Honda Brio : Test Drive & Review

[Caramba]

Thank you great review. I really wish they had chosen to launch the auto box. With such limited choices it really leaves you wondering why Honda chose to ignore this segment.

The quality and fit from the photos (great ones, by the way!) looks fantastic. On the rear-end, would just refer to it as back-side.....so much glass, cost cutting? Not that there seems to be any complaint as compared to say the Liva.

[KPS]

Great job Anshuman, 5 stars. It is amazing that Vizag was chosen by Honda for the test drive.

The car will surely be a very popular option for lady drivers considering its size and city drive ability. Honda dealers will need to come of their high horse if they need to get volumes from this car.

This is a great second car for the home

Cheers

KPS

[mayankjha1806]

Excellent review, finally we have a cheaper Honda which does not look as cheap as the Toyota. Honda has done good here although the pricing will be the final decider how this car does in India.

[anachronix]

Great job Anshuman. I am happy that Honda built a good quality product rather than going the Toyota way of building recycled tin can craps.

I am sure this is going to give the i10 a tough time and may be eat away a bit into the MSIL portfolio too.

[salunkhe.vizz]

Really good review. I was wondering when we will see this beauty in flesh, and in comes the team-bhp official review.

The most attractive aspect for me in this car is the rear end (I know thats a negative factor for most), I just love how it is so different then all other hatches in the market. The long glass and higher bumper makes it looks like a hatch 10 years ahead of time, I have been drooling over it since the early pictures that started coming in on the world wide web. Being a Ritz owner and rear end lover, I hope you can relate to my choice of design.

Everything else looks strictly ok, including the interiors and exteriors. Lets see how Honda prices it in Mumbai, and then I will decide if I need a fresh car

[SkyWalker]

Anushuman - good review. thanks. Brio looks very nice in Red!

Originally Posted by GTO

You don’t need to spend big money to have fun, and the Brio proves it. Immensely pleasurable to drive (more than the Jazz!!!) on the open road, & in the city as well. Simply love fast cars, and the Brio is amongst the quickest from its segment.

Originally Posted by GTO

Overall, it's very (read = VERY) close between the Brio, i10 & Swift in terms of an overall package. To me, these three outclass every other petrol hatchback from the segment.

Thats all we at T-BHP needs to hear . A little Honda that can match i10 and Swift. Sweet! If I were in the market for a car of this size, i would pick this one over i10 and Swift.

[Wall-e]

ahha finally ,the much awaited review is out.great review guys.Most unbiased and straight to the point review.If pricing is correct Honda sure has a big winner in his hand.

Under the negatives there is a point mentioning "Rear seat-back too short",Is there any info like how short it is by means of any photo,like a person sitting in the rear?

Having Booked a Jazz,this feels like a more tempting offer.

[condor]

Anshuman, excellent review there, and you have pretty much covered it all. Overall I feel this is going to be an excellent city car, the only things that limit it's suitability for the highway is the lack of boot space & the ride quality on bad roads.

The rear wash/wipe is a necessity for any kind of roads, not just here. Any hatch or SUV needs one, no matter where it is used. Stuff like this & the rear de-fogger must be made defacto standards rather than be offered on higher end variants only. I have often seen the advantages of these features, and Honda is not the only one who is not providing these features as standard.

Unlike what you have said, I dont think that the lack of cladding in the rear wheel well will cause so much of noise to seep in, does it ?

Honda has taken it's time to drive in into this segment, but looks like they are going to have almost everyone feel the heat. Esp Maruti & Tata.

[deetjohn]

Brilliant review .anshuman. Thanks.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

The CVT Automatic transmission is not going to be offered in India. Period.

Bad Honda.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Shockingly, the glass hatch gets no defogger, leave alone a wash & wipe.

Bad Honda. The Brio will need a wash & wipe very badly due to the very short rear overhang and low slung design.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Between the recirculate <-> fresh air slider is a light that illuminates the front cup holder area:

Very Nice. I like the attention to detail. Both from Honda and the TBHP review.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Of course, we leave final judgement to our Bangalore members who somehow end up with the largest speed humps in the country!

Overall, Just Wow! What a car at that price. Superb show Honda. I am still wondering how Honda could pull this off at this price point. The Brio is a quality product, inside out.

Toyota, see and learn. This is how cars can be made beautifully on a budget. This is 'Q class' at a very competitive price. Not that pathetic excuse for a car, the Liva. It ought to be destroyed TG style.

I for one am glad that Honda doesn't have access to Diesel power in our country. Thus, Honda is hell bent on making their very competitive petrols loved by Indians. I like it. The heavyweights WagonR & i10 be worried. Now, the only hindrance to Honda' market share is their capacity. I think Honda will find it very hard to make enough Brios.

I have posted this before in the Jazz price correction thread, I will say it again. "The bitter pill that Honda took to fix the City is working, and working still." I love it. Thank You Honda!

[C300]

Great review Anshuman. Good to see Honda starting with 80% localisation to reduce the cost. They have learnt their lesson hard way.

My only concern is the compact dimensions of this hatch. Honda being the master of space management have done well in keeping legroom adequate (by sacrificing the boot space I must add). Overall its very compact hatch and that’s a big negative in our market where bigger is usually considered better, especially if you are paying 5L rupees.

On the positive side the top notch interior fit and finish, fun to drive motor and Honda reliability should lure enough customers.

[moralfibre]

Its raining reviews on Team-bhp. Great work Anshuman and GTO. Are the prices for the Brio declared yet?

[uday.ere]

Excellent Review .Anshuman & GTO.

This is the kind of review that has made us wait for 'our own' reviews rather than depending on the plethora of wannabe car reviewers out there. As usual you have dissected the car thread-bare and given us a life like walk-thru. Thanks.

It indeed is a shame that there wont be a CVT option, it would have been a wonderful 2nd car to double up as a city runabout. sigh

Honda has done a good job in making this a more handy handler in the city especially at lower revvs too - a common 'complaint' on the Jazz.

The low turning radius (lower than the oft advertised Micra) and better GC should be a boon to city slickers, but it remains to be seen how the Brio counters the so called speed breakers here in Bangalore.

As always, pricing on the Honda will be a talking point, hope they will retain their recently 'found' senses in pricing this one.

All in all a very strong contender for the ICOTY this year.

Cheers,
Uday

[srinath34]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Plumbing for the air feed (intake) is hooked up to the underside of the bonnet:

Is the paint job under the bonnet like this only for the test model or for production unit as well? Looks unfinished.

Will be a sore point if its carried over to production.

[Skyline GT-R]

The rear looks awkward, but hope it clicks in the market.

For Honda this is the only chance to bounce back in the foreseeable future.

[Sheel]

Thanks for the review and super pictures Team

From the review I seem to like this Car, we are about to go for a 2nd hatch-back in our family and this could be a contender save for the fact that Honda pulled the plug on the dealer near-by (Sunshine Honda, Siliguri)

Toyota Liva had too much road noise filtering in and revs over 2,500 in 5th, good to see that despite on OE tires, Brio has less.

As others mention, the omission of rear wash wipe and defogger is not a very good idea and last I heard that CMVR insists on rear wash-wipe and that the new Bolero too would feature the rear wash wipe because of this.

And yes, the exposed metal part in the cup holder section is hideous, but this is where the rant ends. Its a darn good City Car minus the Jazz

Honda, time for a auto 'box.

Seems it is about to upset the A-Star as my favorite city run-about, the K is a joy to rev over 5,000 revs.