Hey there Constant Reader!
Those of you who know me personally will know that Farah’s coming home at the end of April. *Sigh* another two whole months of eating my own cooking. *sigh*

Anyway, I’ve recently started scouting out potential cars to buy in the next 6 months. Well, she will be needing a car by the time she starts working in September, and I thought it’d be nice if I could buy her a car as a birthday present sometime in August.

Since she wanted something small-ish, sporty and in her own words, “bukan macam kereta roti ban” e.g. Kelisa, Suzuki Swift etc. I’ve somewhat narrowed down the criteria to these:

1. Priced up to MYR100,000

2. “Bukan macam roti ban”

3. Safety features must include airbags, ABS, EBD.

4. Sporty

The cars I’m thinking about currently are:
Peugeot 308 VTI
Honda City i-VTEC
Honda Civic & Civic Hybrid (okay, these are above MYR100k, but they’re an exception!)
Fiat Bravo (no idea what the price is)
Proton Satria Neo CPS
Toyota Vios
Suzuki Swift (despite the ban-ness)


So today, I trundled along Jalan Bangsar after Zohor prayers, and decided to stop by the Peugeot showroom. Seems I’m in luck: a couple had just finished with the test-drive 308 VTI model, and in the space it took to say, “Man, that car’s bigger than I thought it was”, I was strapped in the driver’s seat, grinning from ear to ear.

I can’t help it. I love European cars. I know the resale value is pretty limited, but heck.

First impressions were good. The car’s a bit bigger than I had expected from the pictures I’ve seen. Sliding effortlessly into the driver’s seat, it seems that the dashboard was pretty well designed, conveying an impression of sporty elegance and spaciousness. AC vents (five of ‘em in front, two at the back) were well-styled, reminding me of a Mini Cooper. Speaking of Mini’s, the engine of the 308 VTi is the same as the latest-generation Mini, due to the engine being a collaboration between Peugeot and BMW.
Coming back to the driver’s seat perspective, the seat position was pretty high, making me feel like I’m driving an SUV. This allowed for a clear view of the road, and I did not notice substantial blindspots during the test drive (unlike the massive B-pillar obstruction on my BMW 118i). I’m sure the seat is adjustable for those preferring a more “cockpit”-ty feel, but for lady drivers, I think they’d appreciate the extra visibility one gets from the 308. Especially when parking the butt-heavy beast.

Speaking of safety, the 308 VTi’s packed with what I need: 4 airbags (front only), ABS, EBA & EBD, auto rear-hazard lights on emergency braking & 2 ISOFIX points (The saleswoman claimed there were three ISOFIX points for baby seats at the back, but I noticed in the official specs brochure that there was only two. Still, it’s better than most cars).

The drive was smooth, with the engine purring through the KL roads. At 120 hp @ 6,000 rpm and torque of 160 Nm @ 4,250 rpm, it was no slouch, but still it struggled a bit going uphill at Bukit Pantai (compared to the Beemer). Mind you, most cars in its class would struggle there anyway. Having said that, one would have to keep revving the car at a pretty high rate to enjoy the torque; I didn’t get the chance to drive the Turbo version, but with a whopping 240Nm of torque @ 1,400 rpm, I think it’s safe to say that performance-wise, the Turbo version kicks the VTi a$$ big-time.

Steering was nice and tight; it did not feel too light, although I did not feel much steering feedback as I would have liked. Braking was also too light for my liking, and I had to adjust my usual braking style to the 308: my usual leaden-footed gimme-all-you-got braking manoeuvre would have resulted in a messy rear-ender in about 5 seconds flat.

Rear seats were sufficient. Definitely bigger legroom than my current car. Rear AC vents is cool: no longer will I hear requests like “can you adjust the AC to the back, please?” Bootspace is a substantial 430 litres, smaller than the City, but sufficient for most purposes.

Overall, I like this car. The VTi may be underpowered to a certain degree, but maybe I’m used to more powerful cars. It’s all subjective at the end of the day anyway. I think the resale value for this car is going to be better than most Pugs, given its increasing popularity... more so the Turbo version than the VTI, I think. And at MYR96,500 on-the-road price, it won’t burn a hole in your pocket (financing package: up to 90% loan @ 2.5-2.7%).

Well, not as big a hole as a Jazz anyway.

Next up... the 2009 Honda City!