If you are reading this from Malaysia, the Perodua Myvi needs little introduction.
If you're from elsewhere - the Perodua Myvi was historically a rebadged Daihatsu Boon, a front wheel drive hatchback car made for city driving. When released in 2005, it became an instant hit with Malaysians and promptly dethroned the Proton Saga as the best-selling car in Malaysia. The 2nd generation Myvi was released in 2011 with equally if not higher acclamation.
Myvi mk1 (image credit : Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sendirian Berhad )
Myvi mk2 facelift (image credit : Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sendirian Berhad )
The reason was simple - Unlike Proton, the other local carmaker, Perodua cars were more Japanese than Malaysian. The Myvi landed smack in the middle of the hotly contested B-segment market with the right package and the right price - Japanese quality and reliability for the price of a local car? we ate it up with little reservation, regardless if the assumptions were true.
In mid November 2017, Myvi mk3 landed in the showrooms after much speculation and incredible hype leading to the launch. I visited one of the Perodua showrooms during the launch weekend, drove around the showroom and left because it was unbelievably crowded, almost as if Perodua was giving the car away for free. Today, one month later, I finally have the chance to sample the car properly and I found myself impressed with this latest offering from Perodua, albeit with a few caveats.
Exterior
The design of the latest Myvi is a significant departure from it's boxy predecessor. The side profile looks way sleeker, the silhouette suggests a sportier intent while panels are no longer the flat and boring affair of the old model - now it has a sharp crease starting from the front wheel arch and cutting across both door handles as it stretches all the way to the tail lamps. The crease is duplicated lower on the sides, but being fainter that the one on top. The windows profile reminds me of the Fiesta - with the rear quarter window tapering upwards into a triangular portal.
The front of the car is flanked by two LED headlamps which is available across the entire trim range, a feature I find odd to have on a car in this price range but I'm sure it will excite many people. The rest of the front facade is un-offensive but it's more like been-there-done-that by it's peers. The rear reminds me of the Nissan Grand Livina, not exactly a bad thing but once again, less than exciting. The shape is more Honda Jazz than Ford Fiesta or VW Polo - again, not that it's a bad thing - but the overall design is decidedly not as appealing as the Honda, in my humble opinion.
Interior
If you've owned a Japanese car, you know they usually make very practical interiors. In no way I am implying that it is all function and no form - Perodua definitely put a lot of effort in updating the interior design to modern standards. The dashboard is slightly reminescent to that of the Honda Jazz, with a piano black surface surrounding the headunit and the center AC vents on top. The top of the line Advance models comes with a touch screen headunit, whereas the lower trims make do with a 2-DIN unit with LCD display.
The AC controls now come with it's own LCD display, under which is a cubby space where the 12V port is stowed. From there the center console extends to the rear, with a conventional layout of the shifter, handbrake and ends with two cupholders. In front of the driver's seat, you get a steering with buttons to control the HU. Beyond that is a LCD multifunction display flanked by a tachometer on the left and the speedometer on the right.
The plastics are still kinda low-rent but serviceable, but I really cannot complain at this price point. My biggest beef is the metallic-ish plastic armrest on the door card which seems to bit a bit garish and rough to the touch, and that hideous afterthought of a bland plastic between the handbrake and the rear cupholders. I don't mind not having a center armrest, but that bit just horrible to look at.
Other than that, cabin space is adequate for people with average height. The seats are more ergonomic that it's predecessor, and the trunk is way larger than before. All in all, the packaging is nicely done, with a lot of thought put into it's utility.
Comfort
So, on with the drive. The first thing that caught my attention is how well it rides now. The previous myvi, at least the second gen, had a rather trashy ride quality - it is not stiff but it does not deal with road imperfections very well either. By comparison, the new Myvi handle bumps like a grownup and potholes with sufficient poise. I test drove the car in an industrial area where many parts of the roads are shredded by heavy vehicles, but never once I felt being thrown about or worry about the shock absorbers ripping apart the strut towers.
The cabin is mostly a quiet affair when puttering about at city speeds, but when I put my feet down the engine roars pass the firewall with a vengeance. It's not uncomfortable, yet it does not encourage you to press throttle more than you need to. Overall the Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) of the car has matured into a something worthy of a Toyota badge.
Performance
Like the one before it, the new Myvi comes with the option of a 1.3l NA engine or a 1.5l NA. The one I test drove was a 1.5l NA so that will be the one I will talk about. Prior to this test drive, I read in the forums some complaints about the new Myvi being robbed of it's amazing throttle response that was the hallmark of it's predecessor. While that is somewhat true, I found the throttle response to be perfectly adequate for normal driving.
Of course, it is an electronic throttle tuned for fuel efficiency, it will never match the directness of the cable throttle in the previous Myvi; on the flip side I do think that the low speed response is more civil this time around. It goes with a gentlemen-ly grunt instead of the explosive surge of torque that "enthusiasts" loved so much in the older model.
Overall, I find the performance par-for-course as a 1.5l NA. I don't find it to be overpowered nor underpowered, in fact I easily overtook a moderate speed Proton Gen2 while on a slight uphill. The 4 speed automatic, despite being regarded as archaic by some, serves it's purpose well and shifts smoothly without much drama even when I floored it. I didn't test it on a highway so I don't know how is the acceleration when cruising on high speed. I think I should also mention this car comes with idle start-stop for fuel economy, but I won't say anything more because I abhor these systems in any car.
Handling
This aspect has always been the Achilles heel of the Myvi lineage, and I wish to report that....nothing's changed. To be sure, it feels more surefooted and more compliant at high speed now, but it boils down to the chassis that was tuned for comfort. The platform underpinning this new Myvi is inherited from the old model but with modifications, with the chassis front end brought over almost in it's entirety.
The outside suspensions are slow to load up during fast cornering despite the body rolling to that side, the grip feels vague as I feel that the chassis is not really putting traction down and I certainly cannot feel what the heck are the tires doing. The feedback through the steering are also minimal at best, so all I had was to go on was if the tire was squealing, which again was none.
Despite so, I backed off because I started to feel some lateral movement which is again vague because I'm not sure whether I am running out of grip or I am falling towards the ground because of of bodyroll. Mind you, I wasn't really going balls out either, I simply could not feel enough of anything to give me the confidence to gun it.
Safety
The lower trims comes standard with 4 airbags, ABS, stability control with traction control, seatbelt indicators for all 5 seats and height adjustable front headlamps. The top spec Advance trim comes with 6 airbags and Perodua's trump card, the Advance Safety Assist systems which is a collection of safety assist functions such as pre-collision warning/braking, front departure warning and pedal misoperation control, all of which are dependant on the stereo camera on top of the windscreen to work properly.
Personally, the limitations of these systems are kinda hilarious (will not work during rain, will only work when driven under 30km/h, will only recognize limited types of objects) that I find it to be gimmicky than actually useful. Nonetheless I do applaud Perodua for pioneering this in the local sub-100k MYR market, and practically giving Proton the finger despite being late to the automotive safety game.
Verdict
The newest Myvi is without a doubt the best bang for buck product in the Malaysia new car market. Perodua hit the mark once again with this iteration of it's best-selling car, and consumers has rewarded them with 25,000 bookings to date, just one month after launch. If you are in the market for a comfortable and reliable runabout that is cheap to buy and maintain, the Myvi should be your natural choice (or as I sometimes call it, the lazy choice) if you cannot be bothered to go look at the alternatives. As usual, you can hardly go wrong with Perodua.
The 2018 Myvi starts from RM44,300 to RM55,300.
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