lowered down. There is a clever storage space in the front cabin above the sun visors where you can store an umbrella. The dashboard is ergonomically designed with panels of expensive wood adding to the premium-ness. There is a lot of room to move around and the outside visibility has been improved as well.

As far as the ride quality is concerned, the 2020 Toyota Hiace Super Grandia replaces the leaf spring suspension setup at the rear with a new four-link coil-spring suspension thus, improving the overall ride quality.

Powering the new Hiace Super Grandia is a 2.8-litre 4-cylinder engine diesel engine which churns out 176 bhp of max power at 3,400 rpm and 420 to 450 Nm of peak torque at 1,400 to 2,600 rpm depending on the transmission (6-speed automatic or 6-speed manual). The engine is powerful enough to bear the load of the entire van with all people on board.

The 2020 Toyota Hiace Super Grandia specs sheet did not fail to impress us when it came to the safety features. We are glad to report that Toyota has taken things seriously here. The Hiace Super Grandia comes with up to 9 SRS airbags, ABS with EBD, Pre-collision System (PCS), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Lane Departure Alert (LDA), and Automatic High Beam (AHB), stability control, etc. These were some of the major safety features.

We are quite impressed with the new Hiace. It is definitely an upgrade over the previous model and seems to be an overall good package. Toyota is pretty confident about the new Hiace as well and is aiming to sell 400 units every month. The 2020 Toyota Hiace Super Grandia price starts at Php 2,420,000 for the base model and goes all the way up to Php 2,890,000 for the range-topping Elite version.

Also Read:- 2020 Toyota Hiace grabs a perfect 5-star ASEAN NCAP safety rating