The offcial launch of the all new Honda City is just a day away here in Malaysia. Excitement of this model has been phenomenally high - almost as high as when Honda gave us the Civic I'd say. This is particularly suprising in these difficult economic times.
Harsh realities aside, I have had the privilidge of having a look at the actual Malaysian offering of this car in both it's S (presumably for Standard) and E (elegance?) guises. And my initial reactions are postive.
I like the way it looks. The lower roofline makes the car much sleaker than the outgoing model. The front grill and rear views are also real lookers and I'm certain based on this sentiment alone Honda will be the best performing B-segment non-national car in 2009 and for several years to follow.
If you don't already know, I am big on how a car looks and feels on the inside. Since I'll be planting my ass inside the car most of the time, I want it to be as perfect as humanly possible. The City's interior actually looked better live than it did in any of the pictures. The rather cheapish looking silver dash didn't look as cheap and the stereo looked mid-market.
I'm sure you'll hear many more acolades from fan boys and neutrals alike in the coming days, weeks and months. To spin things a little, I'll tell you what I didn't like.
Sticking to the interior, I didn't enjoy the way the plastics felt. They were hard - harder than the outgoing version and they weren't nice to touch. I also noted that the doors are now covered with more bare plastic than ever! There's only a strip of fabric alongside the power window switches and the fabric didn't feel nice to touch again.
The stereo system while looking very good, wasn't particularly practical for CD lovers. In order to pop in your favorite CD, you'll have to flip open the display panel of the stereo to reveal the disc loading area. Cool yes. But I dread to think of what'd happen if my wrist twitched when loading said CD. Bye bye display.
Also, all the speakers are housed on the doors and the rear shelf is left emtpy. That's actually a good thing - except for the fact that the rear shelf is also in bland plastic.
The air conditioning switches didn't suit my fancy either. They look like an after thought and the knobs while tactile didn't spell quality. They reminded me of the Vios' air cond knobs which I think is abysmal.
The orange-ish meter cluster could have also done with some white illumination.
The one thing I could absolutly not stand was the way the dashboard curves outwards at the edge closest to the drivers door. This design cue has been prevalent in the Accord and Civic and I dread to say that it has reappeared in the new City. I seem to knock my knee every now and again when I get into the car. I could change the way I get in but I don't want to. Oh the pain!
Seating room looks and feels adequet. There's more width for the horizontal ones but the lowered roofline given an illusion of less space. I love the fact that Honda got smart and made both variants available in dark colured interior.
I don't have any gripes from the outside. I think this car is a real looker.
Prices are slated to be at just about 85,000 and 90,000 for the S and E variants respectivly. The waiting list is already 3 months long (who said there's a financial crisis?) so those of us hoping for a new car ahead of the Christmas/CNY season better look elsewhere.
As for me, I can't say if I'd get one. I wouldn't judge until I've driven this one. But given that the Vios drives like a dugong, and if I was still in the market for a B-segment auto I'd give the City a long hard look.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
McLaren’s fleet of roadcars
McLaren and Mercedes Benz will part ways as far as road cars are concerned at the end of the McLaren Mercedes SLR lifecycle. It is understood that Mercedes would be partnering with AMG for its next supercar. However, I suspect that this might not be the actual reason for the split.
Although initially unclear, now Ron Dennis may have let the cat out of the bag. Albeit subtly, he hinted that McLaren may soon enter the automobile sector as a proper manufacturer!
“Grand Prix team(s) to diversify…we do intend to try and match the success of Ferrari”, Ron was caught saying. This could well be the start of a new era or McLaren.
The SLR is a work of art. If McLaren chooses to further diversify its roadcar range, I’m certain that we’ll be seeing many more works of art in the not too distant future. Watch this space.
Although initially unclear, now Ron Dennis may have let the cat out of the bag. Albeit subtly, he hinted that McLaren may soon enter the automobile sector as a proper manufacturer!
“Grand Prix team(s) to diversify…we do intend to try and match the success of Ferrari”, Ron was caught saying. This could well be the start of a new era or McLaren.
The SLR is a work of art. If McLaren chooses to further diversify its roadcar range, I’m certain that we’ll be seeing many more works of art in the not too distant future. Watch this space.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Arrogance, please
I like Kimi Raikkonen. I think he’s a fantastic driver with tremendous skill. However he’s incredibly boring. He doesn’t provoke anyone the way a Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso or even an Eddie Irvine would. And that’s no good really.
As well as I can tell, F1 is as much about the talk as it is about the racing. There’s always heightened interest in the sport when there’s some form of obvious rivalry (or scandal) going on. We still talk about how Michael wanted to land fist into DC and when Alonso openly criticized the current world champ. It was fun, exciting and we took notice.
Kimi doesn’t go any of that. He drives; then goes home. Bore.
And sadly, his performance in 2008 might also suggest that he’s doing a little less inspired driving that I’m used to seeing.
News has broken on how much the Finn now wants to try rallying. “"It's something that I would like to try for myself one day."” was his comment when he recently toured Rallye du Valais . Given his relatively short attention span, for all we know he might be looking for a way out of F1 – new contract extension notwithstanding.
I don’t have a problem waving goodbye to Kimi for the 2009 season. But the man I want to see in his shoes is the fiery Spainard. Sure he was a pussy for kicking up all that fuss as McLaren, but the excitement it stirred up is excellent. To top it off, he’s a great driver with the best qualifying record (100%) against his team mate this year.
Will it happen? Probably not. But then again, there’s 2011 ;)
As well as I can tell, F1 is as much about the talk as it is about the racing. There’s always heightened interest in the sport when there’s some form of obvious rivalry (or scandal) going on. We still talk about how Michael wanted to land fist into DC and when Alonso openly criticized the current world champ. It was fun, exciting and we took notice.
Kimi doesn’t go any of that. He drives; then goes home. Bore.
And sadly, his performance in 2008 might also suggest that he’s doing a little less inspired driving that I’m used to seeing.
News has broken on how much the Finn now wants to try rallying. “"It's something that I would like to try for myself one day."” was his comment when he recently toured Rallye du Valais . Given his relatively short attention span, for all we know he might be looking for a way out of F1 – new contract extension notwithstanding.
I don’t have a problem waving goodbye to Kimi for the 2009 season. But the man I want to see in his shoes is the fiery Spainard. Sure he was a pussy for kicking up all that fuss as McLaren, but the excitement it stirred up is excellent. To top it off, he’s a great driver with the best qualifying record (100%) against his team mate this year.
Will it happen? Probably not. But then again, there’s 2011 ;)
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Toyota no more
After jumping up and down like a kangaroo on steroids, uncovering the fact that Timo Glock was just too slow was painful. I had already woken the neighbours in the wee hours of the morning and to see Nicole jumping for joy wasn’t the right reason for it.
I’m distraught now.
To be continued…
I’m distraught now.
To be continued…
Monday, October 27, 2008
Team Antics
If you're in a team sport, it's a given that team priority takes precedence over all else. Be it football, F1 or rugby - it doesn't make a difference. The goal is to pull thru for the team.
Therefore I hope to see Ferrari make this work for them this weekend at Interlagos. It ain't over till the fat lady sings.
And Kimi shouldn't complain.
Life in general is also often a team sport. You've got to stick it up for your team. If someone shoots your guy down at a sales pitch you better have your buddies back. If you're also nitpicking at them in front of the cohort, then you've lost the plot.
Creating a public ruckus is unacceptable. It shows immaturity and a lack of control.
Play the team game.
Therefore I hope to see Ferrari make this work for them this weekend at Interlagos. It ain't over till the fat lady sings.
And Kimi shouldn't complain.
Life in general is also often a team sport. You've got to stick it up for your team. If someone shoots your guy down at a sales pitch you better have your buddies back. If you're also nitpicking at them in front of the cohort, then you've lost the plot.
Creating a public ruckus is unacceptable. It shows immaturity and a lack of control.
Play the team game.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Killing the V8
As I was reading a press release about the FIAs plans to introduce a single engine rule in F1 my thoughts quickly skewed to how single tracked F1 would become. Everyone would be on level packing in terms of power and racing at the pinnacle of motor sport would be reduced to merely aerodynamics, setup and driver skills.
I say merely with some degree of caution. Don’t get me wrong - I rate driver skills as a massively important aspect for F1 however once the novelty of 22 drivers racing on similar terms wears of, F1 will become another A1GP. Cheers for the Country aplenty and not much else.
F1 will become much of the same. If the manufacturers chose to stick around, people will be cheering for manufacturer. Surely some drivers will get accolades but over time morale to drive in F1 will wither and F1 may slowly experience a slow and expensive death.
It’s more likely however to predict that the big name manufacturers will shy away from the sport. As the sport slowly edges towards an being more of a exhibition (much like WWE), technical development will become less of a focus as the FIA continues to look for ways to drive down costs. The big name manufacturers will have fewer technologies to take away from F1 that they can plug into their road cars.
With anything that has to do with money, there are really two ways to understand why you’d want to purchase or spend. First you could set your requirements and look for the product that delivers on those requirements at the best price. Or you could look for the cheapest category-specific item in the market; paying little attention to weather or not it fits your needs.
I fear the FIA is biased towards the later.
Personally, the former should be the rule of the day. Teams should get together with the automobile industry as a whole and begin to understand the aspects of F1 that will make the sport profitable, pragmatic and exciting. Stop trying to save money for the sake of just that. The solution needs to be viable in the long run, not just cheap.
Non-power-sapping traction control systems were unheard of until it was introduced in F1. The trend for sustainable racing and roadworthy technology needs a revival. Here KERS comes in at the right time. Perhaps in future, hybrid F1 cars may be possible too. The possibilities are endless. But don’t stifle competitive development.
Necessity is the mother of invention but in today’s world, value also drives profitability. Bottom line: standardization is not the way to go in competitive motor racing. Standardised engines, if approved, will be the precursor to the demise of Formula 1 as we know it.
I say merely with some degree of caution. Don’t get me wrong - I rate driver skills as a massively important aspect for F1 however once the novelty of 22 drivers racing on similar terms wears of, F1 will become another A1GP. Cheers for the Country aplenty and not much else.
F1 will become much of the same. If the manufacturers chose to stick around, people will be cheering for manufacturer. Surely some drivers will get accolades but over time morale to drive in F1 will wither and F1 may slowly experience a slow and expensive death.
It’s more likely however to predict that the big name manufacturers will shy away from the sport. As the sport slowly edges towards an being more of a exhibition (much like WWE), technical development will become less of a focus as the FIA continues to look for ways to drive down costs. The big name manufacturers will have fewer technologies to take away from F1 that they can plug into their road cars.
With anything that has to do with money, there are really two ways to understand why you’d want to purchase or spend. First you could set your requirements and look for the product that delivers on those requirements at the best price. Or you could look for the cheapest category-specific item in the market; paying little attention to weather or not it fits your needs.
I fear the FIA is biased towards the later.
Personally, the former should be the rule of the day. Teams should get together with the automobile industry as a whole and begin to understand the aspects of F1 that will make the sport profitable, pragmatic and exciting. Stop trying to save money for the sake of just that. The solution needs to be viable in the long run, not just cheap.
Non-power-sapping traction control systems were unheard of until it was introduced in F1. The trend for sustainable racing and roadworthy technology needs a revival. Here KERS comes in at the right time. Perhaps in future, hybrid F1 cars may be possible too. The possibilities are endless. But don’t stifle competitive development.
Necessity is the mother of invention but in today’s world, value also drives profitability. Bottom line: standardization is not the way to go in competitive motor racing. Standardised engines, if approved, will be the precursor to the demise of Formula 1 as we know it.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)