Just had a short <10 mins test drive of the Persona 1.6 Manual today
Comparing to Myvi 1.3MT and Saga FLX SV MT.
The car is very stable at corner and sound proof is also very good, noise outside is hardly audible, needless to say comparing to those cars I have listed above, none can get any closer to this Persona 1.6 Manual. My gf sitting on the back and I told her to take note on road noise and other noises, she said its very quiet, body rolling is very minimal too.
Engine rev is audible when above 2.5k rpm, the sound level is acceptable comparing to models I've listed above, I also don't find any of those above are quiet than the Persona 1.6
The boomy sound from Iriz is gone, you know the feeling when you first start Iriz engine... that sound that surprise me the first time I start the car wasn't on the new Persona, it was quiet.
Talking about starting the car, I have to depress the Clutch to be able to start the car. At first I thought I need to press on the brake pedal to start. No big issue to me anyway as manual driver do sometimes forgot to check gear before starting and resulting starting the car with gear engaged, so this feature is good to prevent such incident.
RPM for 5th gear at 90km/h is at 2.5k based on the meter, I doubt it will get 2.6k rpm at speed 110km/h like I've read before.
On the acceleration, I do agree with
boss262 on the throttle delay that's kinda piss off. Including myself there's 3 person in the car during test drive.
The throttle delay feels sluggish like the car is a bit Lazy to start its acceleration even compared to Saga FLX which also uses the drive by wire tech, this gives you an impression that the car is underpower at the start. Comparing to Myvi I do need to floor down the fuel pedal more on the Persona to get the acceleration I'm looking for... or maybe the acceleration was there just that the stability and quietness of the car masked the feeling of accelerating (Note that I'm testing the car at a road directed by the SA which I'm not familiar with, so cannot pay full attention on the car's performance). But who knows, when time goes by at the time when you are used to the acceleration response, we might be able to feel it's true power. However pls note that my test drive duration is even lesser than 10 mins, so it could be that I'm just not used to the car yet.
Gear shifts is very smooth, the gear level feels solid and the distance traveled between gear changes are nearer compared to FLX, however I need to stretch my arm a little more for the gear change compared to Myvi (not to be mistaken that its hard to reach, just that I feel the one on Myvi is closer to the driver which is to my liking.
The clutch is soft and biting point is a bit high compared to my Myvi, need to release more to get the car going, but I get used to it very quickly(like on 3rd engagement). The clutch release is also very smooth compared to myvi and Saga FLX, your passenger might not even realize you're driving a MT, because gear change is very smooth, better than FLX and Myvi. The Hill hold assist I forgot to try out... or should say I totally forgot the existence of this feature due to I'm paying too much attention on other experiences at the given short test drive duration.
And I also forgot to check the door lock light which I finds too soft on the Iriz and hard to see during day time...
So here's my opinion, the car is good, just the acceleration part I don't like which could be due to the fact that I'm not used to it yet.
The test drive is very short, I would call this a first impression rather than a proper review
Where you test drive the manual unit? Im actually waiting the new saga launch first then can test drive both.
Aug 15 2016, 09:20 AM
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