Honda L13A i-DSI engine

A friend was asking me the economy of the Honda Fit/Jazz. I remembered that I read about Fit being more economical than the March/Micra and Vitz despite having a bigger 1.3 engine. I decided to confirm it from their respective websites.

Toyota’s Japan website said up to 21 km/L for the Vitz 1.0L while Honda said up to 24 for Fit. Note that Toyota quotes better fuel economy for its CVT version over 5-speed manual (like I say in my other post). Nissan March manages 19 km/L officially for the 4-speed (old) automatic and 21 km/L for 5-MT. All these figures are for Japan’s 10-15 mode. In practise I have seen that if you add reduce it by 15% you get a good estimate of how much you’ll use here in Mauritius depending on your driving style.

One model to look out for is the upcoming March in Q4 of this year. It is being rumoured to have a new 1.0 litre turbocharged engine that should provide economy and power when you need it. It’ll definitely come with a CVT, finally.

Links:

http://www.toyota.co.jp/

http://www.honda.co.jp/auto/

http://www.nissan.co.jp/MARCH/

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Another group that has potential I’d say is Axess. My suggestion would be to bring in the World Car of the Year 2008. That’s the Mazda 2/Demio that won against reputed cars like the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A5, Nissan Qashqai and Ford Mondeo! It’s a direct competitor of Toyota Vitz/Yaris and Honda Fit/Jazz/City. Fifth Gear has a review of the Mazda2:

So the Mazda Demio from Japan can be brought to Mauritius and sold with the same CVT gearbox. That would make it the ‘Most economical 1.3L (auto) on the market.’ (unless Honda or Nissan brings better) The sports version 1.5 e4WD manual would be good too with the 16 inch rim, appealing to youth… Anyway, that it what I want to buy. A black 1.5L e4WD CVT Mazda Demio…

The thing that is different with the Demio, is that it has style, is fun to drive (like Fit) and is comfortable, stable with a long wheelbase.Why haven’t they launched it yet!

List of World Car of the Year winners on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Car_of_the_Year

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Here are 5 Reasons why Mauritians should buy diesel cars instead of petrol:

1. For the same capacity, modern common-rail diesel engines (as sold in Europe) are about 20% more economical than petrol engines. Gone are the myths about expensive maintenance of diesels.
2. Diesel engines are almost always sold with a turbo charger. That means that they’re usually as powerful or more powerful than petrol engines.
3. Diesel engines give more torque at low range, meaning you don’t have to press hard on your pedal to say, overtake a vehicle. You can change gears earlier as well.
4. Europeans buy 50% of cars as diesels, not just because of economy, but also because of lower CO2 emissions. Meaning Maurice Ile Durable…
5. German luxury manufacturers prefer to promote diesels instead of hybrid-petrols. Just check out the number of benchmarks e.g. BMW 118d Efficient Dynamics winning over Prius, VW Jettat TDI making as much economy as the Prius (except in traffic jams).

There is one big problem however, Japanese don’t buy diesel cars. So you won’t find a second-hand car from Japan with a diesel engine! Not since mid 2000. Last one I know is the 2001 Corolla CE120 (many people use the misnomer NZE to refer to this model, when it should be E120: NZ is the engine). Taxes might be the reason? Like in Dubai diesel is taxed making it twice the price as petrol.

We do see diesel BMW 320d, 520d, Peugeot 307 HDi on our roads… and many 1990′s Toyota Corolla and Corona. Once duty becomes based on CO2 emission, I hope, we’ll start seeing more turbo diesel cars sold here.

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But I come to think of it… As an IT professional, I work and pay loads of income tax… If only the money you spend on university degrees and courses relevant to prioritised fields could be exempted from your taxable income? That would really encourage people to upgrade themselves. After all, we’re serving the country, the private sector, the pillars of Mauritian economy…

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Nissan March AK12

The Nissan March’s engine is 1.2L 90 horsepower on about 900 kg (about 100 hp/ton) – compare that to the Sunny’s old 1.3L 87hp on 1100 kg (that’s about 80hp/ton), for about Rs 50,000 more (and it the March is the best selling Nissan in Mauritius). Even the Tiida is here now. Tiida is the official successor of Sunny – which I doubt many Sunny-addicts realise.

Tiida’s interior is its best feature of all – it’s as big (or bigger) as the old Bluebird Sylphy, bigger than a VW Golf or Civic hatchback. The gearbox is a gem. CVT means that there is unlimited gears! It’s not the old uneconimical step-auto 4-speed that we used to get 10 years ago. CVT Automatic’s give better mileage because you can reach your reasonable speed (say 50-90) without pressing hard on the pedal (while keeping a low RPM): just like a 6-speed uses less fuel than a 4-speed manual. All that while driving smoothly without any gear-change shocks and drops in torque/power. More on CVT here.

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