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By Brian Afuang
ON time, all the time. It sounds
like the Japanese just-in-time manufacturing
philosophy which, not surprisingly, is practiced by one of the
biggest Japanese companies in the world and the planet’s top
carmaker, Toyota. From April 16 to 19, Toyota Motor Phils. (TMP)
held the fourth staging of the annual Toyota Road Trek, which this
year called for just-in-time, on-the-dot precision driving, not to
mention some serious chill-out times at a tropical island resort.
Having evolved into a tradition
of sorts for TMP, the Road Trek is meant to highlight Toyota
vehicles’ features and prowess on long drives and on a variety of
road conditions. The event had in past years ventured into some of
the Philippines’ most scenic places—Aklan, Boracay, General
Santos, Bukidnon, Davao, Dumaguete, Cebu—which not only made the
driving activities more of a pleasure and less of a chore but
promoted local tourism as well.
In road trips past, TMP had first
chosen the trusty Innova, its Innovative Multipurpose Vehicle
stable-mates Fortuner and Hilux joining two editions later. This
year, TMP employed its new sedans—the Corolla Altis and Vios.
Aptly then, a motor sports theme activity was devised to highlight
the sedans, with Road Trek participants having to compete in
what’s locally called a Sampaguita Rally.
This type of motor
competition—taken from the European Tulip Rally—calls for
navigating a predetermined route through the use of a diagrammatic
road book (a precise map that details the route). The challenge here
is that participants must arrive at undisclosed checkpoints along
the route as close to an allotted time as possible, which is
announced only before the start of the race. The closer a competitor
gets to the allotted time (which is quite generous for the distance
that needs to be covered) in each checkpoint, the more points he
earns. Clearly, this “race” is more about precision than speed.
One only needs to be on time, all the time.
Thus, the rally served as a
perfect way for event participants to get a taste of the Corolla
Altis’ and Vios’ features and road manners. And both cars, no
matter the trim level, proved to be such comfortable rides, their
cabins providing enough room for three or four passengers, their
trunks ably swallowing luggage, their CD players and
air-conditioning systems making the daylong rally a leisurely trip.
Besides the rally, TMP’s choice
of roads to traverse also helped raise the event’s pleasure factor
even more. From the takeoff point in Toyota Commonwealth dealership,
the route passed through Marikina, Antipolo, Baras and Tanay before
crossing the Sierra Madre and through the towns of Paete, Cavinti
and Pagsanjan in Laguna, to name some. The rally then headed back to
Manila by taking the South Expressway, so the route was a mix of
twisty mountain roads, provincial highways and the freeway—truly
wonderful times to be aboard the Corolla Altis or Vios.
Besides that, TMP also threw in
bits of parlor games along the route to amuse the excitable among
the group, if not the infantile.
The day after the rally, the Road
Trek group was herded to a posh island resort in Palawan. And
because the destination was revealed only the evening before the
trip, the announcement came as a pleasant surprise for the
participants, especially to those who have joined in the past, as
the final destination of previous editions had all involved
luxurious fun in a tropical paradise—which proved to be true once
more this year.
Like the tide that rises and
ebbs, you could truly count on Toyota Road Treks to spell good times
every time, all the time.
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