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First and foremost, before I go on with my views, I’m not a Honda or even a Toyota fan. I’m neutral. So, I just wanna write something about what I have in mind with some little experience on cars. I’m not going into the technical details but I can give some opinions & views as a normal car owner/buyer/user with what we need, wants, hopes & dreams. What I’ve said in this entry has nothing to do with anybody. Just to share some of my opinions. So, here we go.

I went for a quick look at Honda Kosmokars showroom in Glenmarie Shah Alam during my lunch on the launch date. And I did manage to have a test drive on the new Honda City. My first impression when I looked at the car, I said to myself, “Toyota Vios gonna lose big time…this new Honda City will definitely outclass Toyota Vios..” .. why? Just take a quick look at the above picture and what’s on your mind compared to the Toyota Vios? So, you knew the answer already just by looking at it, am I right?

Okay, lets talk about this new Honda City. It comes with two models, S spec & E spec, where the E spec is the high spec version and it costs you RM89,980 on the road while the S spec is RM84,980.

The new design of its exterior is great. I couldn’t ask for more. The front is excellent, while the back is okay, but not so great. Whatever it is, the design is definitely will be the talk of the town when comparing it to the Toyota Vios.

Interior wise, great cool design but slightly a bit lower quality compared to the previous Honda City. It looks expensive though. What I like about the interior is the steering with paddle shift and some controls on the steering. As for the meter panel, it has a feature where you will know how far can you go in kilometre with the petrol load you have on the car. So, it’s kinda unreasonable if you stuck somewhere with an empty tank. Hehehe…

The new Honda City comes with the new 1.5 litre i-VTEC SOHC engine (120PS/145nM torque) with Drive-By-Wire technology. It is a new engine with higher power to boost up the performance of the car. Another great feature is the 5 speed automatic transmission gearbox with Paddle Shift (E spec only). This is what I hoped for. Why?

Someone asked me, why is it so important to have a 5 speed automatic gearbox? Well, in each car, there is RPM speedometer with usual numbers 7 – 9 is in the redline. The numbers are represented as thousand of RPM (Rotations Per Minute). Whenever the gear changed from first to second and so on, the RPM needle meter lowers also changed to a lower RPM. It is a simple concept and everybody knows that if we use higher RPM, the engine will get heat and if we sustain on higher RPM for too long, the engine can get overheat. What does this gotta do with the transmission?

The transmission lets the engine running smoothly by changing to a higher gear with lower RPM. Thus, it will make the engine can be use for a longer life time by not making the engine to overwork. The conventional 4 speed automatic gearbox runs at 110km/h with 3,500 – 4,000 RPM. That means the engine is working 3,500 – 4000 rotations per minute. And at these RPM for some cars, you can hear the loud sound of the engine like it is working hard. This is not so good for running the engine for long term.

So, the 5 speed automatic gearbox lets you run the engine at 110km/h with 2,200 – 2,500 RPM which makes the engine running smoothly without loud engine sound. So, what can you conclude by noticing the RPM differences between 4 & 5 speed automatic gearbox? Yeah, 5 speed automatic gearbox can save more petrol because it’s running on lower RPM. Easy concept isn’t it? So, the 5 speed automatic trasmission will not only save your engine for long-term, but also saves you petrol usage. Some other car brands like BMW & Mercedes, they have 6 & 7 speed automatic transmission gearbox as standard.

It also has Shift Hold Control which enables you to reduce unnecessary gear changes in cornering and supplies acceleration immediately after making a turn. And there are also some new highlights in this new Honda City but it’s not that important to explain it about.

The suspension is nice too as I didn’t feel any swerve on hard corners. Some people doesn’t like a mild hard suspension setup, some people like soft suspension setup. As for me, I like a combination of soft & hard suspension setup as it gives me higher confidence to drive in any conditions especially on corners. The antiroll bar is quite big and it does have a huge impact to lessen the body roll. It also comes with 16 inch rims for E spec while the S spec with 15 inch rims.

So, if you ask me about the comparison between this new Honda City with Toyota Vios, the answer is simple. I will choose the new Honda City anytime. It’s not that I’m a fan of Honda or something. But for me, Honda Malaysia has pull themself away from the conventional UMW Toyota. Don’t mad at me as I’m working with UMW too but not UMW Toyota. I can get discounts anytime if I were to purchase any Toyota cars but I will not buy any Toyota cars unless they bring in the new design with good and expensive look interior, rather than a cheapskate interior just like in Toyota Vios. And after all, Toyota Vios is still using the old technology engine with the old 4 speed automatic gearbox. Not much of new features like the new Honda City. At least Honda knows what the consumer needs.

Well, some people told me that even Honda comes with attractive design & features, it still cannot beat Toyota sales because our people described Toyota as a reliable car. Yes, it is true. But I’m a Honda owner too. I haven’t had a problem with my car at all. My car is reliable too. For me, reliability is one thing, and looks is another thing. Sometimes, you can’t have both. But Honda managed to hear what the car enthusiast wants & needs and they did it. But my point here is not the Toyota as overall, I only pointed it to UMW Toyota in Malaysia. Toyota in Japan & USA did a very good job with their cool designs & features that meet customers need. They are selling very well and always on top of the list of car makers in those countries. While Toyota in Malaysia, maybe they just want to get higher profits by minimized the car features by using some cheap items and sell it at high prices. I’m not assuming or condemning but this is fact and all car enthusiasts know about this very well. So, don’t blame me as I’m not the only one who said this…hehehe. The only way for Toyota to bring in new car designs and great features is by parting with UMW and be on its own, just like Honda Malaysia.

So, as a conclusion, as I said, with the whole new car design and attractive features, I will pick Honda City anytime over Toyota Vios. Full Stop. Go and have a test drive at your nearest showroom. The car has great design, great interior, save more petrol, smooth engine, more power and so much more. No wonder upon launching, there are almost 5000 bookings all over Malaysia.

More pics at http://www.flickr.com/irwandy

More info at http://www.honda.com.my

The all new Toyota Vios officially launched on Friday, 19th October 2007. I was one of the car enthusiasts came to see it live at Shah Alam’s Toyota showroom on that launch date. My father kept on saying that I should buy this car as for loyalty to my company which is UMW Corporation, the parent company of UMW Toyota Motors Sdn Bhd. Well, I could get staff price and minimal car loan interest rate for any Toyota & Perodua cars. So I say, lets try it out.

When I first entered the showroom, I feel that the car is much more attractive when seeing it live in front of my eyes. I saw three Toyota Vios models which is 1.5E, 1.5G & 1.5S where the 1.5E is the standard lowest spec, 1.5G is the standard spec and the 1.5S is the sporty high spec. I quickly go for the 1.5S as it attracted my eyes. For me, the new Toyota Vios has great design especially the front design. I guess it has no flaws for its exterior design. The interior cabin has been improved slightly and has much bigger space than the previous Toyota Vios.

Actually, before I came to test the new Toyota Vios, I was skeptical for its interior dashboard cabin. Most people told me that the dashboard is made of cheap plastic. At first I assumed it to be true. But then, I came there and to see it live. I guess those people were wrong. The interior dashboard is fine. It does not look cheap as they mentioned and it does not look luxurious either. Looks fine to me. With the centered metel panel which I does not fancy me very well, I guess the interior is OK for me. Not so great and not so ugly either. But what I don’t like is the dashboard integrated audio system. The LCD screen looks very cheap indeed. Just like my uncle’s Modenas Elegan LCD speedometer screen quality. This somehow can create some negative comments on this car’s audio system.

As for the cabin space, I guess it is true that this new Toyota Vios has slightly bigger space than before. I sat at the back passenger’s seat and I think it is fine. Not too small and not too spacious either. But I guess it is much more comfortable with only 4 people inside this car at one time. However, it can easily accommodate family of 2 adults & 3 small kids with no problem.

The 1.5 litre engine is still the same as it predecessor. It is 1.5 litre VVTi DOHC. It is enough for the car but the engine sound is kinda irritating. It does not sound like a smooth engine. Although the car has good pick up acceleration but the sound of the engine is like an “over work” engine. Maybe it is because this Toyota Vios is still using the old 4 gear automatic transmission with their Super ECT technology.

It has good suspension setup though. New Toyota Vios has a very comfortable ride. It is much comfortable than the previous Toyota Vios. I must say this is one of the good points of this car. However, people who likes to take sharp corners and driving aggresively will find that this car doesn’t suit their driving style.

Well, I’m not a professional car review writer but what I can say about this car is this new Toyota Vios may be attractive for its exterior design, but it is still lack of quality and new technology efforts. To compare with its rival, Honda City 1.5 Vtec, I guess Honda City still won in many aspects although the exterior design is a bit ugly for certain car enthusiasts. Honda City does have the 7 speed mode CVT transmission with its shifting gear button at steering. Not only that, Honda City still has bigger and spacious interior cabin that makes it much more comfortable ride for family of five. The boot is bigger and wider than the new Toyota Vios.

What I do not like most about this new Toyota Vios is that when I sat at the driver’s cockpit, it feels cheap. It’s not because that I drive Honda City 1.5 Vtec to my office everyday or it’s not because of I like Honda. It’s because of it does feels cheap. Okay, maybe for Proton or Perodua owners that want to shift to this new Toyota Vios, they will feel great about the car as they haven’t experienced or own other than national car. But I do think that some of them also will feel like, “I feel like I’m driving a Proton Waja or Wira”. Or maybe they feel it doesn’t make any difference by shifting from Proton to Toyota. Well, I won’t be surprise. Maybe this will make people start to think that local Toyota’s quality is just like a Proton.

It is quite frustrating when a big giant Japanese car maker like Toyota built a car that feels cheap with some low quality stuffs inside the car. I love the old Toyota that has great quality and great build up. But since these few years, I guess the local company or the Thai plant which assembles Toyota cars wants to maximize profit by cutting down the cost that resulting the low quality build up car. I won’t be surprise for that also.

My conclusion is that if you are driving a Honda or Nissan, forget about this new Toyota Vios. Look for something else unless you want it as a second car or for your daughter or son or your wife. Honda & Nissan never failed me as I feel very “luxury” or “expensive” whenever I’m in the driver’s cockpit. Honda & Nissan did put their customer’s satisfaction as their main priority by building great quality with new technology cars over the years. If you don’t believe me, try to test drive the new Toyota Vios today and then try its rival, the Honda City 1.5 Vtec or even the new Nissan Latio along. You will understand of what I’m trying to say here.

For now, with the new Toyota Vios 1.5G standard spec going for RM84,800 and Honda City 1.5 Vtec going for RM85,800, I guess the Honda is so much worthy with every penny that you will spend. Besides, Honda City is much more fuel saver car.

I truly love the new Toyota Vios exterior design but that doesn’t mean that the car is good. So, come on Toyota. Give your customers some satisfaction with new technology such as 5 speed automatic transmission(this can save much more petrol by running the engine smoother) or even a paddle shift on steering to start compete with your rivals.

More info on this new Toyota Vios specification & prices at http://www.toyota.com.my