[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

Now, that's something I'd have never expected to read in my life but kudos to Tata for beating the Honda product fair and square at a lesser price point.

The dashboard was critically abused when the Brio was launched for that price point. What Honda did was copy and paste the same in Amaze and Mobilio.

Why couldn't they think of changing the dashboard beats me.

The Zest as a car is miles ahead also it is great to see Tata going on the right path. Hope they focus on their ASC and the standards too.

[ashwin489]

Call me weird, but the problem with Brio is certainly not its dashboard. Its the puny, non-turbo 1.2L engine and pricing/positioning.

I find Brio's functional and clutter-free dashboard refreshing, quirky and practical for everyday use.

[petrolhead_neel]

Originally Posted by ashwin489

Call me weird, but the problem with Brio is certainly not its dashboard. Its the puny, non-turbo 1.2L engine and pricing/positioning.

I find Brio's functional and clutter-free dashboard refreshing, quirky and practical for everyday use.

I agree with you on the pricing point. But the Brio is a reasonably good car to drive. It has a rev happy engine which is a great performer. Do you want Honda to bring a 1.2 TSI like turbo petrol at this price point?

[Doge]

Originally Posted by GTO

I just hope it isn't the buggy system we saw in the pre-launch Mobilios

Even the previous gen City's caska unit was horribly buggy. Almost all of the AVN city's at the SVC have problems with it.

Originally Posted by one-77

Still no ACC or rear wash and wipe.

They've just hiked the Brio prices by 50,000 with the addition of these features.

These were the old prices (Delhi):
Brio VX MT : Rs. 551,500
Brio VX AT : Rs. 630,900

The market already perceives the Brio as overpriced, and Honda reacts by hiking the prices further. I think Honda is back to their high and mighty days.

I feel that the price hike is because of factor inputs too and they are just using the updates to mask it. They are not interested in selling it any ways.

[invidious]

It is really frustrating. If I want a small car with the following requirements

1. Dual Airbags
2. Automatic Gearbox
3. Bluetooth Integration for Calling

Guess how many cars make the cut?
Earlier, just one - the Nissan Micra and now the shoddy integration of the HU in the Brio.

I love the Grand i10 but it doesn't offer Airbags in its Auto Variant. Go figure!

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by invidious

It is really frustrating. If I want a small car with the following requirements

1. Dual Airbags
2. Automatic Gearbox
3. Bluetooth Integration for Calling

Guess how many cars make the cut?

Get yourself the Polo GT TSI. This car satisfies the Point 1 & 2. For Point 3 change the HU so that it can facilitate Bluetooth connectivity.

IMO, this is the best small car with AT unit!

[deetjohn]

The Brio interiors in the all black theme looks much much better. Earlier, they had a mid variant (S MT?) with all black interior trim, but I think that's discontinued now.

Originally Posted by invidious

I love the Grand i10 but it doesn't offer Airbags in its Auto Variant. Go figure!

Is there no Asta Option variant with auto box in Grand?

And Bluetooth Hands Free Kit for telephony is part of the standard accessories pack for some manufacturers. MSIL Bluetooth Hands Free Kit

Check with Honda. You might get lucky. The Brio AT with all black interiors will be a no nonsense city car.

[Kratos453]

Originally Posted by ashwin489

Call me weird, but the problem with Brio is certainly not its dashboard. Its the puny, non-turbo 1.2L engine and pricing/positioning.

I find Brio's functional and clutter-free dashboard refreshing, quirky and practical for everyday use.

I think you are confused. The power to weight ratio is better than it's competition unless you want a Polo GT TSI sort of performance. Please observe the comparison below:

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Kratos453

I think you are confused. The power to weight ratio is better than it's competition unless you want a Polo GT TSI sort of performance. Please observe the comparison below:

The problem is the torque and the rpms at which the peak torque is delivered. The motor is powerful and rewarding for the enthusiast, because of the peaky top end. But, for the common man who prefers to shift before the 2500 rpm mark- there is nothing on offer. This makes the small Honda VTec petrols a pain to drive in the city. Infact- even the 1.8 Civic had the same problem.

Driving the Brio MT and AT back to back- the Torque converter feels much better inside the city thanks to all the added torque.

[Gannu_1]

/OT

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Get yourself the Polo GT TSI. This car satisfies the Point 1 & 2. For Point 3 change the HU so that it can facilitate Bluetooth connectivity.

No need to change the stock HU from the GT TSI. The HU supports BT integration and calling facility.

[searacer932]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

The problem is the torque and the rpms at which the peak torque is delivered. The motor is powerful and rewarding for the enthusiast, because of the peaky top end. But, for the common man who prefers to shift before the 2500 rpm mark- there is nothing on offer. This makes the small Honda VTec petrols a pain to drive in the city. Infact- even the 1.8 Civic had the same problem.

Driving the Brio MT and AT back to back- the Torque converter feels much better inside the city thanks to all the added torque.

Well, not sure how you came to that conclusion. May be the AT was even better than MT but certainly there are no issues in driving the Brio in the City. The Swift's 1.2K series is even worse than the Brio on this parameter. Absolutely no joy to ride it in the congested traffic conditions. I drove Swift 1.2K and Brio's 1.2 iVtec back to back in the congested roads of T.Nagar. There was absolutely no power in the low end RPM of the Swift and the Brio was much better. In fact the Jazz had this problem but it has been improved upon in the Brio.

Comments from the official review on this.

Maruti's 1.2L K-series has always been considered a jewel. With variable valve tech on the intake (Maruti says this was necessary to improve fuel efficiency), the power output has been bumped up to 86 BHP (@ 6,000 rpm) and 114 Nm of torque (@ 4,000 rpm). That's 2 BHP more than in the older Swift, and about the same torque made at 500 rpm less. Should make the motor even better, right? Wrong. Maruti insists that the engine has been tuned for fuel-efficiency, and the tamer nature is immediately evident at the bottom end. The engine feels weaker at lower rpms, where the older car felt distinctly sprightlier. The low rpm behaviour of the engine is completely different from what the specs sheet would have you believe. And yes, you will need to downshift more often than in the Ritz / outgoing Swift, or a car like the i10 Kappa2. On the positive side, the engine remains very revv-happy & refined throughout the rpm range. The feel above 4,000 rpm is just awesome. Plus, the engine & exhaust note at high rpm sound great. The 1.2L revvs clean right up to its 6,400 rpm redline, and feels at home on the limit. Still, due to the detuned nature, don't expect the outright pace of the older Swift 1.2. Other petrol hatchbacks like the Brio / i10 Kappa2 will leave you in the dust in a drag

Thanks to a kerb weight that's 135 kilos lesser than the Jazz, the Brio's power to weight ratio is superior. This is obvious as soon as you start driving. Pulling away from a standstill, the motor appears to have more pep; even the gearing feels shorter than the Jazz. I expected the Jazz' weak bottom end response but was in for a pleasant surprise. The Brio is far easier to live with at low rpms, and within the city. Make no mistake, this is no Santro 1.1L engine, but neither will Brio owners complain of poor torque. Bring the car to a near crawl, and you can manage to get away in 2nd gear itself. No downshift to 1st or clutch slipping, required. The Brio will feel completely at home crawling in rush-hour traffic.

[sgiitk]

My son's City AVN (MkIII) used Caska with MMI multifunction unit. This does not seem to have Caska involved (different colour) but I hope they have fixed the MMI Navigator which has a tendency to hang. Then you have to switch the ignition off and on again.

[Kratos453]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

The problem is the torque and the rpms at which the peak torque is delivered. The motor is powerful and rewarding for the enthusiast, because of the peaky top end. But, for the common man who prefers to shift before the 2500 rpm mark- there is nothing on offer. This makes the small Honda VTec petrols a pain to drive in the city. Infact- even the 1.8 Civic had the same problem.

Driving the Brio MT and AT back to back- the Torque converter feels much better inside the city thanks to all the added torque.

I totally agree and well said. It is the same with honda amaze as well. It is not fun to drive at lower rpm(s) but when accelerated hard you can feel the surge of torque.

[ashwin489]

Originally Posted by Kratos453

I think you are confused. The power to weight ratio is better than it's competition unless you want a Polo GT TSI sort of performance. Please observe the comparison below:

Actually, I am not confused. What I was merely stating is that the Brio's interiors, exteriors, etc. is perfectly acceptable to me, when compared to its non-grin-inducing performance which is the primary sore point for me. So, yeah, I want something better than a Polo TSi in a small form factor.

I wasn't comparing the Brio AT to any of its competition. What I mean is, I am baffled by the fact that people are perfectly okay with 1.2L engines in general, but complain about menial things like seat colour and dashboard design. I fully understand that different people have different priorities, and that's perfectly alright. Peace!

[DieselAddikt]

@ashwin489

In India, we cannot expect a small hatch back to come with a 3.5L turbo engine. All we are going to get are puny .8L, 1L and 1.2L engines; and it makes sense too. We do not have the infrastructure to run high performance cars everyday. So all we can ask the manufacturers is to improve the interiors and provide more features (both safety as well as luxury) and that is exactly what people here are doing. There is nothing to be baffled about. The 1.2L engine in Brio is perfectly fine except for a bad low end torque. Come back to reality is all I can say !