Just last week or so, I attended another fun Honda bloggers drive, this time it was in the All-new Honda City. Now I've been to a couple of other Honda bloggers drive, and I must say, this time around they did not disappoint. We were brought on a short food trail of sorts, to dine and even learn about some coffee education at Barista Guild Asia, before ending up at MAEPS, Serdang for some serious test drive of the Honda City.
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| All New Honda City Bloggers Fun Drive |
Held on a weekend, it was meant to be a leisure drive, filled with fun activities with fellow bloggers. It's nice to attend events with like-minded friends, and fun we did have, from the word go. The event kicked off over at Rondaevoo Cafe, with nice breakfast provided. We sat through a short briefing session by Ivan Khong, experienced Honda instructor and racer, as well as listened to some short speech from the folks from Honda.
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| Jordhat Johan Shrithra, Assistant Manager of Public Relations Honda Malaysia, briefing us on the drive |
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| Ivan Khong, going through the safety features, as well as key selling points of the Honda City |
After the presentation inside, we were taken out for a hands-on presentation on the features of the new Honda City. I'm intrigued by the fact they now come with 6 airbags all round, with multiple safety features including ABS, VSA, and many more. Push start and keyless entry have become the standard package, a good sign that Honda places importance on the consumers wants and needs.
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| Presentation outdoors by the good folks from Honda Malaysia |
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| Prominent lifestyle blogger, Kelly Chin trying the Honda City for size. |
And we were on our way! It was going to be a 3 venue Honda City Bloggers Drive, with the first stop being Barista Guild Asia, the coffee education specialist. I find it interesting as our itinerary doesn't just entail the test drive of the Honda City, but also coffee appreciation and a yummy lunch break over at Crave Cafe, Oasis Ara Damansara.
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| Barista Guild Asia, the Coffee Education Specialist |
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| BGA trainers teaching on how to cup the perfect coffee |
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| Fellow blogger MelastikBintang giving his nose the coffee test |
At Barista Guild Asia, we got to experience the art of smelling, measuring, brewing, filtering and even making latte art for our coffees. A pretty nice experience, which taught me lots especially as I'm embarking on another #CafeHoppingMalaysia project soon. What's awesome is at the end of the session, we got ourselves these cute certificates of attendance, proving I was there, and am on my way to be a wannabe barista in the unforeseeable future.
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| Cafe latte art |
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| We were taught the art of brewed filtered coffee as well. |
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| Future baristas! |
After our session at Barista Guild Asia, we changed drivers and drove the Honda City across some unknown terrains and roads to finally reach Crave Cafe at Oasis Ara Damansara. All the while inside the car, I enjoyed the comfortable seats lazing back while waiting my turn to drive as the 3rd driver.
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| Kelly, Wilson and myself in the Honda City, on our merry way |
Seat are adjusted manually (no electric seat), but there are keyless entry, 6 airbags, 7 inch display audio with MirrorLink function, 8 speakers, steering wheel hands free telephone & voice recognition controls, rear air conditioning, 2 USD ports, 3 power sockets and smart storage spaces around the cabin; all in all a nice packaged vehicle for the singles to small families market segment.
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| Yummy lunch over at Crave Cafe Oasis Ara Damansara |
Next on our itinerary would be our 3rd and final stop for the day, MAEPS in Serdang, where we got to test out the Honda City, undergoing two fun activities. One which showcased how big the boot space is, and the other tested out the car's VSA.
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| All ready for some action |
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| Can you fit all these into the boot of the new Honda City? |
With a boot space that has a 536 litre capacity, the Honda City does have the largest space in its class. We tested it out with a fun game where luggage bags, baskets, tupperwares and ice boxes were prepared for us to try fit into the Honda City. The fastest team to get all in wins.
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| Thumbs up to my team |
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| We managed to get it all in! |
This model of the Honda City was launched in March 2014, and had since steadily sold thousands of units. It is also the overall winner for the ASEAN NCAP (New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asia), which is targeted to elevate vehicle safety standards, raise consumer awareness and thus encourage a market for safer vehicles in the region. We went for a spin next, literally spinning the car around, testing its VSA safety feature.
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| Time for a spin? |
The VSA in Honda cars (not just the City) is best “On” (activated) at all times. By default it's always ON. In the event of unintentional skidding or if you lose control of your car under unforeseen circumstances, every little help counts in keeping you safe and alive. Check out the two videos below, one where we spun violently when VSA is off, and another when VSA is ON.
DRIVING THE HONDA CITY WITH VSA OFF
DRIVING THE HONDA CITY WITH VSA ON
So how exactly does VSA help to safe your life?
VSA:
The Vehicle Stability Assist system helps to stabilize the vehicle during cornering if the car turns more or less than desired.
HOW:
An example of when such a situation (side slip) may occur is when a driver turns a corner too quickly on a wet/sandy/slippery road.
When the cornering forces of a vehicle are greater than the available tire grip levels, side slip occurs. If the front wheels are slipping sideways, the car is understeering.
On the other hand, if the rear wheels are slipping, the car is oversteering.
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| Our All New Honda City |
Thank you Honda Malaysia for giving us a very unique and pleasant hands on experience with the All New Honda City. It was a day well spent, even though at the end of it, I just wanted to reach home and lay on the bed, exhausted. Check out the price, specs and features of the All New Honda City (2014 model) at the link below.
Prices (inclusive of 6% GST) start from RM71,400.87 for the 1.5l S variant to RM86,447.77 for the V variant. Price list: http://www.honda.com.my/model/pricing/allnewcity
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