owner's review
Last month I installed a Villeroy and Boch Twist Round Front High Performance toilet in my new small bathroom. My other bathroom has a Toto Drake (elongated), and my previous house had a (even shorter) Kohler Rialto. Here’s my impression after one month of operation:
1. It is a good-looking toilet, in terms of its rounded lines and shape, concealed trapway, etc. The quality of the porcelain is quite good, and the flush handle looks solid, and goes well with our other contemporary bath hardware.
2. Yes, it is short - - that’s why I bought it! It is not a “kid-size” toilet, but its sitting proportions and hole opening are probably more similar to an airplane toilet (but with better headroom!) or a WC on a houseboat. If you are used to an elongated toilet, then I would say that this short toilet looks good and gets the job done, but it is not intended to be that kind of place where you sit and read for a long time. The water surface area is relatively small compared to an elongated toilet - -in this regard it reminds me of other upright European toilets, or perhaps the shorter American toilets that we used to see in builder-quality homes from the 1930’s-1950s.
3. The initial factory setting for the flush was a little underwhelming. (I don’t remember for sure, but I think it was supposed to be set per California regulations at 1.26 gallons per flush.) The water swirled but did not have a significant final “flush” moment, until we made a simple adjustment to slightly increase the water level in the tank. I’ve gotten used to the Toto’s dramatic “swoosh” of water. I had forgotten that many toilets flush via swirling (as does this Twist) instead of “swooshing” like the Toto. Thus the Twist seems a little anemic by comparison; but, it gets the job done, and I’ve never had to flush twice to remove solids, and I’ve never had it plug up (both of which were common occurrences on my old 3.5 gpf Kohler Rialto).
4. Both the Twist and the Toto Drake have a tendency to leave (ahem) “skid marks”. A second flush will get rid of the evidence in both these toilets.
5. Very minor issue: the initial installation of the Twist was a little difficult for my plumber. He has very big fingers, and the full skirt around the base of the toilet + the small space of my bathroom left him not much room to maneuver.
6. I put my toilet as close to the back wall as possible (basically, the 12” rough in). I have 5/8” thick baseboard on the back wall, and the full skirt of the toilet came right up next to it.
7. Regarding the "foo-foo" factor: the parts inside the tank were fairly standard in nature, and will be easy to obtain should the need arise. The only unique part is the gentle-close seat, which is proportioned to match the bowl. I don't think another generic round-front seat would fit as well.
Summary: I would definitely purchase it again, and would recommend it where space is an issue. I also prefer it for aesthetics and performance more than the Kohler Rialto that we had at our previous home.