What is the best-selling vehicle in the Philippines? Corolla? Civic? Close, but no cigar. In fact, not even close…by far, it’s the Toyota Revo. Also known as the Tamaraw FX, it’s the market leader in the most popular category of passenger vehicle, the Asian Utility Vehicle (AUV), a hybrid of passenger car, light truck and delivery van. Brainchild of Toyota Motors in the late 1970s, the Tamaraw was developed as a multi-purpose entry-level vehicle that would be structurally sturdy, mechanically reliable, and most of all, be absolutely affordable. This was accomplished by doing virtually all of the vehicle fabrication locally, and by using parts already developed by Toyota, such as the drive train and suspension. The body panels, interior and accessories were designed and manufactured by Toyota Philippines and its local suppliers.
The Tamaraw took its bow along with the rest of Toyota during the worst periods of economic contraction in the mid-1980s. Toyota developed this current generation in Indonesia and reintroduced it to the Philippines with its return in the late 1980s. The brand name enjoyed familiarity and some measure of loyalty among Filipinos, and the Tamaraw soon emerged as the bestseller in the AUV class.
In their FX Mega Taxi guise, these new “kings of the road” have also come to dominate traffic in Metro Manila. (Hey, power corrupts cab drivers, too.) For many commuters, they’re an reasonable alternative to taking the awful jeepneys. As mass transport, their efficiency is questionable, since they can only carry 10 people, compared to a jeepney’s 20, or a bus’ 50. ($%*?#@& bus drivers!) Given a choice which to ride, though, with the Tamaraw’s real interior and above all, airconditioning, it’s no contest.
Hot on the Tamaraw’s heels came Mitsubishi with its Adventure, and Isuzu with the Highlander. These used styling cues and indeed some parts from its high-image offroaders Pajero and Trooper to give the vehicles a better image and attract the private user who might be turned off by the Tamaraw’s taxicab image.
Aiming to retain its leadership among private users as well, Toyota introduced a facelifted and upgraded version of the Tamaraw called the Revo. The normal Tamaraw continues on as taxi and utility vehicle, but the Revo is geared more for private transport. The Revo also boasted of more modern engines that incorporated—finally—EFI. That’s more like it, Toyota.
his caught our interest, so we had a drive in one to find out just what makes these multipurpose vehicles tick. For someone who’s used to cars, would they be any good to drive? And are they a genuine alternative to increasing expensive vans like the Hi-Ace, Hyundai Starex, Mitsubishi Space Gear and Kia Carnival?
Getting into the driver’s seat of the Revo means a big step up, with some wiggling into the bucket. Once you’re there it’s a car-like driving position. Steering wheel, dash and other controls are from the Toyota parts bin—parts bin of the early 1990s, that is! Everything clicks into place well, but appearance is awful—don’t expect Lexus or even Echo; think more like Corolla of five generations ago. Beside the driver’s seat is a two-person bench, adjustable for seatback rake only.
Boot space is nonexistent with the third row up, but huge when it’s folded. The third row is a cinch to fold and tumble forward. It’s almost clever, except there’s no lock on the seatback and probably won’t pass U.S. or Euro crash safety standards. There are no seatbelts also for third row passengers. Headroom is quite limited in the third row; people only 1.7 meters tall (five-foot-seven) are scraping the ceiling.
We fired up the engine, expecting something unrefined like a Lite-Ace’s or 1970s Tamaraw’s. Instead, the 1.8 EFI engine was smooth, with robust torque from idle all the way to its low 5500 rpm redline. It’s good for only 94 bhp, but tuned for low-end performance, torque peaking at 155 Nm at 3200 rpm. Acceleration was brisk, and we didn’t have any difficulty keeping up with other traffic. We were only carrying two persons, though, and no luggage. If you tend to carry a full load more than half the time, then you’d certainly need the 2.0-liter.
Cooperating well is the five-speed manual gearshift. Gear changes are notchy but easy to engage. The gearlever is the longest you’ll see this side of an F150 manual. Perhaps it would have been wiser to mount the gearlever on the dash or the steering column to free up space for the front middle passenger; I suppose that parts-beggars can’t be choosers.
The clutch was light and easy to modulate; no problem for the Metro’s stop-and-go traffic.
There’s a clear view of the road ahead, thanks to the high ground clearance. The Revo is compact for its interior volume—30 mm shorter than the new Civic; maneuvering and parking is easy. Brakes are adequate to stopping the 1405-kg vehicle, but lacks pedal feel of any kind. The power-assisted steering is likewise light but lifeless.
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.
By Jason Ang | Photos By Ulysses Ang
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
