since 1976
since 1976
By Lee Pang Seng
THE Malaysian car owner preference for hatchbacks was clearly established from the early 1980s when some automotive distributors introduced them as an alternative to the sedan variant. Hatchbacks obviously appealed to the younger buyers as such body profile looks sportier without the boot.
With the advent of the national brands, hatchbacks faded away due to the higher prices of the non-national makes. The Proton Aeroback and Wira hatchback models filled that vacuum before the Iriz came along. Perodua started with hatchbacks and the Myvi scored well with buyers to become a top seller for many years.
It wasn’t until UMW Toyota introduced the Yaris in 2019 that the non-national buyers began their love affair with hatchbacks again. Two years later, Honda Malaysia launched the hatchback variant to the City sedan, expanding the market options for the younger, or young at heart, car buyers.
It proved to be a good move as the response to the City Hatchback was up to expectation and this was reflected in strong sales. Honda Malaysia says that since the City Hatchback was launched in December 2021, more than 28,700 hatchbacks were sold. Following the introduction of the facelift model in late May this year, more than 3000 orders were received and many City Hatchbacks were already delivered to-date.
The City by itself already command appeal with young car buyers but it is also clear from the sales data that many among them prefer a faster looking car to complement their on-the-go lifestyle. Honda Malaysia also included an e:HEV model to flagship the range from the very beginning of the fifth-generation City Hatchback to pander to a wider category of customers.
In the latest model update, the City Hatchback e;HEV RS is the new top honcho and we had a drive impression of the car to Ipoh and back during a media drive arranged by Honda Malaysia. Before we delve into our drive experience, we would refresh you about what e:HEV is all about.
The e:HEV is the first step to an EV (electric vehicle) but in a hybrid form; HEV stands for Hybrid Electric Vehicle. Unlike EVs, it doesn’t come with a big battery to drive the electric motor. Instead, it comes with a smaller battery that is charged by a 1.5-litre Atkinson Cycle engine, complete with double overhead camshafts and i-VTEC.
This battery, smaller as it might be, still powers the electric motor to drive the front wheels. The electric motor is rated at 80kW (109PS) at 3500 to 8000rpm and torque is 253Nm from 0 to 3000rpm. The 1.5-litre Atkinson Cycle engine delivers 72kW (98PS) at 5600 to 6400rpm and 127Nm from 4500 to 5000rpm.
The City e:HEV is driven primarily by the electric motor and the engine is basically there to charge the battery that supplies power to the electric motor. If you kick down hard for overtaking, the engine could be engaged to provide the punch but it entailed a change in power flow link via the e:CVT (electronic continuously variable transmission).
As such, there is a momentary lapse in power flow due to this transition, similar to a turbo lag, and it would be best to use the electric motor to power the car, even for overtaking as there is plenty of strong torque available. This e:HEV hybrid system is developed from the Honda i-MMD (intelligent Multi-Mode Drive) technology introduced about a decade ago.
Given the electric drive mode, those opting for such a model would obviously value the good road mileage that the e:HEV could provide as well as the good acceleration. Honda says the e:HEV could deliver a mileage of 3.7 l/100km or 27km per litre and accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in 9.7 seconds.
The other City variants with normal 1.5-litre DOHC i-VTEC engine (89kW or 121PS at 6600rpm and 145Nm at 4300rpm) trails at 5.6 l/100km or 17.8km/l. That’s almost 10km down per litre. It is also slower in 0-100km/h acceleration at 10.7 seconds and its only trump card is a higher top speed of 193-195km/h (depending on variants) against the e:HEV’s 177km/h.
Given the miserly fuel virtues of the e:HEV, the media drive was focused on achieving the best mileage among the five City Hatchback e:HEV RS provided, with three media people to a car. To achieve good fuel mileage (from the engine that charges the battery, which could be quite often on long distance runs when regenerative charging is minimal), one has to be gentle on the accelerator pedal and practise good traffic anticipation.
For the latter, we usually drive at a fair distance to the car ahead so that we could see when the driver is braking for some reason or other. We could then ease off the accelerator and coast. Usually, by the time we reach the car ahead, it would have moved on and we could accelerate gently again.
Unfortunately, the third member of our team didn’t quite drive in a similar way and the good mileage (based on the fuel mileage guide on the driver instrument panel) we attained on day one was quickly reduced. Our eventual return of 25.1km/l ranked us third while the two teams ahead achieved mileage above 26km/l, which we had clocked earlier.
Another thing is that to achieve good mileage, it would mean driving at below the highway speed limit. Unless you have to, we wouldn’t recommend it. We were virtually overtaken by prime movers and trucks on the highway drive back to the Klang Valley (the day earlier, we drove mainly on secondary roads where lower speeds were fine).
What the City Hatchback e:HEV drive had shown was that the good road mileage claimed was realistic and achievable. During our passing manoeuvres of slower vehicles on secondary roads, we waited for clear traffic to make the move. And gentle accelerator pressure did the job just fine as we could tap on the strong torque available from the electric motor.
Like an EV, we are guided by a meter indicating electric power use rather than a tachometer indicating engine revolutions per minute (rpm). It starts with a green band that indicates the battery is being charged, followed by the rate of electric power used. The higher the needle goes, the higher the use of electricity to power the car. At cruising speeds, electric power flow is low and constant.
There is also a regeneration pedal on the steering column, similar to that in an EV. You could select the rate of battery regeneration with which a higher rate means the regeneration is greater. You feel this when you lift your foot off the accelerator pedal in the rate of vehicle deceleration. It would be useful when driving down from hilly resorts as the higher rate of deceleration means less of a need to use the brake.
As a rear seat passenger, we found the City Hatchback to be a roomy and comfortable car. The independent front with MacPherson struts and rear torsion beam design came with dampers that were tuned to absorb impacts well when going over bumps, potholes and rough road surfaces. For an entry-level model, most would be impressed with how comfortable the ride is.
We also found the highway ride a reasonably quiet one, especially for the 80-90km/h speed that we were doing. Experience with other Honda models convinced us that the City Hatchback at legal highway speed (110km/h) would be just as quiet due to the good body aerodynamics and wind-cheating profile.
If it did lack anything, we would definitely enjoy lounging in the rear seat more if there was a foldable centre armrest. That’s a price to pay for being an entry-level model. Just like the manual adjustments for the front seats. Other than that, the City Hatchback is a good all-round package and we could understand why it is selling in strong numbers.
By the way, the facelift City Hatchback came with a few updated details, mostly aesthetics. The front sees a new design honeycomb grille, refreshed lower grille and a bumper that has a more aggressive look and foglamp garnish. At the rear, there is a new sleek bumper with lower garnish design and new side sill garnish to add a ‘sophisticated touch’. The new design alloy wheels round up the aesthetic package; for the City e:HEV RS, these are Berlina Black 16-inch alloys to achieve a striking effect.
The Honda Sensing feature has two new functions added; Lead Car Departure Notification for the other models and additional Low Speed Follow for the e:HEV RS. Inside the car, the seats come with an improved design. For the e:HEV RS and non-hybrid RS model, the seat back rest is upholstered in perforated leather while the seat squabs come in combi leather material. Red stitch accents come standard for a sporty aura.
The City Hatchback e:HEV RS comes with a premium price to complement its flagship status at RM111,900 on the road without insurance. It would surely find appeal among those who want to enjoy EV driving without having to worry about range and get extremely good mileage for the money.
