Battle of the vans: Toyota Hiace vs. Foton Transvan

Practical and capable, vans have always been the go-to vehicles for many Filipino families due to their spacious interiors and reliable powertrains. Not only do they make good family carriers but also a dependable business partner.

Today, we take a look at two of the segment’s popular models — the Toyota Hiace and the Foton Transvan.

Exterior

Outside, the Toyota Hiace is equipped with a silver front grille and a black bumper flanked with multi-reflector halogen headlamps with integrated clearance and turn lamps. It also sports a black side mirror and a black door handle with a single sliding door on the side. At the rear, the Toyota Hiace has a pair of rear combination lamps on both sides of the rear doors.

As for the Foton Transvan, it packs a chrome grille and a body-color bumper. On each side are two halogen lamps with LED signal lights and two fog lamps at the front. It also has body-color side mirrors and a single sliding door. Accompanying the two taillights is a rear under mirror and a high-mount third rear brake lamp.

With near-identical exterior features, we call this round a tie.

Interior

Inside, the Toyota Hiace offers vinyl seats for 15 passengers. Also found inside is a four-spoke urethane steering wheel with a chrome Toyota badge and a urethane dash-mounted shift knob.

To keep the passengers engaged on both short and long trips is a 2-DIN audio unit with two speakers. The driver, on the other hand, can view relevant driving information on the Toyota Hiace’s analog instrument cluster with a digital trip meter.

Other interior features offered by the Toyota Hiace include two cup holders, floormats, a room lamp, a front personal lamp, and manual air conditioning.

The Foton Transvan, on the other hand, can be had with 13, 15, or 16 seats that are finished in durable fabric. Nevertheless, it offers similar interior features as the abovementioned Toyota Hiace like a four-spoke urethane steering wheel (with a Foton emblem) and a dash-mounted shift knob, also finished in urethane.

Foton also equipped the Transvan with a standard audio unit as well as an analog instrument panel with a digital trip computer.

Some of the notable interior features found on the Foton Transvan are its power windows, front cup holders, and manual air conditioning.

Both vans are neck and neck when it comes to their interior features. That said, we once again call this round a tie.

Engine

Powering the Toyota Hiace is a 3.0-liter engine mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. Toyota’s van makes 134 horsepower (hp) with 300Nm of torque.

Meanwhile, the Foton Transvan packs a slightly smaller 2.8-liter engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission. It makes a total of 94 horses with 225Nm of torque.

With a more powerful powertrain setup, we give this round to the Toyota Hiace.

Safety

Safety-wise, the Toyota Hiace offers two airbags at the front with seatbelts for all passengers. It also has side door impact beams, door ajar warning, and an anti-lock brake system (ABS).

As for the Foton Transvan, it offers a similar set of airbags and seatbelts as well as ABS with electronic brake force distribution (EBD).

Both the Toyota Hiace and the Foton Transvan are once again tied with virtually identical safety features.

Verdict

With a more capable powertrain setup, as well as the trusted Toyota reliability, we crown the Toyota Hiace the victor of this matchup.

Its ability to satisfy the needs of its customers has been one of the recipes for the nameplate’s longevity in the local automotive industry.

Photos from Toyota and Foton

Also read: 

Will you choose Toyota's Hiace Cargo Variant for your business?

Foton PH gives Olympic gold medalist Diaz a Transvan 13-seater

Visiting the variants of the Toyota Hiace