SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.


We were amaze-d at Honda’s little Brio Comfort sedan, although the company might prefer that we don’t say so

Cheerful and amazing

Published in Witness Wheels on Thursday September 12, 2013

“Brio Amaze?” we asked Graham Eagle, Honda SA’s marketing director, indicating the badge on the newcomer’s boot lid. He shifted a little uneasily in his chair before responding: “It’s the name being used in India, where they are built,” he confessed, “but we won’t be making too much of it here. We’ll simply call it Brio sedan in order to avoid confusion.”

There are two slightly different versions of the Brio-with-boot; one for the Indian market and another for Thailand, its country of development, and surrounding areas. Honda is cagey about certain specifications, but it appears that India opted for an added 15mm of ground clearance because some of its roads are very shabby. Now that we have had an opportunity to drive one, away from inquisitive Honda corporate eyes, we’re pretty sure we got the extra lift here in SA too.

Like the curate’s egg, that’s good in parts, it translates into a compliant and comfortable ride over iffy surfaces, with extra clearance for speed bumps and potholes. Less brilliant is that the added height results in a slightly top-heavy sensation when hurrying along winding country roads. In fairness though, this is a family car designed to move four of five big people, their luggage or school kit and shopping; smoothly and economically through the urban jungle. If you insist on a hard-charging German sports saloon, you’re welcome to spend the extra money.

One area in which it outshines some expensive European cars is in its simple, single channel air conditioning that works very well, even in mid-thirties weather. The Honda fleet manager, who also handles an upper crust Continental fleet, mentioned it unprompted; as did more than one team of journalists who took one on a free roaming, trans-Indian road trip.

Another facet worth mentioning is that its 405-litre boot is like a cave. Its shape is slightly irregular, you need to lift things to upper thigh height to load, it’s 21 centimetres deep and the seatback is fixed, but many are much smaller. The spare is fully sized, made of steel and in the usual place under the floorboard.

Moving forward to the back seat, the SA Standard tall passenger allotted eight points out of ten each, for headroom and foot space with full marks for knee room. Two built-in head restraints and a pair of three-point belts look after passenger safety, although a lap strap is provided for an occasional third.

Starting with cup holders in the folding armrest and another at the back of the centre console, two more in front and a selection of seatback pockets, door bins and a large glovebox, storage space for small items is plentiful. Practicality extends to simple air and music controls, repeater buttons for music on the steering wheel, powered and folding exterior mirrors, manual headlight adjustment, central locking, a rear window defroster and a 12 Volt plug in the front oddments tray along with the USB cable.

In keeping with its family and city car image, the little Brio sedan has lots of glass area to see through, is easy to drive and park, has more than enough power to keep up with traffic and it turns on the proverbial ten-cent piece. That’s the same size as, although marginally thicker than, the old “tickey” by the way.

With or without its Indian name, this Brio-with-boot is still a rather amazing little car.

Test car from Honda SA press fleet

Price: R136 900
Engine: 1198 cc, SOHC, i-VTEC, 16-valve, four-cylinder
Power: 65 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 109 Nm at 4500 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 12,4 seconds
Maximum speed: About 150 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 6,8 l/100 km
Tank: 35 litres
Boot: 405 litres VDA

Ground clearance: 165 mm
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km
Service plan: 2 years/30 000 km; at 15 000 km intervals

To read our launch report and more tecnical detail, click here



What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

My reviews and launch reports appear on Thursdays in the Wheels supplement to The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles each month, most months of the year (except over the festive season) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.



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