Editor’s Note: The Car of the Year Awards – Philippines is a project of the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) and is supported by the various car manufacturers/assemblers. The following have lent their support to the project: BMW, Chrysler/Dodge, Ford, Honda, Hummer, Hyundai, General Motors/Chevrolet, Isuzu, Jaguar, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Ssyangyong, Toyota and Volvo.
EAGLERIDGE, Cavite—The Car of the Year Awards – Philippines kicked off in style with the first-ever test fest that was held at the Eagleride Golf and Country Club last October 2. The weekend-long, back-to-back test featured the highly competitive compact car market. As defined by the Car Awards Group (CAG), the group that manages The Car of the Year Awards (COTY), a compact car has a displacement between 1.6- to 2.0-liters. All cars falling under this category and sold to the public as of October 30, 2004 are eligible to join.
With the support and founding of the Automobile Association of the Philippines or the AAP, the Car Awards Group, led by its president Armin Amio of Business World Online gathered 8 compact cars for that weekend’s test.
The test has 2 phases. The first is an instrumented test where the entries will do a 0-100-0 km/h run. Times and distances to reach the said figures are recorded by a GTech meter and then tabulated on a computer. The interior noise level, measured in decibel, is also recorded. The second phase is a qualitative test where journalists drive the vehicles back-to-back in the same route in order to gauge things such as ergonomics, comfort, ventilation system, audio system, and value for money.
For the qualitative test, journalists such as Aris Ilagan (Manila Bulletin), Dino Directo (The Manila Standard), Aida Sevilla-Mendoza and Tessa Salazar (Philippine Daily Inquirer), James Deakin (C! Magazine), and Paulo Subido (REV Magazine) lent their time and support for the project.
Chevrolet Optra 1800 LT
Full-loaded and affordable at P799,000, the Chevrolet Optra 1800 LT is certainly becoming one of the Philippines’s favorite compact sedan. Despite the Daewoo origins, the Optra holds on its own quite well with superb build quality, durability, and reliability—all backed up by a 3-year bumper-to-bumper warranty. The Pininfarina styled sedan is certainly eye-catching and a break from the pleura of Japanese sedans on the road today. Underneath that is a modern drivetrain that’s highlighted by all-around independent suspension as well as the 121 horsepower 1.8-liter Ecotec engine.
Ford Lynx RS
With the only manual gearbox in the entire round-up, the Lynx RS generated enough adrenaline rush for those who have the need for speed. The joys of RS don’t just end with its standard 2.0-liter, 142 horsepower engine. The RS is a well thought off package with enough tweaks to the suspension, drivetrain, and even the bodywork to satisfy even the most hardcore boy racers. That said, fast need not be bare with the RS’s fully loaded interior with sports-type seats, metal racing pedals, a power moon roof, and even a 6-disc in-dash CD changer. With a retail price of just P795,000, the RS is certainly the deal of the century.
Honda Civic 2.0 i-VTEC
A little facelift can certainly do a lot of wonders, and in the case of the Civic, it brought it back to serious contention. In the 2.0 i-VTEC guise, the Civic is a serious piece of engineering with the class-leading 155 horsepower DOHC i-VTEC engine, 5-speed automatic, and revised suspension package. The sporty character of the Civic is backed up by the use of carbon fiber with metallic accents inside along with black leather seats. It’s also immensely clever thanks to the fully-flat rear floor that enhances interior space. The Civic is also backed up by Honda’s immense reputation for build and durability.
Hyundai Coupe FX
The black horse of the entire group, the Hyundai Coupe FX is a surprise and delight with its sporty 2-door exterior and racy serious interior. The Ferrari-copying lines look great from any angle—that alone warrants a closer look. Upon examination, the Coupe FX features a Mitsubishi Evolution-sourced engine and gearbox connected to a sublime chassis combination. It’s certainly competitive too for the price, undercutting all the Coupe’s ‘inspirations’.
Mazda 3 2.0 R
The newest kid on the block, the 141 horsepower Mazda3 2.0 R is the mainstream ‘zoom-zoom’ car. And that design philosophy is evident in every single area of the 3 from its sharp design to its excellent ergonomics, and competitive drivetrain—never has a car been designed with such focus (pardon the pun). It has managed to dispense all hints of luxury for something a little bit more sporty (black leather, glowing-red gauges, ‘active-matic transmission’ and 17-inch alloys). Still, for such a well-sorted package, one would expect a well-sorted price—not so as the 3 is a bargain at just P915,000.
Mitsubishi Lancer MX
Carrying the new corporate look, the Lancer MX has the group’s smallest engine at 1.6-liters. Even with just 110 horsepower, the Lancer still manages to exact some spirited levels of performance with its Continuously Variable Transmission or CVT. It can be equally smooth on the highway as well as on the winding mountain roads. The revised package also means that the Lancer dispenses with all the unnecessary stuff, and instead focuses more on passive safety with standard dual airbags, ABS, and EBD. Comfort-oriented 195/60 R 15s complete the package.
Nissan Sentra 180GT
Honed and refined from the previous Exalta, Nissan decided to bring back the Sentra name and its timing is certainly impeccable. With the 128 horsepower, 1.8-liter engine, the Sentra is well mannered and sorted on the road. It dispenses the AV system and kitchen sink package for something more tuned towards the enthusiast. Vast improvements have been made to the transmission, brakes, and even the suspension to keep the Sentra in contention despite being the oldest car in this test group, platform-wise.
Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8G
The best-selling compact sedan in the market, the Toyota Corolla Altis is finally able to combine style with Toyota’s knack for reliability and durability. With its punchy 1.8-liter VVTi engine, the 145 horsepower Altis is certainly no slouch. It gains some traits from its luxury oriented bigger brother, the Camry, with its standard leather power seats, wood trim, 2-DIN radio, and corner sensors. Functional as it is stylish, the Corolla Altis is certainly here to stay with its well-rounded package.
The Verdict
As much as we’d like to reveal the winner for Best Compact Sedan, the results have been sealed up to be tabulated and finalized by accounting firm SGV. The announcement of the results will be done in February of 2005 along with the Philippines’s first Car of the Year.
By Ulysses Ang | Photos By Ulysses Ang
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