Is the Toyota Starlet a safe car? While the Starlet hasn’t yet been crash-tested by Global NCAP, we examine its standard safety features in South Africa…
So, you’re in the market for a new budget car and the latest Toyota Starlet ranks towards the very top of your shopping list. The question is, just how safe is the Starlet hatchback and what safety features come standard in South Africa?
Well, since Global NCAP has yet to crash-test the Starlet, no official safety rating is available. But we can form a fair idea of this model’s safety credentials by examining its specification sheet.
See the full specification details for the latest Toyota Starlet here
As a reminder, the Starlet is based on the WB2-series Suzuki Baleno. It’s built by Maruti Suzuki at the Gujarat plant in India, a country in which the Starlet is badged as the Glanza. The safety features detailed below pertain to this generation and not the WB1-series Starlet sold locally from September 2020 to around the middle of 2022.
Standard Active Safety Features
Let’s start with the Starlet’s active safety features. These are designed to help avoid a crash altogether (or at least help the driver reduce the impact). In South Africa, all 5 derivatives in the Toyota Starlet range – that is, the Xi, XS and XR grades – ship standard with electronic stability control (ESC).
Other active safety features included on all Starlet variants are ABS with EBD (which helps prevent the wheels from locking up under hard braking), Brake Assist and Hill Assist Control. However, since this is a budget car at heart, the Starlet does without more advanced active safety features like autonomous emergency braking, lane-departure warning and driver-drowsiness detection.
Standard Passive Safety Features
Passive safety features, meanwhile, help to protect the vehicle’s occupants during a crash. Here, the Starlet lists dual front airbags (for the Xi and XS grades; more on the XR shortly) along with ISOfix child-seat anchors and standard 3-point seatbelts, including for the centre-rear passenger.
The rear seatbelts come with emergency locking retractors (ELRs), while the front items add a pretensioner and a force limiter. Toyota also includes a seatbelt reminder system, monitoring all 5 seats in the vehicle.
Other Important Safety Kit in the Starlet
In addition, rear parking sensors are included as standard across the Starlet line-up. These detect objects behind the vehicle (when the transmission is in reverse gear) and alert the driver to potential hazards. Manual child locks for the rear doors are another basic safety feature. For the record, an immobiliser and alarm are also part of the package.
Extra Safety Features for the Starlet XR Grade
Buyers who stretch to the Starlet’s flagship XR trim level will gain some extra safety kit. For instance, while the Xi and XS grades make do with dual front airbags, the XR adds side and curtain items to take its total to 6 airbags. That, of course, makes the XR better suited to family duties since the rear passengers benefit from airbag coverage, too.
Furthermore, the Starlet XR scores a reverse-view camera, in addition to the rear parking sensors mentioned above. This specification level additionally boasts an electro-chromatic rear-view mirror rather than the manually operated “day and night” item fitted to lower-spec derivatives.
Toyota Starlet: Summary on Safety
So, is the SA-spec Toyota Starlet safe? Well, an independent, comprehensive crash test is arguably the best way of answering that question, though the Starlet has unfortunately yet to undergo such an evaluation. Still, we can certainly commend Toyota for including items like stability control as standard across the range. That said, we’d also like to see 6 airbags included on all derivatives.
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Toyota Starlet: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What engine does the Toyota Starlet have?
The Toyota Starlet is powered by a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre petrol that offers 77 kW and 138 Nm and is paired with either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission.
2. Is the Toyota Starlet a good car?
Yes, the Toyota Starlet is generally considered to be a good choice in the compact hatchback segment.
3. Where is the Toyota Starlet built?
The Toyota Starlet is built alongside the Suzuki Baleno at Suzuki’s plant in Gujarat, India.
