Perodua Nautica

The Perodua Kembara was launched in 1998 and after 10 years in the market, it is replaced by Perodua Nautica (a.k.a. Naughty Car?). At RM89,900, it is considered outrageously expensive by some Malaysian. It's sad to see that there were not many people visiting the showroom when i was there checking out the Nautica. Most people prefer the family-orientated Toyota-badged Rush compared to the Perodua-badged Nautica, which both are basically the same car.

Design-wise, the Nautica is handsome and have a bold design to create a sense of stability. The chrome finishing and twin projector halogen headlamps help to create a premium-looking design in the front. The rear design is not much different compared to Rush except for a bumper with reflectors on it. However, i prefer to have chrome finishing on the door handles and the spare-wheel cover like the one in Rush which looks luxurious. Thanks to its wide open doors and tall body, ingress and egress is like a snap of a finger.

The best thing about Nautica is its interior. It have the best fit and finishing from Perodua (built in Japan, imported from Japan). The quality of its plastics and fabrics is one step ahead of Myvi's, which i think is good for a compact car. The plastics are not too glossy to the eyes nor hard to the touch. The seats are upholstered with fabric, which is comfortable and dark in colour so that the stains on the seats are harder to be noticed. It have lofty seating position for great driving pleasure and it's a boon for city driving. The lockable glove box is decently sized and it consists an illumination lamp in it to illuminate the dark glove box. However, the buttons and knobs does feel cheap at some point.

The silver finishing on the dashboard and steering lighten up the gloomy atmosphere of the interior. The centre display located at the very top of the dashboard is a nice touch and thoughfully placed since it display important warning signs like the seatbelt warning icon. There's a sunglass holder above the rear-view mirror too.

The above pictures were 'grabbed' from MotorTrader

The interior space at the front of the Nautica is very impressive. The seats are supportive and not too stiff to create backache in long journeys. There's plenty of space to move around and the distance between the driver and the front passenger is greatly increased. It's a big step ahead of Kembara, which have small, stiff seats and accompanied with bumpy rides. The distance between the front passenger and the driver is very close in Kembara and they might accidentally rub their shoulders with each other when going through a corner.

The rear passengers will have ample headroom but i found that the rear legroom is just adequate to me. Maybe i was too choosey? Surprisingly, Myvi have more rear legroom then Nautica! The cabin can fit 3 average-sized passengers at the back without any huge complaints from them. The boot space is quite generous and it's accessible by opening the side-hinged door on which the spare wheel is mounted. It can accomodate some small furnitures after a weekend shopping spree from Ikea when the rear seats are folded. Did i mention about a 12V power socket located in the boot? Only luxury cars are equipped with this feature.

Safety is not a problem for Nautica. It comes with Centre Differential Lock (CDL) which locks the front and rear axles to rotate at the same speed for better offroad ability, ABS, EBD, BA, Dual SRS Airbags and collapsible pedals etc. Since it's a joint venture development of Toyota and Daihatsu, safety, durablilty and reliability won't be an issue anymore to Nautica. Its cousins, Daihatsu Be-Go/Toyota Rush acheived 4stars out of 5 in EuroNCAP crash test too. But disappointed to say that Nautica still use drum brakes for the rear wheel. At this premium price, i prefer that the Nautica is equipped with side airbags since it is a completely built-up (CBU) model imported from Japan. I hope that Perodua will sell a complete knock-down (CKD) model of Nautica in the future to reduce its price to a more affordable price range for the consumers.

Nautica's competitors

So, the question is how well will the sales of Nautica perform in Malaysia? People will be comparing it to the 7-seater Toyota Rush. Some might think 'Why i want to buy a Perodua-badged car when i can own a Toyota-badged car at the same price!' Well, the difference is you will get a 'Japan birth cert.' and 4 wheel drive if you buy a Nautica or a 'Indonesia birth cert.' and 2 wheel drive if you buy a Rush (Rush is built in Indonesia). I found that Nautica is more appealing to me because it is aimed at younger people who prefer 'spirited' driving rather than family's comfort. Add a few more thousands, you can get a smaller 2w.d. CBU Suzuki SX4 or a Volkswagen Polo Cross with 6 airbags at RM110k.

Will you excuse me, i want to wait for the 2009 Perodua & Proton MPV now :)