9th August 2015, 14:45
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| Senior - BHPian  | Mrs. Frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! Hi Everyone! While most of you will be drooling over this thread... I deem it necessary to post this thread as well! Both cars arrived within 10 days of each other, and it's amazing how different they both are in character, despite both of them being widely generalised as 1.2 litre hatchbacks! A slight background of the ensuing events that made me get this car.. 1. My wife and me both are Dentists. She's an Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon and I am a Paediatric Dentist. 2. We have a clinic at Peddar Road, but we also commute to D.Y. Patil School of Dentistry, Nerul, Navi Mumbai as we both teach there. 3. There are 4 days in a week where my wife has to travel for her consultations, and I have to go the clinic, or vice versa. We need separate cars for the same. 4. Our Cruze was sold in the last week of June, and we had only one car in the house (Estilo) for Dad, Mom, My wife and me. Things began to get a little impractical, as I was waiting for the new Jazz to launch, to fill the place vacated by the Cruze. I had pre-booked the Honda Jazz V CVT in June itself, but it looked like delivery of the car would be in August. Suddenly, Dad sprung a surprise on us, and decided to gift my wife a new car (which would also serve as the primary car for the interim period) while I could have the luxury of waiting for the Jazz till whenever it was ready for delivery. The decision to buy a new car was taken on Thursday, and the condition was that the car should be delivered immediately. I knew that it had to be a small car, since the car was a gift and I didn't want Dad to bear the brunt of the expenses towards a bigger car (we didn't need one anyway) hence, I set a mental budget of Rs. 5 lakhs as my target. Procrastination Time: Now 5 lakh rupees seems a small amount these days, but a major variety of cars are available within this budget in India (a known fact) so choosing a car became quite a chore. This is where I decided to get my priorities right. 1. It had to be a Petrol/CNG fuelled car (diesel below 5 lakhs meant Indica Vista TDI-- Past it's prime or Celerio DDiS--- HORRID car) 2. Would have preferred ABS and Airbags since my wife was going to drive it on highways too. (which meant only The Celerio ZXi -- which also meant crossing the allocated budget by a large margin. Hence decided to skip the safety features  )3. Smooth, nimble, reliable and cheap to maintain Now, with these priorities, I still ended up with at least 10-12 options, and for me, selection was still difficult. Suddenly, I received a request from the wife, "It HAS to be feel stable and planted on the highway, and not like it's going to be blown off the road by any car that passes it at speed!" That's it, I thought. Marutis are out, then. Because nothing below a Swift (out of our budget) feels planted. I did test-drive the Ritz Lxi and loved the car, but within 2 days of driving it, I read a scoop on the Internet which said the Ritz is about to be discontinued. I sure as hell didn't want to take delivery of the car after it's sojourn was over so decided to skip it! Disclaimer: I don't have anything against Hyundai, Tata, Nissan, Toyota, Chevrolet or Ford, as everyone had a good small car within my budget, but I do have one confession to make. I have ALWAYS had a soft corner for Honda cars. Decision Time: Which left us with ONLY one option. The Honda Brio. I love that car. TO BITS! The day it was launched. I just fell in love with it. What a recipe for a small car, I thought! It's small enough to be called cute by the women (mom, sister and wife ADORE the car), spacious enough to appeal to the businessman in Dad, powerful enough to bring a smile to my face and a very neat handler, nimble in traffic and quite stable at speeds. In fact, it met ALL my requirements to the "T!" The Honda Brio 'E' MT fell right into my budget, this time, and I thought to myself, "WHY NOT?" That's it. NO more test drives. NO more internet queries. Nothing! Brio, it would be. Or NOTHING. Dealer Selection: Picked up the phone and reality struck. I called Arya Honda, Prabhadevi (who I had pre-booked my Jazz with) and asked them if they had any "E" models in stock. The answer was a big, resounding "NO!" Somehow, I felt a resentment in the dealer's voice, and they tried to push the "S" model to me. Which was a good LAKH of rupees more. Also, it had silly additions like music system and miscellaneous stuff I didn't care about. Yes, if it had ABS and Airbags, I would have laid that extra lakh down. But sadly, it didn't. I called my Nerul dealer, Hallmark Honda and he immediately told me that a June, 2015 car was in transit. I waited with bated breath to receive the next phone call with colour details. I was praying it wasn't red, or blue or even brown. My first choice was Silver and then White and then Black. He called back! It was Alabaster Silver! My eyes lit up. Just imagine, my car was on it's way. No storage! Nothing! I would take delivery without it being sent to the warehouse at all!  . Almost like it was being produced FOR ME! A few words about the Dealer, Hallmark Honda: Now if someone has to learn how to run a dealership, and how to hire a good salesman, this is where you need to take inspiration from! I have bought many Marutis and a Ford from their respective dealerships, and I am yet to experience the service, promptness, follow-up, efficiency and transparency that I experienced with Hallmark Honda, Nerul. They JUST couldn't do anything wrong, those guys! Fantastic delivery experience. Just imagine this, Thursday we made the decision. Friday evening we booked. Monday morning, we paid the full amount by RTGS, Wednesday, the car arrived at the showroom itself, and we took delivery of the car on Saturday!!!!!! This was the fastest purchase we have ever made! The sales rep, Kishore even made sure every phone call of mine was answered with utmost patience! I tend to call my sales rep a lot, in excitement, but this guy was cool as a cucumber. Even negotiations went my way, and I managed an on-road price of Rs. 498,541 on-road with Octroi and all taxes. I received a discount of around 20000 and I consider myself lucky for that, because this car fetches the LOWEST margin for the dealer, and to get a fresh car off the truck added to the deal. In all, highly recommended. Kishore: 91671 98892 Kevin: 96192 43681 Kevin is the Sales Manager, and Kishore is my Sales Rep. Give them my reference for a smooth sale. EDIT on 28th December 2016: Quote:
Last edited by GTO : 28th December 2016 at 17:08. Reason: Adding the full list of mods, as requested | |
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9th August 2015, 23:59
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| Senior - BHPian | re: Mrs. frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! First, let's get rid of some stuff that annoys me! City-Driving: Since this car is more of a city-runabout for quite a few who buy it, I will concentrate on how the car drives in the city, in traffic and slightly open roads. The Honda Brio has a 1.2 litre i-Vtec engine which does duty in the Amaze and the newly launched Jazz. The engine makes 88 bhp @ 6000 rpm and 109 nm of torque at a rather high 4500 rpm. Now, I am not one to mention nos. and harp on them much, but 88 bhp and 109 nm of torque sound good for a 900 kilo car. The catch is that the engine needs to be wound and wrung quite hard to extract maximum performance. While this may seem awesome for the enthusiast in me, city driving in the Brio becomes slightly cumbersome, owing to the poor throttle response in 2nd gear. This has improved as the engine has run itself in, and the car responds to throttle inputs better than what it did in the first few days, but the flat spot in 2nd gear and earlier on in 3rd gear are unnerving, tiring and even frustrating sometimes. It so happens, that you're in traffic, and you ease the car ahead in 1st. Shift to second at 1500 rpm, press the A pedal and............... NOTHING. There is a pronounced flat spot and this becomes annoying in stop-start traffic. THIS IS ONE OF THE PRIMARY REASONS WHY I CANCELLED MY JAZZ BOOKING. I didn't want my 10 lakh rupee car to have the same (or worse, due to the added weight) performance and engine as my 5 lakh rupee car! When Driven Hard: There is also a nagging feature in the car that prevents it from stalling, maybe, where the throttle is blipped electronically (by a small amount) when you take your foot off the Accelerator. While this may seem like a good anti-knock, anti-stall feature, it's irritating when you're trying to drive hard. Rev to 3500 rpm in 1st and depress the clutch to shift to the next gear by taking your foot off the A-Pedal. You may expect revs to fall immediately, but no, 3500 goes up to 3700 and there's an almost rubber-band type RPM rise momentarily. I may be nitpicking but this troubles me a little. Gearbox: Slightly notchy and makes a very unsettling rubbery sound on shifting. I expect it to reduce as the gears bed in. My model is an 'E' model so the knob is made of rubber and sucks. I will not change it, though. Air-Conditioning: I think the cabin takes a longer time to cool than normal. Air-flow in Blower Position 1 is pathetic, and it HAS to be on 2 when there are 2 or more passengers in the car, or else the cabin does feel poorly ventilated. I am not very happy with the efficacy of the cooling, even though the vents seem to throw out chilled air and the vents themselves are designed pretty well. I attribute this to the slightly large glass-area of this car and I wish Honda had provided a more powerful compressor! Side-Mirrors: 'E' model means I get Maruti 800 type of rear-view mirrors in the side. They're annoying, to say the least, and I will change them to the click-open manual mirrors that come in the middle models.  Horn That horn!?! I can open my window and shout louder! This car has GOT TO get a double horn. Somehow, I feel these manufacturers are skimping on double horns to save costs, but customers invariably cannot have a kid's play toy whistle for a horn. You need something loud in India. This doesn't mean I recommend honking all the time, but when you need it, the horn should be a nice, loud resounding honk that gets someone out of the way before he/she/it is run over! Absence of a Slot/Provision for Fog-lights: The 'E' and 'EX' versions of the Brio come with a spartan front bumper that CANNOT accommodate Fog-lights in them. The 'S' version onwards, has a provision to slot a fog light in the front bumper. This is a poor oversight on the part of Honda, and for simple cost-cutting's sake, they could have stuck to one bumper across the range Absence of rear-window demister and wiper: Come on, Honda, what were you thinking?!! This is a safety feature and is very integral, especially in the Brio, with the large glass at the back. NOT DONE, HONDA! This is pure neglect towards Indian customers. The LOWEST model of this car should not come out of the factory without these two basic features. Rear Manual Windows: Rear windows are manually operated, but I don't carry passengers in the rear seat, so I won't complain. Even if there are passengers, the air-conditioning is on, so rear power windows don't make sense for me at all.  Lack of a Tachometer: The 'E' model has one more trade-off. And that's the absence of a tachometer (see blank space in photo where a tacho would usually be.) I know costs have to be cut, and I totally understand that, but the enthusiast in me cringes when I rev the car, and I don't know what the engine RPM is. It's like driving blindly and somehow it feels like there's something missing!  Plain-Jane Interiors: Again, it's a 5 lakh rupee car, and with all the good, hidden stuff that Honda has spent money on (strength of chassis, engine, good brakes etc.) I think the interiors are ok by that yardstick. But remember, the Brio is ALSO a 7.5 lakh rupee car in it's highest trim, and I would surely feel shortchanged with those interiors if I paid such big bucks for it. The decent part is the quality of the plastics, the good feeling that the steering imparts and the stalks that feel decently built. In all, the interiors feel hard-wearing, and built to last.     Black Handles and ORVMS, Steel Wheels: The 'E' model means unpainted mirrors and door handles. And I won't complain, because they go very well with my choice of dark alloy wheels, but with the steel wheels, they look pathetic. Hell, the steel wheels that came with my car initially look HORRID! Have a look at how KNOCK-KNEED and OLD and Horrible my car looked with these basic features when I went for PDI (she was just off the truck at that time)    MRF tires: I wonder why companies still flock to MRF for their tires when they can get a much better tire on their car for a nominal increase in cost!  Hence, the first thing I did after taking delivery was to take my car to the tire showroom and switch over to (slightly) meaty Falken tires and alloys. My car was totally transformed after this and the additional cost of the alloys and tires together was worth it when you compare how she looks in the photos above, and then, how she looks now!        Now, finally, the GOOD STUFF. Luckily, there's a lot to love about the Brio! First, in order of importance! The Drivetrain: I spoke about annoyances in traffic, but a car is not meant to be driven in traffic all the time. It's comfort zone lies on open roads, and boy does she come into her own on open roads. To put it simply, just do some simple math, and the power to weight ratio of this 920 kg car translates to an amazing 97.77 bhp/ton ratio. To put this in simple words, it's FUN! The engine revs to it's redline very easily, and sounds great while at it. In fact, I love the slightly old-school rev of the Honda engine AS much as I love the muted, technical gruff note on my Polo 1.2 GT TSI. OH! The amount of fun that is to be had is abundant. Slot the car into 1st, dump the clutch and the car is off the tracks in an almost non-small car like manner. You need to wring the engine to eke out the performance, and I am definitely not complaining. The car does pick up speeds quite well and I am happy with the way she gets there. Smooth edged, sweet sounding and very entertaining. This little fella will keep you smiling as you accelerate through the gears.   SPACE: The capital letters indicate only one thing. This car has LOADS OF SPACE!!!! For a car of it's size, that is. Just imagine, this car feels SO spacious on the inside, that I am going to prefer this over my Polo when I have 4 passengers. Truth is, even with me being 5 foot 7 inches tall, and my seat pushed back quite a bit, the person at the back still has a few inches of knee-room! It's amazing! Machine Minimum, MAN maximum was Honda's target when they made this car and it's amazing what they have achieved. Hats off to the designers for providing so much legroom, kneeroom and head room. The car is wider than it looks, and seating three abreast over short drives is a no-hassles experience. Boot size is 170-odd litres, and that is plain appalling. But I don't think that's much of a reason to complain. I would have been livid, if they had sacrificed passenger room for a larger boot. Ride quality: Now this is where the car imparts a BIG-CAR feel. Yes, the ride is a little on the stiffer side, and the bumps for filter in, especially in the rear, which feels a little bouncy, but the overall impression is that the chassis is very strong and there is none of that ringing, or vibration when you hit a bump hard. Part of that responsibility rests on the Falken tires that have a good ride quality and decent grip, but high tire noise inside the cabin spoils the party. Hell, even wind noise and road noise creep in, and the cabin needs insulation from those, especially at the rear! Handling: One word: SWEET! She's like a go-kart. Point the steering in that direction, and she'll oblige. The steering itself is very light and devoid of any major feel, but the good part is that it's direct. It does weigh up ok at good speeds, and you can take corners at above-average speeds, but that's all I can say about the electronic power steering. A hydraulic unit would have done a great job in this car, considering it's rigid chassis and well sorted dynamics, but then it would have sapped a little of engine power. A good part is that the steering doesn't vibrate on bad roads. It's a sign of a well-sorted suspension. Brakes: Good feedback, well servoed pedal and great bite. The brakes feel well-modulated and even though they lack ABS in my 'E' model, are quite confidence-inspiring. NVH Levels: Very muted at low revs. ZERO vibes at optimal running temperature and you can only hear the compressor kick in and out when at idle. This is one of the reasons why I didn't want to get a 3 cylinder engine. When new, all engines sound refined, but as they get older, they start making a din. This 4 cylinder mill is sweet, refined and it's difficult to tell that it is on, at times. Headlights: The headlight design is good, but the 55w headlights were poor. So I decided to replace the bulbs. More about it in the modification section. Wipers: I remember reading somewhere in the showroom, that the Brio and Amaze come with 'high-torque' wiper motors, and i thought this was all hogwash, till I actually used them in the rains. Boy, they are super powerful, and the motor is super quiet. They clean the glass MUCH better than my equally new Polo GT TSI. Paint & Finish: Top notch! The paint quality is amazing and finish lines are superb. The sheet-metal feels quite strong, and none of that piddly Maruti bull-shit. There are a few panel gaps, but then again, it's a made-for-india product and some tolerances need to be kept in mind, keeping in mind the mentality of the manufacturers for India. Interiors feel well screwed together. And there's NO rattles. Hell, my 10 lakh rupee Polo came with rattles from the first day! The car has done 2400 km already (in 2 weeks) and seems like it will hold up quite well on our roads. Amaron Battery: Happy to see this in my car. Amazon batteries are way better than Exide, the other OEM for Honda  Last edited by Rehaan : 11th August 2015 at 18:20. Reason: Minor spacing change. |
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10th August 2015, 00:40
| #3 |
| Senior - BHPian | re: Mrs. frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! Wrapping it up: The car looks small, but has the space, ride, handling, engine and NVH characteristics of a car, way more expensive, and also, a few segments above it. It's a very sweet looker and the all-glass boot is polarising in nature, but I LOVE it. This car is PERFECT as a city-runabout, but does a fairly impressive job on the highways too. I love it's all-rounder nature, and hope Honda manages to sell many more of these! Mods: 1. Falken 185/65/R14 tires and SSW Forged Alloys 2. Sony XAV-712BT with Focal front speakers. 3. Added a high tone to the already present low tone, and made the piddly horn a double horn. Now, my car sounds good when I press the horn button! 4. 90/100 H4 headlight upgrade done with original Philips headlight upgrade kit with relays and fuses 5. New License plates.     A few miscellaneous photos:      Last edited by frankmehta : 10th August 2015 at 01:01. |
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10th August 2015, 22:35
| #4 |
| Team-BHP Support   | re: Mrs. frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! Moving out to Ownership report from Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing! Man, you're on a car buying and ownership thread creating spree! Can't wait to see what's next.  |
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11th August 2015, 00:23
| #5 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Nainital
Posts: 364
Thanked: 898 Times
| re: Mrs. frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! Congratulations for this. Maybe you can start your own blog and instead of buying cars, get them for long term reviews  Suits your style!Wishing you many happy miles on this. Tapish |
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11th August 2015, 00:39
| #6 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Delhi/Jaipur
Posts: 258
Thanked: 719 Times
| re: Mrs. frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! Congratulations! Here's to many trouble-free miles in the Brio for Mrs.FrankMehta! Your Brio looks really nice, inside and out. |
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11th August 2015, 08:28
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| Senior - BHPian | re: Mrs. frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! Quote:
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11th August 2015, 09:04
| #8 |
| Distinguished - BHPian  Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Delhi-NCR
Posts: 4,071
Thanked: 64,335 Times
| re: Mrs. frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! Dear Dr. Mehta you sure dig your teeth into writing high quality, entertaining reviews and make us open our mouths wide open in delight . Thank you for this review. My son is looking to buy his first car and the Brio is one on the list. This review is helpful. Here's a tip - I am looking for deep reviews next year on the new Superb that will come, the S90 from Volvo and the new Honda Accord. Just giving a hint in case you plan to buy a third carBest wishes with both your new steeds and many miles of safe driving to you and your better half. - Narayan |
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11th August 2015, 09:19
| #9 |
| Distinguished - BHPian  Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 4,608
Thanked: 17,686 Times
| re: Mrs. frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! When I saw the new thread title, for a moment I thought you did not like the Polo and dumped it  Nice review. Not many recent Brio reviews on the forum and good to see such a detailed review of the lower spec variant. We have 2 Brio's in the immediate family and have driven it extensively. It is quite an under rated car primarily because of it's quirky looks and basic interiors. The space factor is a huge plus for the Brio. From the outside it looks quite small and when you enter, you are shocked with the amount of space it has. No one does space management like Honda. All the best and looking forward to the next one. Hopefully something along the lines of the Cruze? |
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11th August 2015, 11:24
| #10 |
| Distinguished - BHPian  Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: TVPM
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11th August 2015, 12:33
| #11 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Madras
Posts: 3,114
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| re: Mrs. frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! Love your narration style in your entertaining reviews, you should try your hand in short story writing sometime Its interesting to note, that you drive an AT and missus drives an MT. Usually its ends being the other way around. Wish you many million miles with your go-kart  |
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11th August 2015, 13:56
| #12 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: kochi
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11th August 2015, 14:18
| #13 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,789
Thanked: 340 Times
| re: Mrs. frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! Congratulations on the Brio and welcome to the club! Being an owner of the same car for over 3 years now, I can say that it is very reliable and the maintenance is as cheap as chips. You can take a look at my ownership review for full details.Coincidentally, I fell for the same things when I bought the Brio - its sweet engine, refinement and its ability to run like a scalded cat when given a whack. The notchiness of the gearbox will settle in and become smooth after 7,000-10,000 kms. Enjoy the drive! Cheers, gpa |
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12th August 2015, 11:02
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| Senior - BHPian | re: Mrs. frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! Quote:
Thanks, but honestly, the Brio should be at the top of the list if your son is buying one. It's a safe car, with modern safety features like ABS and Airbags. Incidentally, it's got a nice auto box too. The i10 grand doesn't even come with ABS in the automatic version, and the 4 speed auto is archaic, to say the least! Quote:
Look for the review thread Quote:
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16th August 2015, 02:32
| #15 | |
| Senior - BHPian | re: Mrs. frankmehta's Honda "CRIO™": Brio with a City Engine! I have just ordered a new addition to the car! If it works, it will be a masterstroke of an idea! See, I have complained of the lack of an RPM meter. Also, I am not happy with the information thrown up by the MID (it's hardly an MID, it's quite basic), so I have gone ahead and ordered an aircraft-style OBDII compliant HUD or a Heads-up display. The heads-up display connects to the OBDII (diagnostics) port of the car and grabs whatever information relayed to it, while displaying it in quite a cool manner on the windscreen (on the reflective film provided in the package. This needs to be stuck to the windscreen) A small display unit will be placed on the dash and reflect this data on to the film. It's a cool concept, but something that can be put to serious use if it works. Basically, this will be my RPM meter and my coolant temperature meter, both of which are conspicuous by their absence in my Brio. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/W02-5...349141019.html  For the lazy enough to not open the link, here's a brief idea of what this small, yet versatile contraption can do. (directly copied from the website, so please don't mind grammatical errors) Quote:
THIS IS A HIGHLY EXPERIMENTAL BUY! So please exercise caution before running to grab your credit cards. I am yet to see how this will function in our bright, harsh conditions in India, but the price was too low for me not to ignore it  Cheers, guys! Last edited by frankmehta : 16th August 2015 at 02:34. | |
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