Honda Amaze diesel: Review

Honda entered India with the City in 1998. Since then it dominated sales thanks to its reliability and affordable technology. But in recent times, Honda sales started dropping thanks to increasing petrol prices and a lack of diesel engine. Honda is now bouncing back with the Amaze, its first compact saloon with its first diesel engine.

Based on the Brio, the Amaze is under four metres in length (3990mm). The profile is simple and elegant. It looks like a Brio with a nicely integrated boot. It does not have the truncated boot look you get in the Swift Dzire.  Two sweeping lines along the sides masks the length. It gets a new “smiling” front grille. From all angles, the Amaze looks rather attractive. On the inside, the similarities with the Brio continue. The Amaze borrows it’s dashboard from the Brio. The front seats are also borrowed from the Brio but have better support. The seats are comfortable even during long distance drives. The similarities end there. Unlike in the Brio, Honda’s brilliant packaging liberates excellent legroom, both front and back, and large boot, which measures at 400 litres.

The Amaze is powered by a new Earth Dreams 1.5 litre, four cylinder turbocharged diesel engine developing a peak power of 100PS at 3600 rpm and a peak torque of 200Nm at 1750 rpm. It is connected to the front wheels via a five speed manual transmission. Turbo lag is negligible and a good amount of power is available from the peppy engine which will rev to 4000 rpm with ease. This makes overtaking a breeze. Gear changes are crisp though it is slightly heavy. The clutch is light and makes for easy city driving. The steering is precise and weights nicely. The well balanced chassis cuts understeer. But, the thin 14 inch tires which are used keeping fuel efficiency in mind offer less grip. Overall, the good handling package in combination with the peppy engine and crisp changes make for a very involving drive. This car will not disappoint enthusiasts. The ride quality is good. All bumps are absorbed nicely by the soft suspension and only the sharper ones are felt. Honda claims an efficiency of 25.8 kilometres per litre but realistically you can expect 22 kmpl on the highway and about 19 in the city. This makes it one of the most fuel efficient cars you can buy.

On the equipment list, you get turn indicator on ORVMs, power foldable and power adjustable ORVMs, driver seat height adjustment, trunk light, heat absorbing front windscreen and a 15.7cm Touch Screen Audio Visual Navigation system with steering mounted audio controls. On the safety front, you get front seat belt pretensioner, front dual SRS airbags and ABS with EBD which comes as standard in the diesel.

With prices starting from 6.42 lakhs (ex-showroom Bangalore), it looks like Honda has a winner on its hands. With a brilliant new engine married to a brilliant new car, Honda has made a fuel efficient yet fun to drive car. This is exceptional considering the fact that it is tough to get the best of both worlds. Without any doubt, this is one of the best cars you can buy at this end of the market.

Experience: A ride in a Porsche Panamera

Experience: A ride in a Porsche Panamera

It’s every petrol head’s dream to drive or at least get a ride in an exotic car. This time, I am the lucky one to hop into the passenger seat of a Porsche Panamera. A big thank you to Porsche Bengaluru for making this happen.

Porsche’s objective was to build a dynamic and powerful sports car for the track and a luxury saloon with four doors, a big boot and four seats to take the family around in comfort. The result is the Porsche Panamera, a GT car that combines the better of the two worlds beautifully, was launched in Shanghai, China in April 2009. Later, Porsche decided to improve the fuel efficiency of the car. So they decided to replace the petrol engine with a V6 diesel. The Panamera diesel was born on May 2011.

The diesel does not mean the car is a slouch either. The V6 produces 300 hp at 4000 rpm and a maximum torque of 650 Nm between 1750-2000 rpm. This, in conjunction with an 8 speed Tiptronic gearbox helps the 1.9 ton beast to hit 100 km/hr in about 6 seconds and reach a top speed of 259 km/hr. The claimed average efficiency for the diesel is around 15.64 km/l which is excellent for a sports car.

The Panamera, for long has been considered to be an ugly looking car. But to me, this car does not look bad. It looks its part. When you see the Panamera, you get a feeling that this car is a practical sports car, exactly what it was meant for. Its low stance looks brilliant when you stand back and admire the car. Yes the front could have been better and yes, white does not suit the car. But in any other colour, it actually looks good. You get a good looking rear wing which extends at speeds above 120km/hr. This can also be extended by the driver whenever required. The body is made out of a combination of steel and aluminium to help shed weight. The car sits on 18 inch wheels at the front and at the rear. The drag coefficient is rated at 0.3.

From the inside, the Panamera feels extra special thanks to its exquisite cabin. The demo car was fitted with optional full leather. The build quality and fit and finish is exceptional. You get four individual seats with a continuous centre console. There is enough room at the back but the visibility is hampered thanks to the high window line. The boot capacity is 445 litres which can be increased to 1263 litres by folding the 60:40 rear seats which fold flat. As standard, the car comes with five circular dials which show fuel and oil temperature, and a navigation map, among others and an instrument cluster with a high resolution 4.8 inch TFT colour which shows various other things. On the options list, you get either a BOSE surround sound system or a Burmester surround sound system. You also have the option of a four zone climate control which can be used to switch off air conditioning to the rear seats when there are no passengers at the back. You also get parking sensors all around the car which shows the proximity of obstacles and a reverse parking camera which essential since there is no rear visibility at all. This being a practical car, you get a lot of storage spaces inside the cabin. There are two cup holders above the glove compartment as well. The seats offer good support and are extremely comfortable.

Though the car has been designed to be dynamic and sporty, on the move, it feels to be engineered to be more luxurious than sporty. Even in sport mode, the ride is superb. The acceleration does not give you a kick in the head, instead it is more gradual. It just surges forward without too much drama. There is a decent amount of exhaust note but that’s only in sport mode. As you drive faster, the suspension automatically lowers by 10 mm. It can also be raised to improve the ground clearance when travelling over speed breakers. It then automatically lowers. For those who take their cars out to the track regularly, you get ceramic brakes as optional. For everyday driving, the regular disc brakes provide more than sufficient stopping power.

At an on-road price of around 1.5 crores for the standard Panamera diesel without customisation, it is approximately 2 crores cheaper than its rival, the Aston Martin Rapide. Though it cannot be compared to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, it does cost the same. The Panamera may not get as much equipment as the S-Class but it is definitely more comfortable, more luxurious and way more sporty. The Panamera is exactly what Porsche intended it to be, a good GT car catering to the practical family petrol head.