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-   -   Urban Titanium Honda Brio V-AT (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/128504-urban-titanium-honda-brio-v-3.html)

Not sure how I missed this thread.
Congratulations Dr. Sanjay.

Brio is the best packaged small car available in India at the moment. I am glad that your long wait for an AT was worth all the way.

Please share your experience in the FE department as you clock more miles.

Report of the Night Breaker Pluses. Yesterday I got a chance to drive after sunset under both no fog and dense fog conditions. They are significantly brighter, and the marginally bluer light does not create any issues when driving in fog.

Following an altercation with a stray dog I have had a fresh front bumper assembly, and a new condenser (the older one developed a leak). The fog garnish is still awaited. Honda were closed till the end of last week, so the earliest I can expect it is at the end of the week, or early next week.

Let the job be complete, only then will I post the low down. Even though the impact was at about 40-50kph the dog did one flip and nonchalantly walked off.

Sir I had a similar incident n Honda *** kept my car for over two weeks for want of spares

Honda G-CON : Mutual Safety for occupants and pedestrians alike :-)
*** bills n troubles not withstanding.

@adityasiera and @spinfreak; They had the bumper in stock, so I asked them to paint it for me, took the car in after lunch the following day, and got the bumper and condenser fixed. They put in a cloth patch on the missing fog. Looks like Moshe Dayan! They also put the order in for the garnish (if daughter parts are not sold separately here - likely, then the fog will also come with it). Honda were closed for the Xmas break and should be opening today. With any luck the parts may come in by this weekend or early next week. So it should be another couple of hours. They did not do the rubbing on the bumper so that the paint can harden fully. So that will also be done at that time.

Nice to catch up across your crisp writeup on the latest acquisition which seems to be a no brainer in the auto hatch space as of now. However with the Ritz Auto on the block, it may just pep up this space.

Any comment on the ride and handling on bad patches and updates on the latest visit to the garage. Happy driving!

I am absolutely enjoying reading this thread, more for the fact that I see a thorough dissection of all the experiences, pre- and post sales. I recently booked a V-AT in Bangalore (about a month ago to this day). I haven't heard from them since. Not that I am worried since I was told it may be a month or two before I can take delivery the car.
Professor, I have a couple of questions that I have been wanting to ask (I feel this thread might be appropriate):
1. While taking a test-drive on the Brio AT, I noticed that the steering was very light and small turns of the steering wheel moves the car appreciably. Is this normal for all Indian Hondas? I used to drive a US spec civic & fit which seemed to have excellent steering feel, felt a bit more tighter than the Indian Brio.
2. On bumpy roads, is the Brio's rear suspension forgiving or harsh at speeds above 50 kmph?

Would love to hear from you and other Brio AT owners on the above.

@goingelectric; The Brio power assist is far more than in my Civic - I happen to have both. Also, it is possible the tyres were overinflated in the test vehicle. The heavier level of Assist is set up for town use and female drivers. However, the response is not vague despite it being an EPS. I do find my Civic a bit heavy for all of five minutes when I switch.

The suspension is adequate at 60+ kph. However, mine is almost purely for town running, so I may not be the best person to comment.

I own the Brio -MT hence thought I'll pitch in. Prof, hope you don't mind.

Brio steering is definitely lighter than both the Civic and City, however it isn't vague. The car will go where you intend it to go. This is very helpful in city traffic.

I found the suspension (especially the rear) to be soft. It comfortable as long as you stick to 70-80kmph speeds. Any higher the suspension does not weigh up well and any undulation greats transmitted very easy. A tyre upgrade can solve this to some extent.

Haven't driven on highways yet so cannot comment.

@sgiitk - Thank you, professor. My wife having driven an A-star (MT and much 'stiffer' PS) all her life was shocked to experience the Brio's EPS and it took her 2 kilometers to really come to grips with the amount of steering assistance the Brio's EPS was providing.
@arup.misra - Thank you, Arup. Good to know that the Brio's steering is literally point & shoot. By the way, love your signature line.

Another couple of questions (pardon my curiosity):
1. Since the Brio has EPS, can the percentage of assist be modulated at the service center for a more personalized feel (preset options, perhaps!) or does it come standard from the factory with no option to change the percentage of modulation?
2. Arup mentioned he drives the Brio MT and I read in the Brio blurb that there is a 40 kg penalty for the V-AT, any feedback on the ride quality between MT & AT or am I taking the rear ride quality thing a bit too far? (It so happens that I reside in a place where potholes and speed bumps make up a large fraction of the approach road to my apartment)

Ok, that's funny since the OHC Automatic I have that's not the case. I shifted from D4 to D3 without pressing the button (never tried D3 to 2 but I think it should work). I just cannot go from N to R like you said but from R to N and to D4 it does not require the shift button (oh, and P to R as well)

Don't think that is possible. This would mean altering the ECU which I doubt HASS would entertain.

If you drive at reasonably slow speed over the potholes, it will not pose much of problem. Speed bumps dont really pose much a problem, the clearance is higher than City or Civic. The short wheel-base really helps. I've been over a couple of monsters and it didn't scrape. Best would be to take a TD over the same approach road to get a real feel of it.

Congrats sgiitk sir. I do not know how I missed this thread.

How did you find the ride comfort to be? I found it to be very stiff in the TD car, driving over potholes and small speed breakers was a painful experience.

Having owned and driven a Santro AT as well as having a Civic I will say that the Brio is Typical Honda. Positive and sharp. Yes the ride comfort is marginally different from the Santro - stiffer, but no real pain even on Kanpur roads. Did you byany chance have a new car for TD then it is likely that the tyres may be at a high pressure - I found my new car at 40-44 psi and had the same feeling, painful over speed bumps, too soft steering, etc. But reducing to 29/26psi (or rather +2 psi on that) cured the problems.

Sir, its a standard practice in all Automatics to press the Brake and then shift from N to D & visa versa, or N to R & visa versa. I want to know whether, Brake is pressed only to prevent the car from creeping forward / reverse or does the Brake engage some sort of a clutch inside to remove load from the transmission box during the shift? Another way to ask the same question is that is it safe for the tranny box to shift from N to D without using Brake if the way ahead is absolutely clear. Similarly, is it safe for the tranny box to be shifted from D to N while coasting (say approaching red light 15-20 meters away). I just bought an Altis Automatic and am driving an AT for the first time. Since you have been driving them for years and are an Engineer too, I thought you might be able to answer me satisfactorily.