Long Term Report-1

I have become a fan of compact MPVs as they are the closest things to an estate car that we get in India today. However, I did not always think this way though, at least not until the Honda Mobilio was given to me to use as a long term car.

Roughly smaller than the Honda City, it offers the practicality of an MPV but with the proportions of a regular-sized sedan; a glorious combination in the face of a tight parking spot that was assigned to me when I moved to my new apartment block.

As has been the case with the Amaze and the Brio, I am not a huge fan of design but it is something that will grow on you. Funnily enough, I am taken by the car since the long-slung stance gives me an estate car vibe.

The interior is pleasant but plain. It has taken a beating thanks to the heavy rains, a trade-off of our obsession with beige being the preferred colour of the cabin trim. This is slightly compensated by the infotainment system which is versatile but for some strange reason will not allow me to get the right setting for the bass, something that irks the hip-hop and electronic music fan in me to no end.

One of the selling points of the car is undoubtedly the diesel engine. It is loud and a bit unrefined but does the job more than enough when it comes down to propelling the car in an efficient and fun manner. As per the trip computer, we have been averaging between 17.6kmpl to 19kmpl from the 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel mill. We did a bit of number crunching once we had drained through the main fuel load.

The engine used 34.11-litres of diesel to cover 547km giving us a fuel efficiency of 15.92kmpl and a running cost of Rs 3.1 per kilometre making this quite an efficient and cost effective option.

I am now looking to do some clutch heavy city driving to see how the car will cope in bumper-to-bumper traffic, the report of which shall follow in the next report.