Looking at small cars...

Being on the lookout for a small car lately, wifey and I have been doing a lot of test driving and so far the cars I have tested include the Naza Bestari 206, Suzuki Swift, Hyundai Getz, Proton Savvy, Perodua Myvi and even the just-launched-last-Friday Hyundai i10. Here then are quick reviews of all the cars mentioned. Also of interest would be a review of the Saga.

From all that driving around 3 things stood out...

Number 1: the Bestari 206 is noisy. This is surprising as being a Peugeot owner, I expected the Europeans to be the most refined of the bunch. True, it generated no notable wind and road noise, but the engine noise was thrashy, coarse and the worst part is you do need to thrash it to get any acceleration, so you'll be living with the noise a good portion of the time. The engine? Very last century. It's weak, and aside from the decent torque arriving at an astonishing 2800rpm, nothing nice to say about it. It clearly lacked the punch to move the 206, and an autobox blunted it even more. The noise I mentioned is almost always there throughout the rev range, and the amount of noise when you floor the pedal is nowhere near the amount of acceleration you get. Handling is good, there is quite a bit of body roll in typical Pug fashion, but don't be fooled, the limits are still quite some way off. Ride comfort was okay, a bit firmer than I expected. Built quality was good as far as I could see, with no weird noises from the interior, though there were some uneven gaps some places. Big points though to the 3 lap-sash seatbelts in the rear. If you think that's small potatoes, check out a Honda Civic or 7th gen Accord and see if they have it... (they don't!!!)

Number 2: the Savvy is shockingly good. Again, I say shockingly as you wouldn't know from the response towards this car. Most buyers simply ignored it and herded towards the Myvi. After the drive all I can say is that they really are missing out on quite a bit.
Refinement is good for its class, and engine noise remained relatively muted, road noise and wind noise nothing to complain about. But the biggest surprise is the ride comfort and handling. It simply blew all the others (maybe tying the Swift) into the weeds. Damping was good, and even on the construction riddled Subang airport road it remained well behaved; bumps and holes were more heard than felt. In spite of the comfy ride, handling was close to spot-on. Steering feel was great, very responsive and quick with decent heft. Reminds me of my old Satria Gti actually... Who says the Lotus association hasn't paid big dividends??? Only notable disappointment was the steering material, it wasn't exactly nice to touch...
Power was decent despite the lowest on paper ratings, most likely due to the lack of a power-sapping torque converter. Engine noise was not any rougher or noisier than others in the group. Its trump card however, must be the reported fuel consumption, which is claimed to be up to 18km/L! Even after discounting the optimism in the testing, I figured you'd still end up with around 13-14km/L, which is still a lot. In auto mode the gearshifts had a slight lag as the ECU was retarded the engine a bit too much, so you actually feel a quite a bit of a jerk. In manual mode it also exhibited similar behaviour, but after barely a short spin around we got the hang of it and learned to release the accelerator a bit when shifting, thereby making gearchanges as smooth as it could be with a normal manual box. Truth be told both wifey and I had a lot of fun in the car. To put things into perspective, similar AMT boxes such as the Selespeed and the Smart car generate a similar if not worse jerky behaviour, but once you get used to the release pedal thingy, it's fine. I've driven both, and let's just say that the first time I drove the Smart ForTwo, I felt quite ill by the end of the spin around the block! You wouldn't shift gears in a normal manual car with the accelerator pedal on full bore anyway, so I suppose we can't expect any different from the AMT.
The interior was probably the only place where it lost points. It was very plasticky, ESPECIALLY the door panels, though the quality of the plastics were not that bad, and I've actually seen worse in a car costing nearly twice its price (I won't say which...) but compared to the pretty i10 dash and the stylishly simple Swift, looked quite dowdy. To its credit, everything was intuitively laid out and fell to hand naturally. Pedals were also laid out properly unlike the 206 which seemed to be skewed to one side. But they could have at least put some cloth at the doors like the Saga lah...
At the end of the day it's nice in most ways (plastics galore and size aside), and the only suspect is the reliability problems that have plagued Proton. Though recently quality has gone up a notch, there's still some way to go. The TUV certification and 5-year warranty does go some way towards addressing our scepticism...

Number 3: the Hyundai i10 is a great car for its size. I expected a car that size to be tincan-like and clunky to drive. It wasn't and nothing could be further from the truth. Refinement was good; road and wind noise well suppressed, and damping is very good. Feels like a much bigger car. Of course handling suffers due to the height of the car, but not notably bad aside from being a bit wobbly at higher speeds. Interior room was also superb, considering its size. One trick that made its legroom feel bigger was to make occupants sit straighter and higher, which it effortlessly did with its high roof (the car is as tall as a Myvi!!!). I suppose for short commutes this is fine, but it would get very tiring to sit like you're on a straight backed bench after a while. Another drawback was the cost cutting extended to the lack of an rpm meter...

And the rest? The Getz was actually the most well rounded of the lot, with a decent engine, decent handling, decent comfort and decent interior. Decent everything in fact, but nothing that stands out as being particularly bad or good. But then we know by now that mediocrity sells, look at Toyota...
Like most Toyotas, it too was eminently forgettable. I can't seem to think of anything noteworthy to say about the car less than a fortnight after I tested it, such is its anonymity. But that, strange as it may sound, is actually a compliment. That meant no wayward noise, no lack of power or weird seating position to annoy me. Special mention has to go to the clever 2-level boot, see it for yourself!

The Swift appeared to be the most well built, though by a slim margin. Interior plastics looked fine but didn't feel good, being in some places nastier than the even the Savvy plastics, and felt curiously hollow. Engine noise was also unpleasant, and closest I can come to describing it would be buzzy. Despite being one of the cars in this group with variable valve timing, power was just adequate. Comfort was also not a standout, though handling felt at the top of the group bar the Savvy which felt more nimble probably largely due to its size. Surprisingly, the Swift's wheelbase is significantly shorter than the Getz. More surprisingly, it is also shorter than the Savvy, though by only a smidgen, it's still something you'd never be able to tell from just looking at both cars.

The Myvi was just plain disappointing. It handles like a strand of wet noodle, it isn't particularly comfortable, and built quality was just so-so. The engine was coarse and loud, was not powerful despite the promises of the DVVT, and road noise was very memorable. Also word is around that the fuel consumption is awful, in some cases with people claiming it costs about as much as their Wira 1.5, a car that is about 15 years older, is carburettored, has a 3 speed auto, and weighs about the same. The only reasons why anyone should buy it is because of the perceived reliability of Peroduas and the fabulous room in all directions. The final straw for me though is that it isn't cheap. You could buy any of the others in this comparo (bar the Swift) for less than 10k more, and buying the Savvy in top spec guise would save you about 5k. I would say there is no reason, under any circumstance, that anyone should buy it, but the Myvi fanboys would come at me real quick. Just witness the mindless "Myvi rules..." posting in local forums...

What will we be getting? Well, we already have a large car, and wifey just need it to commute to and from work, and our priority is in not getting into any debt. Take a guess... :)