Team-BHP - Honda Brio : Test Drive & Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpa (Post 2844675)

The air-dam is large and yes, flying debris can cause damage if not in the city but certainly at highway speeds. I am also considering a DIY for this in the form of a fine mesh grille painted black to suit the air-dam. Will examine the air-dam and the surrounding areas this weekend to see if this can be done.

A mesh grille sounds like a good idea gpa. There appears to be a reasonable gap between the condenser and the air dam to do this. However, do you plan on a permanent fixture, like welding/brazing the mesh grille onto the body part? Maybe a temp fixture, with tieclips or so, might work too. How about warranty concerns?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rony180 (Post 2844503)

MaxTorque - Brio SMT is a very practical car with a competitive pricing. If you love to drive and are not too much concerned about the rising petrol prices, then its a great bet.

Go for a test drive soon to judge the car better (if not already taken)

Thanks for the inputs, even I prefer SM-T(O) variant. But the problem is that variant will cost Rs.6.0 lakh(OTR Pune). That price is crossing my budget.

I had requested a quote from Crystal Honda (after getting quote from Deccan Honda). But they are yet to revert.

Anyways let me wait for some time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CowlFlap (Post 2846877)

There appears to be a reasonable gap between the condenser and the air dam to do this. However, do you plan on a permanent fixture, like welding/brazing the mesh grille onto the body part? Maybe a temp fixture, with tieclips or so, might work too. How about warranty concerns?

When washing the car today, I made a close examination of the bumper from inside the bonnet and underneath the car. There is sufficient space for a hand to fit in comfortably and do the work. The bumper is bolted on to the chassis at two points behind the front number plate.

I plan to use tie clips or fix the mesh using points that bolt on to the chassis or have plastic clip-on bits hold the mesh in place, so there will be no warranty concerns.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joslicx (Post 2845258)

My wife singularly praised the back seat of Brio when I drove it. At that time I had an i10 so her reference point was the i10. So the back seat of Brio is definitely much better than the i10.

I noticed this too in the initial test-drive itself. With the upgrade to better tyres than what comes as OEM with the car, the ride will be even better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 9thsphinx (Post 2844868)

When we're talking about choppy rides in the back seat, would current Santro owners feel the difference?

I owned a Santro Xing for over eight years and yes, the difference is ride quality between the Santro and Brio is remarkable! You are far more comfortable in the back of the Brio than you are in a Santro.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpa (Post 2847601)

Good idea to avoid warranty concerns :thumbs up
I think using the plastic tieclips would be ideal. Can be removed easily in case they (Honda) get fussy about it's presence there. I don't believe it would cut down the airflow much to be bothersome, but small bits and pieces added to the vehicle don't usually escape trained eyes at the service station.;)

Btw, have you got any covers for your car as yet? Found this discussion on car covers interesting.

Thought I'll share my thoughts on the air-dam of the Brio

I did a bit of comparison between the Brio & City placing them side by side. Both the air-dams are fairly large and gaps are even between the two models. Though the brio is new, I have driven my city on the highways for a year nearly through dusty, rough and debris roads. Haven't noticed any damage to the radiator fins.

Brio AT variant could be launched this year. Already lunched in Indonesia but with the 1.3L engine.

Quote:

However the Honda Brio in Indonesia will be slightly different from the Indian model. The Brio in India comes with a 1.2L i-Vtec engine mated to a manual gearbox.
The Indonesian cousin will get a bigger engine – a 1.3L to be precise – mated to an automatic gearbox.
The 1.3L engine is the same mill that Honda uses for the Fit (Jazz in India) in Indonesia. It produces 99PS @ 6,000 rpm and a torque of 126 Nm @ 4,800 rpm. The automatic gearbox is Honda’s tried and trusted continuously variable transmission (CVT) box.

Honda Brio gains bigger engine, AT in Indonesia

The Honda dealers in Chennai are pushing Brio like crazy. My colleague went to book a Jazz. He was told Jazz base version was not available and might take 6 weeks for delivery. From what he told me, the Sales manager is trying to brainwash people into buying a Honda Brio and they are not pushing Jazz sales at all. The stupid reason he gave was that Jazz spares are costly and Brio's spares cost less. From what I know, Honda spares are a little costly but aren't they the same across cars? All 3 dealers in Chennai are trying to sell Brio as much as possible and Jazz is being neglected. Sad state of affairs for a car like Jazz. I think this signals the arrival of a Brio diesel from Diwali or Jan2013 and so dealers want to sell petrol units ASAP.

Hi friends ,

I'm planning to book the SMT version in Kolkata :

here is the final quote that I'm getting from the dealer (after trying all the techniques to bring him down) :

He is not willing to go below this and the other dealership is also pretty firm with the prices. I'm quite surprised .

Ex showroom - 4,52,400
Honda assure insurance - 12,702 (getting this free)
Road Tax & Registration - 25,169
Handling charges for registration - 3500
Extended Warranty - 4,900
RSA- 4000
3M paint & underbody - 7500

Now if we add all the above excluding insurance which is free it comes to 4,93,469 on road .

I told him about the Delhi high court rule about the handling charges so the dealer said that they would make 3M paint and underbody 4000 .
Also the zero dep insurance would cost about 2500 extra . Is it reasonable or expensive ?? I asked them whether it covers the plastic too and they said yes and that I could claim as many times as I want by paying Rs 500 for each claim.

So the final quote from the dealer stands at 4,89,969 (after all discounts) + 2500 extra for zero percent depreciation insurance .

Is this deal good ? I also got a quote for figo zxi diesel for 6,23,000 on road (this is the listed price and I haven't negotiated at all) . My running is about 20 kms per day on an average .

Please note : Honda was giving Extended Warranty and RSA free last month but they are not willing to give it free anyhow this month.

In my friends Brio, when we start moving by just releasing the clutch slowly without accelerator input, there is 'clutch shudder' and the whole car vibrates (even the ORVM's shake) before moving. The same does not occur if there is slight accelerator input. In my i10 when I do the same the car starts of smoothly and once it starts moving i give slight accelerator inputs based on traffic, this is great for city driving.

Why is this different in the Brio? Also there is a perceptible 'pause/jerk' is felt when shifting from 2nd gear to 3rd gear is this felt by other Brio owners. Otherwise the car is really smooth to drive and revs freely (no clutch slippage).

Quote:

Originally Posted by anandtheleo (Post 2858517)

This problem occurs only in case your legs are on the brake and the speed becomes too slow for first gear!!I havent noticed such a problem in case of first gear when the brakes arent pressed, it will move smoothly in this case!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadows123 (Post 2858600)

Nope, my legs were nowhere near the brakes and the handbrake was down too. So you mean to say your car starts off smoothly by just letting go of the clutch with no accelerator input?

Quote:

Originally Posted by anandtheleo (Post 2858607)

Nope, my legs were nowhere near the brakes and the handbrake was down too. So you mean to say your car starts off smoothly by just letting go of the clutch with no accelerator input?

Sorry I dont have a Brio. I have a Jazz. and the phenomenon i mentioned occurs that way in my car!! First, second and third goes without any accelerator input, although i prefer to give accelerator input to have the feeling of control!!