Honda Brio and Brio Amaze heat up the B-segment race

ON THE Brio hatchback, you also get a ducktail spoiler, a neat, sporty touch.

IT’S IN the hilly, steep and even dangerous roads that the Brio truly amazes.

When I got behind the wheel of a Kia Picanto four years ago, first in Laos, then in Turkey, I was amazed by what the modern A-segment car can do.

Fast forward two years and I found myself in Thailand, driving Mitsubishi’s Mirage and was again left impressed. The following year, Thailand was again the venue for the Mirage G4, which was even more impressive, more serious. Then earlier this year, it was the tight city streets of Metro Manila where I sampled Toyota’s amazing Wigo and was again impressed, this time by its price versus specifications. Most recently, I had a chance to test drive the updated Hyundai i10  and even my wife, who really isn’t into cars, was just as amazed at the i10 like me.

Indeed, the motoring landscape is evolving. We’re going either bigger, larger and diesel, or smaller, more practical and fuel-efficient. All this time, Honda, the original premium Japanese mass manufacturer (an oxymoron of sorts, I know), has been quietly waiting to unleash its latest offering.

I digress a bit, but during the many test drive events I’ve attended for these B-segment cars, a Honda Brio was always present. Car manufacturers in the Asean Region have long identified the Brio as a benchmark vehicle to test against their own offerings. And whenever I’d get behind the wheel of the Brio, even if it was for another car manufacturer, I’d step out thinking, “Oh wow, Honda should really bring in the Brio because it was just in a totally different class altogether.”

THE INSIDE is as premium-feeling as an Accord or CR-V and has a massively generous room.

And it wasn’t an exclusive opinion; my colleagues all shared the same idea. Thankfully, finally, it’s more than just wishful thinking but a reality.

A revitalized Honda Cars Philippines under the leadership of Toshio Kuwahara has introduced no less than four new cars in 2014: the all-new Honda Accord, all-new City, all-new Jazz and these, the Brio and Brio Amaze sedan. And they found time to introduce new variants of the best-selling Honda Civic with a Modulo-kitted variant and a Mugen-kitted variant as well.

It’s a good start for the mighty Honda brand, as the Brio finally shores up a crucial weakness in the Honda passenger car line-up. The B-segment accounts for a significant portion of the overall car market, more than 1/3 of overall sales. The big segment, which also accounts for a third is composed of light trucks, MPVs, SUVs and pick-ups (think your Toyota Fortuner, Mitsubishi Strada, Toyota Innova, etc.), while the rest is everything else: luxury cars, C-segment vehicles, commercial trucks and utility vehicles. Having a key player in the B-segment is a sure way to establish a very solid foothold in the evolving motoring industry and Honda finally has that.

The Brio hatchback and Brio Amaze sedan ride on the same basic platform but the Amaze sits on a slightly longer wheelbase (60 mm longer) and is 310 mm longer overall. Height is 1,485 mm, width is 1,680 mm, front track is 1,480 mm and rear track is 1,465 mm. The Brio hatchback’s wheelbase is 2,345 mm and overall length is 3,610 mm. It looks a bit cute, and a bit Tokyo Techno cool in equal measure, with the modest 14-inch wheels actually looking pretty well-proportioned for this small duo. On the Brio hatchback, you also get a ducktail spoiler, a neat, sporty touch.

The Brio, as mentioned earlier, is miles apart from the competition. Some A-segment cars are priced cheap but you really feel it: poor interior materials, modest build-quality, very minimal tech toys inside. Not the Brio. The inside is as premium-feeling as an Accord or CR-V and has massively generous room, such that four people my size can comfortably sit inside without violating the Geneva Convention on a moderately long drive. The interior is all plastic but the quality of the plastics used are soft to the touch, have mild dimpling and offer fantastic fit and finish. Certain variants come with SatNav/GPS and Bluetooth telephony and audio device integration, and the steering wheel adjusts for rake while the seats look almost like sporty adjustable buckets with decent support for your sides and thighs. Clearly, just because the Brio is considered an entry-level model, a sporty, engaging drive was still high up on the list for the boffins in white coats at Honda. The handsome 3-spoke steering wheel further emphasizes the sporty nature of Honda. The speedometer dominates the instrument cluster, with an LED screen for the fuel level, odometer and trip meter underneath it. The rev counter sits to the left of the speedo and to the right are the gear position indicator, handbrake, seatbelt light and other icons. It’s simple but clearly laid out, easily read and understandable even while driving under duress.

Other A-segment cars have powertrains best left in the city. Show them any decently steep incline and the engines risk suffering cardiac arrest or transmissions about to grenade themselves. The Brio comes with Honda’s four-cylinder i-VTEC 1.3-liter engine that delivers a stout 100 horsepower and 127 Newton-meters of torque through either a five-speed manual or five-speed automatic, a first-in-class option. Combined with a lightweight 965-kg chassis for the heaviest variant and you’ve got a monster, relatively speaking of course, in its class. The result? Seamless, effortless progress going up from inside the private roads of Tagaytay Midlands leading up to Tagaytay Highlands.

And it’s in these hilly, steep and even dangerous roads that the Brio truly amazes (pardon the pun). Light but feelsome and intuitive steering, precise, well-weighted and easily modulated brakes, a suspension that perfectly treads the balance between comfort and control, a very broad power delivery from the engine, excellent weight transfer under acceleration, deceleration and cornering, on off-camber, tight and sweeping turns. Few cars feel so good and provide so much confidence at this price but Hondas always shine above its competitors in this respect. As a bonus, the Brio’s engine feels and sounds buttery smooth, almost musical sounding compared to the thrashy feeling and maniacal chainsaw-from-hell aural experience provided by its three-cylinder competitors present during the test drive.

For the safety conscious, you’ll be glad to know that all variants of the Brio and Brio Amaze sedan come with dual airbags and ABS-EBD brakes with brake assist, not something you’d expect from a car in this segment.

The Brio and Brio Amaze, based on specifications, build-quality, feel and driving experience are without a doubt, the very best in the B-segment class, with everyone else a very far second, third, fourth and so on.  No prices have been announced yet, but a good guess will be between mid P600,000 for entry-level models to possibly just breaking into the P700,000 barrier for the top-model variants. Worth it? You bet.