Right this moment, the online automotive news scene is abuzz with Honda Malaysia's latest ambitious Indonesian project worth RM115,000 to RM118,000 a piece. Well, certainly the media has 'just' known about it "as and when they were told so" - the time is ripe since we're already into month of March and soon into Q2 2010.
When this piece of expensive utter rubbish gets on the road, I shall enjoy seeing what press release that specific 'Head' of PR/Marketing will issue, following how good acceptance (blah! blah! blah!) this will be.. since the launch was such a well-kept secret allegedly by Honda Malaysia.
Anyone wants a fancy - but taller, Merc A-Class-like stationwagon - Perodua Alza-esque MPV at almost twice the price? I certainly don't see the point since the Alza EZi drives almost like a Toyota Vios.
Although a certain top official from Honda Malaysia was so evasive and tight-lipped about their new Freed mini/compact MPV when enquired upon recently, their dealers' sales representatives are currently busy undergoing product raining at their Melaka plant office.
Details are still sketchy about the actual date of launch (expected sometime April 2010), but prices are expected to be steep with the higher grade to be tagged closed to RM120,000! Imagine a Honda City SW (that's stationwagon in plain speak) with a third row of seats thrown in. Heck, it even carries over the ubiquitous, mass-produced 1.5 i-VTEC lump found in the Jazz/City duo. Sourced from Indonesia - with AFTA/CEPT and whatever tariff breaks bullshit factored in - and yet this one is expected to hover dangerously close to an imported Mitsubishi Lancer 2.0GTS Ralliart (fully CBU from Japan, 2.0L class)!
Suddenly makes the national mini-MPV Perodua Alza 1.5 so much more an excellent buy...no?
WOW! That was my first reaction when I saw the 3rd generation Honda City. Styling wise, it was a no-brainer ace. A total departure from the previous model. Clearly, I was impressed, at least on the way the car looked. What about the drive, I wondered? On paper, the specs looked really good: i-VTEC, paddle shifters and a 5 speed auto transmission in a B-segment car. And at under RM90K, surely such a package is value- for-money. After all, its nearest competitor, the Toyota Vios (even in 'S' trim) is unable to meet it spec-for-spec. Well, jumping into the driver’s seat, the cabin looks nice enough. The silver-colored trim on the center console was a bit cheesy for my taste. But what the heck, it’s supposed to be sportier so I guess it may be appropriate in that sense. Seats are firm, the meter panels are well positioned and prominent: no letdown here. My disappointment came as soon as I stepped on the gas pedal. Somehow, the City lacks the initial pick-up pace which I am used to in my Vios. A few more stab on the accelerator confirmed that for me. Moving along, the driving experience reminds me much of my Toyota: gear changes are smooth and cabin noise levels also somewhat similar. The other difference I noted was that the suspension was sending most of the unevenness on the road back into the car: I can feel almost everything, a stone, a dent on the tarmac. Maybe this is because it has stiffer damping compared to the Vios. In contrast, my Vios consistently returns a very comfy ride especially when it was new (I have mine for over 2 years now), with minimal bumps and vibrations from the road. Despite this, the new City still gives an overall impression of a pleasant drive. It has clever packaging and will surely deliver satisfaction to the owner. Undeniably, choosing and buying a car will depend on the buyer’s preference, and that will boil down to each and every model/make different strengths and weaknesses.
There’s a lot you can tell by a name. Honda named their B-segment budget sedan City, much like the urban township which many examples will find home to. Interestingly, this sub-compact, which started life as an ASEAN only model, is also more apt for intra-city/suburb drives than for true inter-state jaunts. Hence its all-telling and meaningful nomenclature?
Into its 3rd generation (as a sedan, the first one was a JDM mini hatch) the City has indeed matured and grown up. External sheet metals are tauter now, with more angular lines and sharper contours. The arrow-form shape is tensibly palpable as visualised from the shot shown above. Neat, smart looking and to a certain extent being copied by Kia's upcoming Cerato Forte.
Step into the new City's cabin, the dashboard, door trim and especially, Honda’s ‘universal’ dish wok steering wheel greets you, conveying a more serious demeanour, more like a junior Civic than an entry-level sedan. The last one was more MPV-ish in nature.
It’s inevitable that the City draw many parallels with the Toyota Vios since both are undeniably competitors in the same segment and in the same price range (within that few thousand ringgit plus or minuses, depending on trim level). Honda’s local chapter has denied that their new offspring is meant to compete head-on with the Vios, not at least in the numbers game. After all, they are not interested in delivering beyond some two thousand units per month from their Melaka Pegoh's assembly plant. As such, waiting period for the 1.5S is averaging about two months while the higher spec 1.5E’s incubation for interested buyers has dragged on to about 4 months. Meanwhile, over at the other camp, the Vios is being Frankenstein-ed with TRD decals, fancy paints plus ‘sport’ accessories. At Toyota showrooms level, there are enticing overtrade, down payment rebates, low interest rates, discounted standard bodykit and the list goes on. Very telling on who is after sales volume in numbers. So, it is a foregone conclusion which model will be the bestseller come end-2009 when the all revealing total sales figures are tallied and released by the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).
By now, if you have not fallen asleep with the cold facts above, I supposed most will naturally ask: “So, which is the better car?” While I can’t really tell you with definitive authority – this isn’t a shootout or a comparo at any rate – I can say there is a lot to like about the new City. It’s rather complete for a car that’s sub-RM90k. There are paddle shifters, new 5A/T, decent audio system that interfaces with your i-Pod/MP3 music player and that improved 1.5 i-VTEC with nice on-paper figures. However, it’s more like “Win Some, Lose Some” scenario here.
Things that I missed (my family had an i-DSICity from ’03) in the new City are the deeper/taller boot (Honda claims this new one is bigger though at 506 litres), versatile ULTRA seat and double-tiered gloveboxes. The other missing items are proper metal sheet or plastic cladding covering - in the engine bay - at the fenders section bilaterally and the useful green tinted band in the upper section of the front windscreen.
While the seats are supportive enough, I couldn’t ignore the fact that thigh support are shorter aft (versus 2nd gen), for both front seats. Could this be a case of flattering mimicry? If you happen to delve into things a little deeper, you may have noticed that seat trim pattern and overall dark, sombre interior tone also mirrors the Vios somewhat, more so the last 2nd generation model. In the E-gradeCity, the rear reclinable seat is a nice touch, while the centre foldable armrest with cup holders adds a premium comfort touch for the rear passengers. Interior headroom and overall feeling of space is however a tad more claustrophobic now – with the lower roof, lower seating overall and darker shaded interior.
Driving impression of the new City conveys an overall tighter, solid feel with more positive handling - contributed by the weightier rack, firmer ride and tauter body control. Great if you’re single (or dating) and loving it. Less appropriate if you’re more into wafting comfort and have a young family to pamper. It isn’t exactly Type-R grade stiffness but let's just say this all-new City can be caught by rough tarmac surfaces and sharp ridges at low speed. At other times, it can be as plaint as a cat falling on to a soft pillow.
Going on to highway, I mostly tried my best to keep the 4-pot ticking below 4000rpm. Above this, the i-VTEC powerplant (?intake manifold) bellows an incessant hollow drumming. Sadly atypical of Honda’s previous VTEC motors singing smoothness. In all fairness, the new City does 140km/h with the engine ticking circa 3000rpm. That’s two overdrive gears within the 5A/T working for you I guess. Disappointingly, the high rev ‘protest’ notes were perhaps even a decibel or two higher than my last 8-valve twin spark i-DSI drone at high speed. Once again, this reminded me much of the ‘T’ make’s character, a trait which the latest Vios has toned down quite significantly.
Before returning the tester, the odometer was reading some 410km to the tankful of 42 litres (minus the reserve volume) of benzene laden fuel. While it’s not fair to comment on fuel consumption since more than half the time the car was being pushed quite hard (I didn’t pay attention to the on-board computer figure, my apologies), I reckon that this new City will never be as frugal as the last i-DSI. At best, it will barely match the fuel efficiency of the last VTECCity. Pity it doesn’t have the CVT option like the JDM Honda Fit. This will improve century sprint timings, climbing gradient smoothness as well as improve mileage to the tankful.
So much for our local motoring ‘enthusiasts’ preferring a more spirited feeling or sporty drive, which is afforded by a regular torque converter, according to Honda Malaysia. Maybe, just maybe…these guys should just get a Toyota Vios J manual. It’s light and spirited working the stick shift, rowing thru all 5 forward ratios. In fact, it was lovely to sprint about in one, the last time tested in 2008 as part of the NST-CBT COTY review. And oh! Just in case if that isn’t sporty enough there’s always localised (more affordable?) TRD goodies, to be made available soon, last I heard.
"What?" Another mismatched madness you may say. Well, truth be told...the 2005 Colt Ralliart you see above was priced (at least in Wald form via USF-Hicom) at almost the same level as the new Honda Jazz 1.5 V-Grade with Modulo kit.
I reckon it makes an interesting comparo, no? Psst! Let's just not call it a shootout...
Honda's most successful supermini, the Jazz/Fit has grown taller, bigger and more chunky into its 2nd generation. It looks more like a ultra-compact minivan/MPV and would have been one if it has third row seatings. In fact, it is more akin to a monoblock hatch now, rather than the 2-box design of its predecessor.
What's new to this Jazz replacement model is the updated 1.5L motor which currently beats with Honda's famed i-VTEC variable cam-lift-and-timing trickery. In Malaysia, and much of ASEAN market - the JDM Fit still has CVT - its driveline is now a more conventional 5-speed A/T torque converter 'box. Honda claims that the local motoring crowd prefers a more 'exhilarating' aka 'sportier' drive (feel) associated with regular auto tranny. I leave it to you to be the judge of character here, because I definitely missed the smoothness of the previous CVT.
Though the uprated engine has higher output of 120ps enabling reasonable zippiness on the go, the 'new' 5 A/T was a tad too busy hunting gears, constantly wanting to get into the L15's powerband. And I have to say the exhaust ding of hollow notes and the booming engine as it gets past 5,000rpm were quite atypical of a modern Honda motor. One my close motoring pal (an editor) attribute this to the new catalytic converters in the exhaust system (meeting stricter emissions standards) "gagging" the powerplant but whatever it is, it was sensed to have lower NVH after I pumped up the volume of the audio system. Yes, with louder music cancelling or drowning out the nasty (somewhat Korean-ish and Toyota Vios-esque) hoarseness and roughness of its drivetrain, the Jazz was indeed sweeter to drive. And I dare say this has nothing to do with any particular song or upbeat audio soundtrack!
In all fairness, the Jazz has pretty decent handling and is sure footed around bends. Ride comfort is also good with predictable body roll. Interior space is wonderful and there are plenty of cubbyholes. Practical and versatile, no doubt about that. Boot space is very decent for a B-segment hatch (vs my wife's Mitsu Colt). While the interior plastics are nothing to shout about, especially in contrast to the almost similar-priced Civic 1.8S (CKD), Honda still has got the touch to making its textured plastic trims looked soft and thus, deceptively more premium than it really is.
Like I have said before in the teaser post earlier, this new Jazz will pretty much sums up (read: a preview) how the all-new City would behave on our roads come 2009. The Jazz' new 1.5 i-VTEC lump seemed lethargic and is caught easily breathless in 'D' mode. Flick the gear lever into 'S', the drivetrain gets a tad too highly strung, and can be heard protesting quite a bit as you stretch it to the redline, though palpably quicker getting there in this sportier shift program.
Get this only if you want the rarity of owning a piece of a fashion/lifestyle statement from Honda. Otherwise, wait for the new City. Here's hoping that the lengthier exhaust system (piping, mufflers et al) in the 3rd generation Honda City will smoothen things out a little bit.
Mini pictures gallery:click on pictures to enlarge
It is with the Jazz model in 2002/03 that Honda reinvented the supermini genre with unprecedented versatility, exceptional space, decent drive and desirability factor unheard of for a hatch this size. Honda upsized the Jazz in August this year with its 2nd generation in Malaysia, with an updated 1.5 i-VTEC motor plus a 5-speed auto 'box, instead of CVT.
How well this cute hatch drives is relevant to a lot of Honda fans in Malaysia, seeing the very same drivetrain will be featured in the upcoming all-new 3rd gen City sedan, due mid-December 2008. Has the new Jazz found new wind and added vigour with its 120ps powerplant? Watch this blog for a test report soon...
With the all-new Honda City coming to Malaysia before 2008 comes to a wrap, this new B-segment sedan is set to entice present City owners to 'upgrade'. Perhaps some of the previous generation Toyota Vios owners as well?
Have your pick...
Click on all images to enlarge Dashboards and frontal interiors:
Click on image to enlarge You probably would have seen these 2009 Honda City pictures somewhere in blogosphere or in your email 'Inbox' by now. If not, here they are in all its captured glory at a Honda PDI inspection bay somewhere, somehow. Rumoured to be launched by mid-December 2008, the all-new Honda City is an attractive little sedan despite its 'budget' B-segment costings target.
Frontal visage depicts Honda's new design language. As seen in the 3-D grille design (ala FCX Clarity), slim-slanty headlamps, loss of body coloured claddings between grille & headlights and a more sculpted front bumper.Foglamps section reminds one of the new Accord.
1.5 i-VTEC lump seen lurking in the engine bay. No more i-DSI option for the 2009 City. Likely 5-speed auto tranny similar to the new Jazz.
Dash design simple and low rent. Centre console portion a wee bit gawky, with A/C controls/switches section aping old Vios to a certain extent!
Seats looked adequately sized (for its class). No short seat bottom like your 'Desirable' arch rival please Honda!
Steering nicked from 8th gen Civic, Stream et al.High-spec version of new City likely to have paddle shifters...and on-steering audio switches too from Honda Malaysia?
Solid disc adorn the rear axle. Take note of the sticky anti-rust coating in wheel arch. Great for improving NVH as well. Are we to get it too for our Melaka-born Citys?
Errr...doesn't this butt remind you of the 8th generation Mitsubishi Galant (1999-2003)?
