A lot of automobile heavyweights marked South-east Asia as their new playground as this is the place where the development in the automobile industry is happening at the hastiest rate. India specifically is now being termed as one of the most blossoming automobile markets all across the world and Honda is considered as one of the prime players in the arena. Over the last decade, Honda has come a long way into the roots of India and has produced massive sales rate. The latest offering has by Honda is something that has not yet been seen in the country. A few months back or probably a year, Honda brought its flagship hatchback Brio to India and the response was truly overwhelming. Thus, naturally upon setting a benchmark in the industry, the boundaries of Honda expanded and now they made up their minds to introduce India’s first Automatic Hatchback. Thus we heartily welcome Honda Brio Automatic to the arena with loud and boisterous cheers. Being a hobbyhorse of Honda, Brio Automatic naturally came with high stakes but owing to the appreciation of Honda fanatics in India, the car made a grand opening into the market. But no matter whether it is Honda or Audi or Rolls Royce, no car misses the hind eyes of a loophole-obsessed critic who somehow castigates every vehicle that treads its way into the country. So now hereby, we will throw Honda Brio Automatic into a rough concourse and analyze every part of it to determine whether it deserves thumbs-up or a catcall.
Exteriors: –
When Honda Brio was launched into the market, there were praises all around regarding its exterior design as it was compact and at the same time easy to handle. From technical point of view, Honda Brio Automatic is a B segment 4-door hatchback which has been given an altogether chic outlook. The ride height of the front part of the car is low and sleek which gives it a stylish appeal on the contrary of which the rear part is a bit elevated. The centre part of the front fascia known as the nose of Brio sports the iconic symbol logo of Honda on it. Let us move on to the headlights of the new Brio Automatic. Whosoever designed the headlights surely needs a pat on his back as the design goes perfect with the appeal of the car that the customer expects. A closer look at the headlights gives us an impression of the eyes of a cat. The upper grille as well as the lower grille come together and accommodate the logo of the car. Indicators as usual have been placed adjacent to the headlights and the positioning of headlights has been done in a sleek manner facing downwards thus making the car look more modish.
The rear view mirrors on the outside are of the same colour as that of the body of the car but unfortunately these do not have LED indicators. One characteristic feature embedded in Brio is that its rear part is wider than the front part which appeals to the look of the car. The rear lights are based at the extreme ends with a glossy glass finishing. If we have to comment on the side-profile of the car, then we would stumble upon the fact that the designing of the windows from the front part till the rear part is interesting. Some would say that this has been taken from the Fluidic concept of Hyundai but even then Honda claims that it has nothing to do with that design. A number plate for the real part has been taken and fitted to the rear view door. On the whole, the exterior design has been done in order to perfectly justify how a hatchback should look like. The primary idea behind the design of Brio Automatic came from the “Double Triangle” concept. The primary advantage of the car being wide is that it helps the car to be handled better and decreases any chances of skidding. Also, Honda Brio Automatic comes with alloy wheels which make the car look sporty. Coming to the shades of the car, Honda Brio Automatic is available in six shades namely Emerald Blue, Alabaster Silver, Rally Red, Titanium Grey Pearl, Crystal Black Pearl and Taffeta White.
Interiors: –
No matter how well the exteriors of a car are, it always depends on the interiors of the car which the owner relies upon. Honda wanted to make Brio Automatic one of the premier automobile both in terms of its exterior features as well as interior. The prominence of the interiors is something that Honda kept as its top priority as the company is known to give lavish interior features in its cars. A close look inside the cabin enthrals us all as the features gives are top-notch than the class of the car. There are various needs of Indian customers which Honda Brio Automatic fulfils which is the reason why the response to the car has been so awe-inspiring. There is immense room for legs and head in the cabin and it is capable of accommodating even a tall person comfortably. There are many more features which are present on the dashboard of the interiors all of which are for different functionalities. The primary colour of fabric used to dole up the whole interiors is purely beige colored. The steering wheel that comes with the car is controlled electronically and at the same time is stylish as it has three shiny spokes on it. Adding to this, the steering wheel has audio controls as well which would give the driver the liberty to change music without losing concentration from the road. The music player has been neatly embedded on the dash board and gives somewhat retro feel. The look of the central dashboard is also impressive as it contains lots of features such as music system, air conditioner, etc. The placement of the AC vents have been strategically done as both of the large AC vents have now been put up on the two sides of the music system on the central console. The ORVMs of Brio Automatic are operated electronically with the help of a button thus making it more user-friendly.
There are soo many features which have been put into the interiors of Brio Automatic that it will surely strike a chord with anyone who enters the cabin and gets to drive the car. There are three 3D analog meters which have been placed on the dashboard which are now much more visible. Another feature worth mentioning is the eco lamp. The prime function of this lamp is to make sure whether the car is treading on a certain economy mode or not. Coming to the music system, an integrated music player has been fitted to the dashboard with Aux cable facility and AM/FM radio features. The look of the speakers is also alluring as both the fronts as well as the rear end of the speakers have a blue outlook which is illuminating. Preference has been given to storage space owing to the fact that Brio Automatic being a hatchback still had to accommodate people comfortably and boast of enough space in all its compartments. The rear seats can easily be folded in order to make more boot space.
Engine and Specifications: –
All units of Honda Brio Automatic available in India run on 1.2L 4-Cylinder 16 valves i-VTEC SOHC petrol engine which is capable of delivering a peak power of 86.8 bhp at 6000 rpm. Adding to that, the maximum torque attainable is 109 Nm at 4500 rpm. Honda Brio Automatic uses PGM-Fi type fuel supply system. Now let’s come to the main reason behind the word “Automatic” attached to Brio. New entrant of Honda boasts of a 5 forward as well as 1 reverse transmission and also an automatic transmission of 5-speed configuration in place. Since it boasts of giving out a high torque that too at a low rpm rate, thus it is for sure that Brio Automatic would outshine many other hatchbacks in the market. Since we have i-VTEC feature into power-play, thus we can assume that the fundamental concept of the working of Brio Automatic involves doling out more power and at the same time consuming less fuel. Thus the power as well as the torque rate of Brio Automatic makes it outdo its rival hatchbacks. The powerful engine strongly assists Brio Automatic to pick-up a fairly good acceleration. Honda Brio Automatic takes 16 seconds from 0-100 km/h and boasts of a top speed of 185 km/h. One negative point attached to the car is that all its variants would be having a petrol engine which can hinder the sales rates in India owing to the fact that the prices of petrol have been skyrocketing since last two years.
Honda has been known for its strong ergonomics offerings due to which their cars are in high demand all across the world. Honda Civic is still considered as one of the best mid-concept sedans rolling in India and Honda is desperate to give a cold shoulder to its counterparts with Brio Automatic. As we know the extent of rivalry which all the hatchbacks in India have, thus Honda wanted to overpower them .This is the reason why Brio Automatic is considered to be one of the most ergonomically powerful hatchbacks treading on the Indian roads just because of its looks and of what lies beneath the hood of the car.
Safety: –
When it comes to safety, Honda is best relied upon as it has been setting a benchmark owing to the advanced safety features that it equips its cars with. Since the body of Brio Automatic is compact and at the same time has a broad wheelbase, thus handling the car is not much of a problem. There are two airbags provided for the driver and the co-passengers. The airbags have a gas valve which makes it stand out for a longer time than usually in order to totally absorb the tremor of the mishap. Other safety features include Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), brake assist function and EBD. The basic structure of Honda Brio has been designed using the G-CON fundamental of the company which basically used G-Force Control Technology. The benefit of this technology is that it provides specific crumple zones for the passengers just in case if the car meets with an accident. The provision of seat belts is also interesting this time as the material by which these are made and the way they function is thought-provoking. Honda has developed a unique way by which the passenger would not feel pressure on any part of his body even if a mishap puts pressure on the seat belts. At the Honda Crash Test facility, Brio Automatic had to sustain maximum damages and then only the car got its green signal.
Safety has always been one of the primary concerns of the company and this is why Honda designers specifically paid emphasis to the safety components which were to be fitted to Brio Automatic.
Mileage: –
Honda Brio Automatic boasts of an engine which delivers more power and torque at less rpm rate which is the reason why the car is said to be highly fuel-efficient. Brio Automatic gives a total mileage of 19.4 kmpl in case of manual transmission and 16.5 kmpl in case of automatic transmission. The capacity of fuel tank is 35 litres.
Honda has been known in the market to produce one of the most fuel-efficient cars and this time also, the company has set an example for its rivals.
Price: –
The base price of Honda Brio Automatic has been fixed at Rs. 417,961 which goes up to Rs. 540,801 for the highest variant. The prices have been pretty justifiably fixed and owing to the features that Brio Automatic has to offer, its prices are relatively low which, to some extent is the reason behind the high claim of the car in the Indian market.
VERDICT: –
Altogether, Honda Brio Automatic definitely deserves applause owing to its sleek exteriors as well as inviting interiors. The car is ergonomically fuel-efficient and easy to handle owing to its design. Price range is also justifiable and all this makes the car even more alluring.
