The all-new Honda Brio was just launched last month and it wasn’t long before the guys at Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI) let us get behind the wheel of their new car. We were to drive Honda’s all-new little car from BGC to La Union, up to Baguio and then back down to Clark. Participants for this rare opportunity gathered for breakfast in BGC, and after which were divided into teams of three and assigned one of six Honda Brios. Three of which were the 1.2 V CVT, while the other three were the 1.2 RS Black Top CVT variant. We loaded our luggage (good for three days) into the back, where there’s 258 liters of cargo space with the seats up. The first thing we noticed was the amount of space in the second row. Even with the driver and front passenger seats moved back to a comfortable distance and recline, there was still a lot of leg room for the second row.  As the saying goes; small outside, spacious inside. This is due to its 60 mm longer wheelbase over the previous generation. Once we hit the road, the convoy of Brios got a fair bit of attention due to their new, sporty, and wider look up front. This includes a honeycomb front grille and multi-reflector halogen headlights with LED parking light guides. The rear is also a new design with a proper hatch this time and not a hinged glass panel found in the last generation. This gives the driver better rear visibility and improved body rigidity. The star of the drive was the RS variant which has sporty appointments, making it look more aggressive with its RS Design trim: gloss black front grille, 15-inch alloy wheels, side sill garnish, rear bumper garnish, and tailgate spoiler. The drive from BGC to Aureo Resort in San Fernando, La Union was about 290-km which let us experience the all-new Brio’s powerplant. It's a new 1.2-liter four-cylinder SOHC i-VTEC engine which puts out 90-Ps at 6,000 rpm with 110-Nm of torque at 4,800 rpm, mated to a Honda’s Earth Dreams Technology - Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). It puts out enough power to keep up with the Civic RS’s that were leading our convoy on the long stretches of NLEX, SCTEX and TPLEX. The sweeping country roads were a breeze for the Brio. We took turns behind the wheel, enjoying the power, interior space, and comfort this little car had to offer, till we got to our first stop, Aureo Resort in San Fernando La Union. Here, we would spend our first night. Day two would see us heading up to Baguio via Naguillian road: a quick 66-km drive. The load was still the same, with three of us and our luggage. This showed off the torque the small 1.2-liter engine had to offer. On paper, 110-Nm may seem paltry, but on the climb to Baguio, the little four-cylinder shined, along side the CVT which eagerly “upshifted” when pulling power was needed. There’s quite a bit of grunt and you’ll definitely hear it exert itself, but it never ran out of breath on long upward stretches. The car got us to the Ben Cab Museum as fast as the lead Civic could muster the convoy. After lunch, it was time to head down via Asin road to Marcos Highway and back on to TPLEX and SCTEX, a roughly 170-km drive to Clark. This route would show us the braking and handling characteristics of the all-new Brio. The winding downhill roads we took at reasonable speed proved to be easy to negotiate. It served as a testament to how much more rigid this new chassis is and how well set up the suspension was. The shock absorbers never once bottomed out, even on sudden dips and uneven road patches. Once we got back on TPLEX and SCTEX, we were back to cruising mode and it wasn’t long before we had reached our end destination, the Marriott in Clark. All in all, I don’t think the all-new Brio knows it’s a little car.  It did just about everything a bigger car can do, maybe some things even better. It was economical, easy to park, and fun to chuck around. It ate up the roads as quick as we could turn onto them just as you’d expect any VTEC would. It's a surprising little city run-about that can run up to La Union and Baguio and back with the big boys. The 1.2 V CVT is priced at P646K and the 1.2 RS Black Top Navi CVT is priced at P732K. These are introductory prices until June 30, 2019, making it cheaper than the other 1.2L three-cylinder options in its segment.  Maybe now is the time to get a Honda. Text and Photos by Neil Pagulayan