Honda's two most recent launches, the City and the Brio may easily be just regarded as city cars, yet a recent drive shows they’re more than just that. We took them on a long drive and even to the race track to test out their abilities.
The invitation came from Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) to take their new City and new Brio for a drive out to Batangas. Besides the new looks, both models have significant updates. The most notable being the Honda SENSING now available on all the variants of the new City.
We left BGC just as the morning rush was about to ease up, but we know it’s really never that easy here in the Philippines. The new City’s dimensions made it easy to maneuver in traffic and tight spots. The RS variant we drove is the top-of-the-line variant with a new grille with the RS badge up front, new front and rear bumpers with carbon wrapped lower moldings make this a lot sharper-looking on the road.
My two car mates and I had more than enough comfortable interior space for the three of us and lots of leg room for the back seat occupant. We could have easily fit five people. Our entertainment was courtesy of the new eight-inch Advanced Touchscreen Display Audio with an improved LCD screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Powered by the same efficient 1.5L DOHC i-VTEC which puts out 121-Ps and 145-Nm of torque mated to a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), this combination made for enough power to keep the drive fun, allowing for spirited driving and efficiency which would have allowed us to drive much further than Batangas.
On expressway, we tried out the new City’s latest added feature, Honda SENSING which is available across all variants. It also had Lead Car Departure Notification System (LCDN), Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS), Road Departure Mitigation System with Lane Departure Warning (RDM with LDW), Auto-High Beam (AHB) and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) which we found to be ideal on road trips with long stretches of highway.
When we got to our first stop, Batangas Racing Circuit, we had some fun challenges ahead of us involving driving the new City on the racetrack. The new City’s safety features were put to the test, namely the Vehicle Stability Assist, which shows how the vehicle applies braking to individual wheels to maintain traction and keep the driver from losing control.
The first test was driving one side of the City’s wheels over a slippery, soapy strip to make the wheels on one side lose grip and spin. The vehicle detects this spin and applies braking to the individual wheels that are slipping, allowing traction to be regained. After that, we did the “moose test”, a maneuver where you avoid an imaginary animal on the road at speed and steer away from it and back to your lane. This is designed to show how well the new City’s Vehicle Stability Assist feature works in real world driving situations.
We also got the opportunity to put the new Brio through its paces on the race track with a short gymkhana course, taking advantage of its agility, where we had fun besting each other’s lap times on a course marked out with cones. It’s still powered by the same 1.2-liter four-cylinder SOHC i-VTEC engine, putting out 90-Ps with 110-Nm of torque, mated to a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). The new Brio has also been updated with an RS variant. It gets a new Piano Black RS front grille, new LED Headlights, LED Fog Lights, LED DRL’s and new fog light garnish. It also sports new 15-inch RS Design alloy wheels. The entertainment system is also new with a seven-inch touchscreen display, Bluetooth, USB, AM/FM, Android Smartphone Mirroring and now with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
After everyone had their turn behind the wheels of both the new City and Brio on the track, we headed to Palm Beach Resort in Laiya where we would end the day.
The addition of Honda SENSING to all of the new City’s variants make the active safety technologies available to more people. With these features keeping an extra eye out for you, it's a big help, even for experienced drivers like ourselves. You can never be too safe. This is a big step for Honda accomplishing their goal of “Safety for Everyone.”
The new Brio performed as well as expected on the road, with great handling and acceleration off the line made for a fun day on the track. Honda found ways to make the already good small car better with the updated exterior and entertainment system with the addition of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There are also new colors for you to choose from.
“These models are among our best-sellers and we really want to showcase their performance and features designed for world-class quality and safety, crafted to deliver exceptional value throughout ownership including very efficient fuel consumption so that Honda can give more joy to more customers.” said HCPI President, Ms. Rie Miyake, during the driving exercises.
Both of the new offerings are worthy successors to the previous iterations, and if you’ve been holding off on taking a closer look, the new features are a good reason to consider them.