So you want to know whether the Toyota Glanza 1.2L petrol-manual is the lean, thrifty hatchback your wallet dreams about — or the adorable gas-guzzling imposter your fuel bill quietly resents. Good. You’ve landed on the one place that measured actual consumption instead of squinting at claimed numbers and hoping for the best. Tested on August 13, 2023 around Delhi NCR and the Delhi–Mumbai expressway, this is a not-so-romantic tale of 37 litres, two drives (city and highway), and the cruel mathematics of real-world mileage.
Key Features
Real-world Fuel Efficiency (Numbers That Refuse to Lie)
The headline here is painfully specific: in the city, the Glanza petrol-MT returned 17.4 kmpl after a 102 km, 4.5-hour drive in Delhi NCR traffic (average speed 22 kmph). On the motorway (a 111 km run near Sohna at a cruise speed of about 100 km/h), it produced 22.7 kmpl. For context, the claimed mileage sits at 22.35 kmpl — which means city users saw a -22% deviation, while highway drivers enjoyed a modest +2% surprise.
1.2L Petrol Manual Powertrain
Under the bonnet is the familiar 1.2-litre petrol manual setup. The test car behaved like a mainstream hatchback ought to: not heroic on acceleration, but obedient. The focus of this particular review is the fuel economy of that unit, which — as you’ll see — behaves very differently depending on whether you’re weaving through signal jungles or cruising the expressway.
Tank Capacity and Real Driving Range
The Glanza’s fuel tank holds 37 litres. Using the measured efficiency figures, you can realistically expect a full-tank range between roughly 579 km (100% city) and 756 km (100% highway). For the pleasingly average owner who splits driving 50/50 between urban and open road, a single tank should deliver around 668 km. Fill up 90% of the tank at Rs.97 per litre (test-day price in Gurgaon), and you’re handing over about Rs.3,230 each time.
Transparent Testing Method
No mystical onboard computers here — the testers used the tank-full-to-tank-full method, reset the trip meter, and recorded fuel added after 100-ish km runs in consistent conditions. City route, same weekday flow and load; highway run, steady ~100 km/h. So if you like reproducible, slightly obsessive engagement with numbers, this will soothe you.
Fuel Cost Breakdown & Mixed-Usage Estimates
If you have a spreadsheet fetish: city driving cost works out to around Rs.5.57 per km, while highway driving drops to Rs.4.27 per km (at Rs.97/l). The testers also provided a handy matrix for mixed usage — for example: 70% city/30% highway gives an effective mileage of 18.99 kmpl (Rs.5.11/km); even split (50/50) yields 20.05 kmpl (Rs.4.84/km).
Pros and Cons
Let’s pretend we’re impartial jurors. You bring the facts; I bring the sarcasm.
Pros
- Highway mileage is genuinely excellent — 22.7 kmpl is better than the claimed number and will make long commuters smug.
- Transparent, repeatable testing method that doesn’t hide behind NEDC/WMTC fantasies.
- 37-litre tank and the hybrid-like highway efficiency translate into long single-tank runs (up to ~756 km), which is pleasantly practical.
- Useful mixed-usage matrix — it tells you exactly how much petrol crying you’ll be doing depending on your city/highway split.
Cons
- City mileage (17.4 kmpl) is disappointing if you believed the claimed 22.35 kmpl. That -22% deviation is the kind of surprise only accountants call “interesting.”
- Per-kilometre city costs (Rs.5.57/km at Rs.97/litre) pile up quickly for heavy urban commuters.
- Manual gearbox fans get the economy but also the effort — the test doesn’t sugarcoat stop-and-go realities of Delhi traffic.
- Numbers are test-condition specific (Gurgaon/Delhi NCR traffic, specific route). Your pothole-ridden suburb might deliver worse.
User Experience
Driving the Glanza in the city feels like being mildly chastised by your vehicle for every stoplight. You’re sipping petrol rather than gulping it, but you’re still doing a lot of sipping. The 102 km city run took 4 hours 30 minutes at an average of 22 kmph — that’s realistic urban tedium: lots of idle, frequent throttle blips, occasional bursts of progress. The result: 17.4 kmpl. No drama, just the arithmetic of traffic.
On the highway, the Glanza becomes the sensible friend who remembers to turn down the music so fuel economy can have a shot at glory. Cruise at 100 km/h, stay in the right gear, and the car rewarded the testers with 22.7 kmpl. The car’s temperament is unexciting, which is the compliment you want for an economical hatchback — steady, predictable, not given to theatrical fuel tantrums.
Refuelling rituals are ordinary but telling: the city refill used 5.86 litres after 102 km; the highway used 4.89 litres after 111 km. Practical owners will notice how often they visit the pump and plan accordingly — the 37L tank is an ally on long runs.
Comparison
If you’re choosing among the usual suspects — sibling hatchbacks and rivals — the Glanza’s real world numbers put it comfortably in line with efficient, mainstream hatchbacks like the Maruti Baleno (closely related) and Hyundai i20 in highway scenarios. Where it differs is the city performance gap versus the manufacturer’s claim. If your driving is mostly urban, check rivals’ real-world city figures (not just claimed ones) before signing any papers.
Put simply: on the highway the Glanza is a top-tier miser; in the city it’s middle-management frugal with occasional slacking.
Who Should Buy This
Buy the Glanza petrol-MT if:
- Your weekly routine involves long highway runs and the occasional urban survival mission. The 22.7 kmpl highway figure will smile upon you — and your wallet.
- You appreciate predictable, well-documented real-world data and don’t want to rely on marketing poetry.
- You want an economical manual hatch and don’t mind shifting through congested city streets if that’s your trade-off.
Think twice if:
- Your life is strictly a snail-pace urban commute. The real city figure of 17.4 kmpl (Rs.5.57/km at Rs.97) makes every kilometer painfully audible in your monthly expenses.
- You’re looking for the absolute best urban mileage — other cars or powertrains (CNG, mild-hybrid, or more frugal petrol engines) might beat the Glanza in dense-stop-start driving.
Value for Money
The test doesn’t include ex-showroom prices, but it does supply a realistic cost equation: fuel price at test time was Rs.97/litre, a 90% fill-up costs roughly Rs.3,230. If you’re evaluating value purely through the lens of operating costs, the Glanza becomes excellent value as highway percentage increases. For a mixed-use owner (50/50), the effective mileage is about 20.05 kmpl — that’s respectable and keeps running costs reasonable.
But if the bulk of your miles are urban, the gap between claimed and actual figures negates some of the value argument. In other words, the Glanza buys value back in with highway behavior; it spends value in city life.
Practical scenarios where the Glanza excels: weekenders and intercity commuters who primarily use highways; small families who occasionally do city runs but mostly travel between towns; owners who value consistency over flashy efficiency claims. Scenarios where it falls short: daily stop-and-go commuters in dense cities, taxi fleets chasing every last rupee of running cost, and those who treat manufacturer-tested claimed numbers as gospel.
Overall, if you want crisp, usable figures rather than glossy brochure prose and you alternate between city duty and long-distance driving, the Glanza will be a reliable, reasonably frugal companion. But if your life is one long traffic light, bring a calculator and lower expectations about that claimed 22.35 kmpl.
I recommend the Toyota Glanza petrol-manual for drivers who spend a meaningful portion of their time on highways and appreciate honest, transparent testing. For predominantly urban commuters, consider checking rivals’ real-world city numbers or looking at alternative powertrains before committing.