[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by omatunto

I replaced by 2004 WagonR and I have a Civic for those long distance drives. Though the Brio is for my daily city commuting purpose, I intend to use it for long distances in the future. I will try my best to keep this forum updated on my experience.

Congratulations on your latest acquisition. *thumbs up*

I strongly recommend you go in for some better rubber. The tyres may feel inadequate, especially if you're going to frequent the highway. An up-size of 15" is totally worth it, along with wider 195/55 tyres.

One of the Brio's strong points is its wonderful balance and handling. The short wheelbase, nearly nonexistent overhangs and wide track make it a very fun-to-drive car.

Unfortunately, the tyres don't do justice to it at all, and the car loves to be pushed harder but the tyres give up long before you get anywhere near the limit.

A nice set of 15" with 195 section tyres will set you back by 50k (after swapping them with the stock set)

[rajchetan]

Guys,

Have booked a Energetic Blue VMT as replacement for my Indica V2 DLX for my Mom.

Expected delivery on Akshaya Tritiya. This is the day i brought my Previous car in 2004.

Wanted to know if anyone has experienced the ABS kick in and how strong the feel is, as my mom has never driven a ABS car and would want her to be prepared for it.

Please advice.

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Congratulations on your latest acquisition. *thumbs up*

Hey suhaas307,
Do you own a Brio as well ?

As someone pointed out, there is a dearth of Brio user reviews on this forum. Would you mind giving out a review of your Brio, for the benefit of all of us prospective buyers ?

Thanks !!

[v.anand]

On tyre upsize, I must say I disagree with Suhaas. Its a mere 1.2L engined car with not much pull, 195 section tyres certainly adds to extra load and be a bigger pain to drive in city traffic apart from reduced FE.

I remember my Palio GTX with same size 175/65/R14 tyres. If it was adequate for the famed performance king then, it certainly is to this little Honda. The Goodyears are satisfactory for most needs, it corners decently, grips adquately and when needed, loses grip well too (those incredibly fun hand brake turns ). It may not have the best ride in the business but is fine for a stock tyre when there is no other specific needs.

The sole irritant for me though has been the rattle from the center top of the dashboard and unlike other cars, it feels hollow when pressed. Is it the same with other Brios in this forum? Service center folks certainly feels so with all Brios. I requested them to raise this issue with Honda.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Hey suhaas307,
Do you own a Brio as well ?

As someone pointed out, there is a dearth of Brio user reviews on this forum. Would you mind giving out a review of your Brio, for the benefit of all of us prospective buyers ?

Thanks !!

I'd love to own a Brio. Maybe in a couple of months or a year. You could be rest assured that you'd get a very comprehensive review from me.

Originally Posted by v.anand

On tyre upsize, I must say I disagree with Suhaas. Its a mere 1.2L engined car with not much pull, 195 section tyres certainly adds to extra load and be a bigger pain to drive in city traffic apart from reduced FE.

I remember my Palio GTX with same size 175/65/R14 tyres. If it was adequate for the famed performance king then, it certainly is to this little Honda. The Goodyears are satisfactory for most needs, it corners decently, grips adquately and when needed, loses grip well too (those incredibly fun hand brake turns ). It may not have the best ride in the business but is fine for a stock tyre when there is no other specific needs.

I humbly disagree.

Firstly, it may be a mere 1.2, but it certainly packs a punch. Nearly 90 horses is what it churns out, and that's 10 short of the then Palio 1.6's power-figures. And The Brio is most definitely a much much lighter car than the Palio. So power-to-weight would be similar.

The stock tyres on the Brio don't give it sufficient grip. It may be 'adequate' for city-driving, but I'd never be happy with 'adequate'. Better rubber will allow the Brio to flex its handling abilities. The car will feel more taunt and grippier by a long shot. The Brio has got the right ingredients to make it a hot hatch. Why not give it that extra edge *winks*

And the drop in FE would be very marginal. It might even be countered by the shedding of unsprung weight when you throw in a set of well made alloy-wheels.

[v.anand]

Having driven the Palio extensively and other current drives being Polo 1.6 and Laura TSI, the difference in performance is leaps and bounds. A segment or two lesser, maybe.

Brio may pack 90 ps power but the torque difference is tremendous. I am saying all this by experience, not mere hearsay. Adequate to me is sufficient for most others considering I don't baby the car around generally.

For what it offers, the tyres in Brio is sufficient unlike the other Honda offerings. Truth be told, Brio is far from being a hot hatch performance wise. Its a good one though, no denying that.

[suhaas307]

^^ Here are a few noteworthy points that you might have perhaps missed, while reading the review of the Brio.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

c

The real fun though is on the open road. Simply put, the Brio is more fun to drive than even the Jazz. The engine feels eager to revv & refined, even at high rpms, like any other Honda. With a kerb weight that rivals 100+ BHP Polo 1.6's, the Brio accelerates clean to a 100 kph. The mid range & top end is where this motor feels simply brilliant; performance is good enough to put a huge grin on your face. Out on national highways, the Brio can get thoroughly entertaining to drive. In good hands, it can easily keep up with (and embarrass) some cars from two segments higher. You make rapid progress on the open road, and all that's required to overtake fast moving vehicles is a downshift. One sore spot is that the engine revvs "only" to ~6,600 rpm, where the electronic revv limiter cuts in. The engine is easily capable of going higher up, but Honda's engineers decided otherwise. At 100 kph in 5th gear, the engine is spinning at 3000 rpm.


The gearshift quality is identical to the Jazz with short, light throws. As if to match it, the clutch is short & crisp to use too. NVH is good and nearly at par with the Jazz. Idle is super silent. However, the engine can get fairly vocal at the top end (enthusiasts will appreciate, regular joes may not). GTO commented there is no excessive road or suspension noise like he observed in the Liva. Note that road noise is higher at the back than the front, thanks to the lack of wheel well cladding at the rear (see picture). It must be mentioned that the exhaust note is sweet at high revvs...


...On the other hand, the short wheelbase makes the Brio a fun, chuckable car to drive. The chassis is balanced, and the Brio can be huge fun on twisties. It has a kind of agility that the bigger, heavier hatchbacks will find hard to match. You can literally pick up this car from one corner and throw it into the next, like a go-kart. Of course, there is the typical under steer on the limit, and body roll of mass market hatchbacks too, but the Brio is still a lot of fun. The OEM MRFs on our car gave up way before the car did; an upgrade to superior quality rubber is a must for BHPians. The EPS is very fast & direct too. Unlike the dull units of the i10 / i20, the Brio's power steering offers fair feedback and can keep you involved. But it's no Ford Figo steering. There is some vagueness around the center position at fast speeds too.

I had driven the Brio over a short distance earlier this year and I was very impressed by it. The Palio is certainly the faster car, and there is no disputing that. But the Brio, in the right hands, could embarrass a few Palio 1.6 owners. It's more than just a 'good' car. It's the first proper handler from Honda since the Old Honda City.

Hondas have been terrible handlers. The 2nd Gen City was walloy, and the Civic was just too soft. The Accord has always been a luxo-barge anyway.

Here are some figures:

Fiat Palio 0-100 km/h: 11.9 seconds.

Honda Brio 0-100 km/h in 12.5 seconds.

That's a little over half a second. The 1.2 iVtec mill is very refined too, far more than the 1.6 in the Palio. The Palio does have the better 'box though. That said, the Brio's unit isn't far behind. It does feel notchy and doesn't slot in gear comfortably, especially from 1st to 2nd.

[reignofchaos]

The rattle in the dashboard is there in my car too. No other rattles thankfully - but this one is damn irritating. I reported the same to honda and they fixed it on first service. However it was back again after 7 days. It keeps coming randomly and then mysteriously disappears after sometime.

I'm surprised about the gear shift issues cos I've seen none of it. Maybe one off for your car v.anand? However I do agree the brio is no hot hatch - but performance is definitely adequate for city roads.

The upsize to 195 helps incredibly in the car's stability - for me it also reduced body roll thanks to harder sidewalls of a semi sports tyre. Also the super light steering gains a bit more feedback - especially useful if you like taking bends at speed.

[rajchetan]

Originally Posted by v.anand

For what it offers, the tyres in Brio is sufficient unlike the other Honda offerings. Truth be told, Brio is far from being a hot hatch performance wise. Its a good one though, no denying that.

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

I'm surprised about the gear shift issues cos I've seen none of it. Maybe one off for your car v.anand? However I do agree the brio is no hot hatch - but performance is definitely adequate for city roads.

Guys, i have booked a Brio, wanted to know if you have experienced the ABS kick in and is it to pronounced.

Regarding the tyres, i feels its sufficient for city travels, while for Highways not sure Brio is the right choice. For me its more of a city car.

Anand, not sure what rattles are you talking about, is it because of some additional fittings done or can you point out where the rattles come.

thanks

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by rajchetan

Guys, i have booked a Brio, wanted to know if you have experienced the ABS kick in and is it to pronounced.

Regarding the tyres, i feels its sufficient for city travels, while for Highways not sure Brio is the right choice. For me its more of a city car.

Anand, not sure what rattles are you talking about, is it because of some additional fittings done or can you point out where the rattles come.

thanks

ABS kicking in is very gentle and it doesn't intrude too much. Yes it is primarily a city car but its not bad at all on the highway. I've done a couple of trips and had no fatigue in either.

The rattle is right behind the instrument cluster under the dashboard. Not sure what is rattles but when it comes, its pretty irritating.

[rajchetan]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

The rattle is right behind the instrument cluster under the dashboard. Not sure what is rattles but when it comes, its pretty irritating.

This is the offer in Bangalore for Brio VMT.

Ex Show Room Price: 5,42,000.
Comprehensive Insurance:15777.
Road Tax & handling charges: 87,619.
Essential Kit: 3,000.rd &
4yrs Ext Warranty & 4yrs RSA: 8,900.
On road cost: 6,57,296

Is there anything i must add on to this?

[sgiitk]

@rajchetan; Please check the extended warranty terms. You may not want it, esp. if it is one of those covering only the drive train.

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by rajchetan

This is the offer in Bangalore for Brio VMT.

Ex Show Room Price: 5,42,000.
Comprehensive Insurance:15777.
Road Tax & handling charges: 87,619.
Essential Kit: 3,000.rd &
4yrs Ext Warranty & 4yrs RSA: 8,900.
On road cost: 6,57,296

Is there anything i must add on to this?

Ouch! I paid 626 for the same in december :(. Looks like the excise duty hike is showing up now.

Just get extended warranty. Don't bother with RSA.

[rajchetan]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Ouch! I paid 626 for the same in december :(. Looks like the excise duty hike is showing up now.

Just get extended warranty. Don't bother with RSA.

Yes the Excise Duty showing up.

Can you confirm what the Extended Warranty covers. I might also opt out of RSA.

[harryskt]

Great review Angshuman and GTO. Very detailed and unbiased.

I am thinking of buying this car, in the coming weeks. I was considering Swift and Brio, but after reading couple of reviews on this forum, I am sure that what I want is a Honda, in the form of this beautifully engineered Brio.

I will be test driving it this weekend, and so will share my thoughts too, soon.