The Rusa has a TERRIBLE ride. I drove a (badly maintained) one, and it was scary as hell even at low speeds! No complaints about the 1.6 with manual box, the stick is way too long, but it has quite some power. Very spacious too.

If you want good ride quality... Renault Kangoo. Easily beats the Myvi, Saga, Alza, Vios, City and probably many more for comfort, front and back. In places where others slow down a lot I don't, the suspension just eats it up. I've been in other cars, and since then I can understand why they slow down. In a Rusa those bits could even cause you to lose control of the car. The Kangoo feels like a normal hatchback or sedan that happens to have a really high roof and a wonderful sliding door for easy entry. No more bending down to enter the car.

It has a really big boot, and if you can find one in a good condition and maintain it properly (not too expensive IMHO) it'll also serve you well (and not too expensive). If you get a thrashed ex-company car, then prepare the lube, this is going to hurt.

Big issue to me is the automatic gearbox though, I have a rather fast and furious driving style, but while my Renault Kangoo 1.4 with 75 hp consumes roughly 10-12 liter per 100 km. In comparison my Citroen Xsara 1.4, again 75 hp, but 5 speed manual, consumes 6-7 liter. Even when I was driving almost full throttle/full throttle for a long time, doing 150-170 it hardly got over 7 liter. (Granted it is much more aerodynamic).

The Xsara is a C segment hatchback, think Golf. I like mine a lot, though mine is the facelifted car that underwent some suspension etc. tweaks. This particular model never made it to Malaysia, the pre-FL car did.

My recommendation is the Kangoo, but it really can go both ways. Easy-ish to maintain or nightmare. But in terms of driving it is miles ahead of the usual suspects, being based on a B segment conti. It's a Clio with a higher roof and a bit stretched. The new Kangoo is a more mature and grown up car (Megane Scenic, a C segment MPV is the basis), but that never made it to Malaysia.

This post has been edited by kadajawi: Sep 10 2015, 02:54 AM