Intro & Styling
What does it take for a carmaker to be No.1? Perodua, Malaysia’s second automaker, recently knocked the dominant Proton off its perch to claim the top spot at home. Those of you who aren’t too familiar with how this happened might be thinking - “Wow! That must’ve cost billions for them to be able to accomplish that.”
Only it didn’t. We’re not saying it didn’t cost them a pretty penny either. Instead of spending loads of cash on design, engineering, research & development, Perodua’s tactic was simply to badge engineer their cars.
What this means is that Perodua’s cars aren’t of their own making. In a nutshell, badge engineering means one carmaker takes models from another manufacturer they’ve signed a contract with, slightly alter the interiors, slap their own badges onto the body and presto - you get the same product (perhaps with differing equipment levels) under a different brand name.
So Perodua took the Daihatsu Sirion, slightly changed the interior and rebadged it as the Myvi. The Myvi then went on to sell so well, that it made Perodua the top-selling brand in the Malaysian market.
To begin with, the Myvi is a rather squarish looking four-door hatchback. This is by no means a bad thing, since the squarish shape does indicate that in practical terms, there is bound to be lots of interior space. At 3,750mm long, the Myvi happens to be a good 175mm longer than its Viva sibling. And with a width of 1,665mm, parking the Myvi should also be a breeze.
The Myvi’s flared wheel arches dwarf the dainty (but cute looking) 14-inch wheels and tyres – the car could easily accommodate a set of wider and grippier tyres, which would give it a more planted stance. The wide front and rear bumpers with lower lips give the car a more substantial look, but without making the Myvi seem aggressive.
Also present are the turn-signal lamps which have been integrated into the wing mirrors. The vertically stacked tail-lamps look neat and trim - we like that kind of simplicity in cars like these.
Interior and The drive
Before sliding into the driver’s seat, the first thing you’ll notice is the all-grey theme. Potential owners should definitely start thinking of ways to liven up the interior – but then again with the car’s popularity across the Causeway, personalisation shouldn’t be a problem.
The optitron instrument cluster was a good call, but on a more personal note, the only other option, blue (which comes standard in the higher-end variants), would've been a more pleasant affair. The dashboard’s centre is occupied by a factory-fitted sound system with big, easy to read buttons – so unless you have an eyesight problem, you shouldn’t have any problem operating it.
Within that squarish look mentioned earlier is a wheelbase that measures 2,440mm, giving the Myvi a 50mm edge over the Viva. Squeezing in a fifth passenger was just impractical in the Viva, but in the Myvi however, this can be easily done.
What would a hatchback be if it weren’t practical? If the Viva’s rear seats could be folded down to create more room, well, so can the Myvi’s. The biggest difference here though, is that the seat’s bottom has to be extended first, before the backrests can be unlatched to allow it to fall forward. The advantage here is that the seats, when collapsed, are a lot flatter than what we previously saw in the Viva.
After having driven the Viva last month, we figured that we’d find the same build quality in the Myvi. But the moment we got inside this car, it quickly became apparent that on the whole, the Myvi has a better cabin feel.
The Myvi’s DOHC 4-cylinder, 1.3 liter KJ-VE engine is capable of 86bhp at 6,000rpm and 116Nm at 3,200 rpm. Owing to its additional cylinder and displacement over the 1 liter powerplant, it also sounds more refined.
The extra 26bhp mustered by the Myvi over the Viva is very welcoming, although this performance is somewhat blunted by the extra 145kg of mass carried around by the Myvi. While this might sound like a disadvantage at first, the extra weight does give the car a more planted feel, especially on expressways. While the Viva was prone to being tossed around by crosswinds, this isn’t a problem here.
In conclusion
With Macpherson struts up front and a torsion beam at the rear, one might conclude that the Myvi is very comfort biased. A quick run through not-as-smoothly-paved roads should set the record straight though. The suspension here is a tad on the stiff side, so there’s a tendency for undulations to enter the cabin. But you know what? We’d take a stiffer setup any day - it always makes for a more “chuckable” car.
Potential buyers will be glad to know that while the engine’s displacement might have grown, its frugality however, hasn’t suffered as a result. An entire day’s worth of heavy-footed driving only managed to reduce the fuel gauge by a single bar – the same result we achieved with the Viva.
We have to mention that during our test, the engine still felt sticky and tight, but this was to be expected as our press car had only clocked up a scant 126 km prior to our road test. Performance had to be coaxed from the still-fresh engine and 4-speed automatic gearbox, but we feel that this car should come into its own after it has been properly run-in.
Our biggest gripe so far has to be the fact that ABS/EBD and the dual SRS airbags are only standard in the two range topping models. After all, in today’s world, safety features such as these should be standard throughout the model range.
Despite these grouses, it’s still not difficult to see why this car turned out to be so popular. The Myvi’s interior has a higher quality feel, and thanks to the car’s slightly larger dimensions, is also roomier without it being more difficult to park. Its 1.3-litre engine packs additional power, and has the advantage of more torque at lower revs – without compromising on fuel economy.
Is all of that worth the extra premium that the Myvi commands? Well, looking at it from a long-term perspective, we certainly think so.
(This article is taken from: http://www.oneshift.com/articles/article.php?artid=412&pageid=3)
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