SHOWROOM: 2018 Perodua Myvi !

The baby Myvi that has been flooding Malaysia's roads for over a decade is no longer a baby anymore. I was surprised on how much the all-new 2018 Perodua Myvi has grown compared to its predecessor when I first lay eyes on it in the showroom. The changes are apparent. 3,895mm long, 1,735mm wide, 1,515mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,500mm, it has grown 205mm longer, 70mm wider, 60mm longer wheelbase but a mere 30mm lower for a sportier stance without sacrificing cabin space. More on this later :)

Features wise, it is impressive, I mean IMPRESSIVE! The most impressive would be the Advanced Safety Assist (ASA) for the Myvi 1.5 Advance. At RM55,300, the Myvi 1.5 Advance is the cheapest car you can get with autonomous braking technology in Malaysia at the moment. The next would be the Hyundai Ioniq Plus, priced at more than the RM100k mark. 

Exterior design of the Myvi has been an evolution. For the first time ever, the taillights of the Myvi has been switched from vertical to horizontal, making its way into the tailgate. There is also small glass area after the C-pillar, which contributed to the enlarged stance but will also promote better rear view visibility. With the 15-inch alloys on the 1.5, the Myvi has potential to be a hot hatch with larger spoiler and all-round bodykits!

The door opened with a light pull on the door handle, showing the redesigned, more modern dashboard. Some cues of Honda City's dashboard can be seen, especially around the air-cond vents area. Overall, the cabin feels well built, albeit a little plasticky and some silver trims on the door seems to have rough finishing appearance. But well, we can't complain much for a car of its price. 

There is also a slot to insert your toll card and a digital display to read the balance under the wing mirror adjuster. The transmitter (like our Smart Tag) is on the right side of the dashboard, I wonder will it be able to transmit the signal if the owner installed thick tint on the windscreen. 

Boot space has increased from 208 litres to 277 litres, it's one step closer to the class leading Honda Jazz, enabling the Myvi to fit in 4 cabin luggage bags with ease. A boon for Uber/Grab drivers I would say. 

For people who have sat in a Myvi before will know how spacious the cabin is. With a longer wheelbase for this all-new Myvi, I can officially announce that I am able to put my leg up like a boss at the back seat, with the front seat adjusted to my 180cm height! Headroom is not a problem as well, eventhough the roof line has been lowered for a more aerodynamic and sportier outlook. 

By the way, the Peppermint Green (which looks like light blue) colour scheme looks refreshing (no pun intended). Too bad I do not have a photo to show you guys. It's an attractive colour which can be taken care easily. So, what do you think about the all-new Myvi? This 3rd generation Myvi definitely will win a lot of Malaysians' heart again.  

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2018 Perodua Myvi Spec Revealed!

 Teasers are out for the all-new 2018 Perodua Myvi! One of the bestselling hatchback in Malaysia is back, this time "Lagi (more) Features, Lagi Best"? The initial spec revealed for the Myvi has been nothing but impressive. Let's take a look...

Codenamed D20N, Perodua managed to design the all-new Myvi's upper body completely in-house. I'm glad it's not a rebadge of the existing Boon, where its design is not really what I'd call locally-tasted. 

Five variants will be offered: 1.3 Standard G (5-speed manual), 1.3 Standard G (4-speed auto), 1.3 Premium X (auto), 1.5 High and 1.5 Advance. 1.3 utilises the same engine found in the Bezza, producing 94hp @ 6,000rpm and 121Nm of torque at 4,000rpm, while the 1.5 produces 106hp @ 6,000rpm and 136Nm of torque at 4,200rpm. With the help of Eco-Idle auto start-stop, the 1.5 engine fuel consumption is rated at 20.1km/l, compared to 15.4km/l of the existing Myvi 1.5. Perfect considering RON95 petrol has increased by 7sen to RM2.31 per litre starting tomorrow!

Ala-Citroen C4 taillight.

Features wise, the breakdown according to variants is as below:

One notable mention is the Advanced Safety Assist (ASA), only available in the Myvi 1.5 Advance. Similar to autonomous braking technology such as Honda Sensing or Toyota Safety Sense, it comprises Pre-Collision Warning, Pre-Collision Braking, Front Departure Alert and Pedal Misoperation Control. 

A forward-facing camera is mounted in the housing of the rear view mirror, where Pre-Collision Warning will warn the driver if a collision is bound to happen and Pre-Collision Braking will perform automatic braking to prevent the collision (up to 30km/h), good for misjudgement or lack of attention. Front Departure Alert is to warn to driver where the front car has moved while you are not (such as paying attention to your phone). Lastly, Pedal Misoperation Control is to retard acceleration when the sensor senses there's an object in front. 

No official dimension has been revealed. I do hope that the interior space and its practicality could rival the Honda Jazz, which is one of the best in its segment. The outgoing Myvi has a boot space of 208 litres, which can barely fit two medium size luggage bags. 

With the better fuel consumption and larger cabin space, get ready to see the all-new Myvi flooding our roads again very soon. It also will provide a good option to Uber/Grab driver as well for their daily operation.

1.3 Standard G (manual): RM44,300
1.3 Standard G (auto): RM46,300
1.3 Premium (auto): RM48,300
1.5 High (auto): RM51,800
1.5 Advance (auto): RM55,300

*Price excluding insurance. 

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Takata Airbag Recall - Personal Experience

Recall - Normally perceived as something negative due to fault in design or production stage of a product by the public. Things will get tensed when there are fatality caused by defective product and an immediate recall will be inevitable. The infamous Takata airbag rupture is one of the main reasons many car manufacturers are issuing worldwide recall to fix the 'ticking time bomb' in many of their cars fixed with Takata manufactured airbags. The defective component could send shrapnels to the occupants at the moment the airbags are inflated in an impact. 

In Malaysia, UMW Toyota calls recall as Special Service Campaign, and created a vehicle identification number (VIN) checker website which enable us to check any Toyota manufactured vehicle which is affected in the campaign by keying in the VIN. As my father owns a 2002 Toyota Corolla Altis, we got news that it is actually included in the campaign despite being aged more than 10 years. Using the VIN checker confirmed the validity of the news as well. In the VIN checker there was a form to fill in to request UMW Toyota to contact us (which was around mid of July 2016) for the airbag replacement. 

After submitting the form for 2 weeks, it seemed that there was no respond from UMW Toyota either in the form of phone call or email. So in early of August, I took the initiative to email the customer support which I got from the official website. It took UMW Toyota few days to respond via email, which they explained that they are still waiting for the principal confirmation on the parts arrival date. The good thing is the customer support personnel did ask which branch of service centre which I prefer to go to, which I chose the one nearest to my home. 

Then things got silence for a month or more... Sometime in September, someone from the service centre called, informing that there is still not available stock for the passenger airbag replacement (apparently only the passenger airbag is affected for the 2002 Corolla Altis). 

Thankfully the good news starts here. Finally in the first week of October, someone called to inform there is available stock and we can send the car into the service centre for 2 hours on a Saturday. I immediately placed an appointment on the first coming Saturday and sent the car in. Surprisingly the whole replacement process took just half an hour and it is free of charge! 

I believe both sides (manufacturer and the owners) should take initiative in this issue, or else unfortunate incidents are bound to happen. But one thing for sure, another giant Japanese marque in Malaysia (well, you know who) has put in greater effort in resolving this issue. 

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2016 Volkswagen Vento - Available with TSI and DSG!

 After a long hiatus, yours truly is back to blogging because the Polo Sedan CBU that I own has undergone another facelift ( and gained a new name to be exact!). I am intrigued when I heard that the Volkswagen Vento, the new name for Polo Sedan, comes with 3 variants - Trendline, Comfortline and Highline; where the latter is equipped with the infamous 1.2 litre TSI engine and a 7-speed DSG gearbox.  

I'm lucky that the showroom has all 3 variants as its display units, so a clear differentiation can be done visually. While the black car above is the Highline, the best item to differentiate it among the 3 variants is the 215/45 wide and low profile tyres with 16-inch 'Syenit' two-tone alloys, which is one inch above the other 2 variants with 185/60R15 'Riverside' 7-spoke alloys. 

The Vento bears some resemblance of the Passat, isn't it? It's not a bad thing, considering the facelift has given the Vento a more upmarket design. Below, on the left is the Comfortline while the right is the entry variant Trendline. Being the base model, the Trendline loses out chrome bar and fog lights in the lower air vent. Other than that, it is mostly identical to the Comfortline. 

The rear gained a new graphics for the taillights, a newly positioned chrome bar on the tailgate and a redesigned rear bumper. 

 One improvement over my CBU unit is the electronic latch found on the tailgate, much more convenient than using the latch on the driver door or the remote to unlock the tailgate. 

As for the Highline 1.2 litre TSI engine, it generates 105PS at 5,000rpm and 175Nm of torque from 1,550-4100rpm. On the other hand, the 1.6 litre naturally aspirated MPI engine produces 105PS at 5,250rpm and 153Nm at 3,800rpm. I have always feel that the 1.6 litre NA engine is just adequate to power the Polo Sedan, so this 1.2 TSI engine should be a great addition for drivers who want more power!

Interior wise, you will notice the steering wheel in the pic below looks a bit bare. Yes, it belongs to the Trendline, where it comes with basic features and chrome bits here and there are omitted. No front center armrest and rear aircond for Trendline as well.

Now this looks a little better in the Comfortline, with piano black finishing and control buttons on the flat-bottomed steering wheel. It comes with Climatronic automated air-conditioning, leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear knob, front center armrest with rear air-conditioned. Both Trendline and Comfortline are equipped with ABS, EBD, Intelligent Crash Response System (ICRS) and the Comfortline gained additional 2 side airbags, cruise control and Bluetooth connectivity. Thus, I would say the previous Polo Sedan CKD units are on par with what the Comfortline is offering now. 

As for the Highline, it gained 'Cable' fabric upholstery. Volkswagen should offer leather seats for the Highline, in my opinion. However, I feel that the seats are padded more generously than the CBU units. Safety wise, it adds on hill assist control and Electronic Stability Programme (ESC) which finally make itself eligible for 5-star ASEAN NCAP rating! It will be perfect if it comes with 6 airbags though.

One thing I noticed is the graphic of the digital instrument panel in the Vento (left) seems like a downgrade from the one available in the CBU unit (right). It just does not look as premium. 

I would say the pricing (OTR without insurance) is well planned:
Trendline: RM80,646
Comfortline: RM87,646
Highline: RM94,461

Trendline is low enough to make buyers of usual Japanese B-segment think twice, while the Highline is well below the RM100k mark. Although the top-spec of Honda City is better equipped than the Highline, but the performance and handling should give the Japanese competitor a run for its money. 

Worried about the TSI and DSG reliability? The Vento comes with 5 years unlimited mileage warranty and 5 years mobility guarantee. But then, my experience with VW service center as well as showroom were not that pleasant either... 

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Fuel Price: March 2015

Fuel prices have been dropping recently, but what goes down, will come up again. Global crude oil prices have been increasing since January 2015, thus below is the updated fuel prices for the month of March 2015 based on a managed float system:

RON 95 Petrol: RM1.95 (+25sen)

RON 97 Petrol: RM2.25 (+25sen)

Diesel              : RM1.95 (+25sen)

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