• Tough climb to Genting Highlands in a Toyota Vios

My family and I went to Genting Highlands Hotel and Resorts on Monday. There were four adults and one baby in the car. The boot was packed to the brim. And there’s half a tank of fuel left when we started to climb. My car, a Toyota Vios has a 1.5cc engine. Pulling that kinda load is pretty tough for a small engine.

Though struggling, it managed to pull it’s way up the hill albeit slowly. I was constantly in 2nd gear and for the final few kilometres, where the incline is steepest, I found myself having to shift down to 1st a lot. That kept us at 30+ kmph, with the engine revs at roughly 3000+. I refrained from going any faster in 1st gear to prevent the engine from overheating. Overall, it was a tough climb to Genting Highlands for the Toyota Vios under a full load of passengers, luggage and half tank of fuel. How I wish it’s automatic transmission comes in 5-gear configuration instead of 4. It could have spread the power a lot more evenly between 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear.