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Sweltering heat is no problem for the Revo.
Like most AUVs these days, it has a twin (“dual”) aircon
system, with independently-controlled blowers in the dashboard and on
the ceiling before the second row of seats. The vehicle’s ride is a mixed bag, due partly to the
mixed suspension. Fronts
are double wishbone, with coil springs—not too bad; however, the rears
are a solid axle with leafspring. It’s
certainly sturdy for carrying cargo, but too bouncy for carrying people. Sit in the front or the middle, and you won’t do too badly.
Sit in the third row, and you’d better have a helmet on.
Rear headroom is already limited, since the third row is mounted
higher. It’s mounted directly above the rear suspension, where
you’ll feel every pothole and every hump will send your head directly
to the meet the (very hard) ceiling. One question mark from most potential buyers concerns build quality. Fit and finish are not quite up to Camry standards. At 13,000 km, our test unit was already exhibiting some rattles. The drivetrain seems unbreakable, though, and should continue to be reliable. The Revo has the same warranty as Toyota’s other cars, 2 years/50,000 km; a big improvement from the previous model's 1 year / 30,000 kilometer warranty. Clearly this is tantamount to an improved build quality in this version. The latest additions to the Revo family are the 2.0-liter-engined variants. All new Revos come with enlarged multireflector headlamps. They’re already available, although delivery times are beginning to stretch due to the labor strike at the Toyota plants. We sincerely hope that Toyota will be able to resume its operations soon. The
Revo is certainly reasonable for hauling of passengers and people,
particularly if you employ a chauffeur (driver, in local parlance).
If you have to drive the car yourself, you’ll have an easy if
not pleasurable time about it. Here and now, the Revo is at the top of the AUV class, but it’s way behind rivals from Korea such as the Carnival, which offers much better styling inside and out, and a more tolerable ride. Toyota and its fellow AUV makers are going in the right direction, but they had better move fast. With a more sophisticated interior, better fit and finish, and improvements to ride and handling, future generations of AUVs could give Japanese and Korean minivans a run for their money. |
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