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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Let’s start by listing the different types of gearboxes available:

• 5-speed manual – these are standard on many vehicles now since the 1990′s. In this one the gears are fixed. The gear lever is used to change between the gears 1,2,3,4,5 and R. Of course, you get better economy when you’re in the highest gear and your throttle is lowest. To accelerate, you have to switch gear to prevent the engine from running too loud (too fast en faite). You’ll use more fuel at 60kph under 3rd gear than in 5th gear because you’d be running a petrol engine at 2500 rpm (tours par minutes) rather than 1500 rpm.
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• 4-speed step automatic – this is the awed slow thirsty automatic. It has only 1,2,3,4 and R. If you have to compare these ratios to the 5-MT above, it’ll be like 1.5, 2.5, 4, 6 and R for Toyota. The gear changes can be more abrupt and the last gear, known as an overdrive, is made for economy. The problem with this type of step auto is that there is loss in power due to its design. Some technical reason for that. It is prevalent in vehicles designed before the early/mid-2000 as well as some new cars. Don’t go buy a brand new automatic Corolla in Mauritius cause that’s what you’ll get! It’s also what you get in the Mazda 3 1st gen and most automatic second hand cars from Singapore (Japanese prefer CVT).
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• 6-speed manual – this is becoming the new standard. Germans Luxuries and sports cars (even Japanese) have been having it for years now. You have then in many lower end cars in Europe and USA now e.g. Corolla, Avensis, Civic, Lancer etc. The gear ratios depend on the type of vehicle it’s made for. Sports cars won’t be more economical. Whereas a 6-speed Civic will be more economical than a 5-speed Civic, because you’ll run the engine at a lower rpm for the same road speed.
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• 5-speed automatic – improved over the 4-speed. You used to get this in luxury cars only. Now you have it in the new Honda City sold in our local market. It’s much more economical than the 4-AT.
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• CVT automatic - Continuously Variable Transmission, like the name says, constantly changes the gear ratio such you have a continuous range from Gear 1 to 6. You can compare it to a 20-speed gearbox. So there’s no shock, and changing of gear! E.g. in a Honda Fit (not Jazz), you can accelerate from 0 to 60kph while keeping the engine at a constant 1500 rpm in less time than a 5-speed manual. The gearbox electronics control the engine rpm based on how hard you press the accelerator. So it’s smoooth, more economical than a manual. Video here: CVT Explained from Youtube
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  All new Japanese cars made for Japan – meaning second hand! have CVT e.g. Vitz 2nd gen (we call it Yaris here), Mazda Axela (Mazda3 here), Toyota Corolla Axio, Civic, Mitsubishi Cedia (Lancer), Galant Fortis (Lancer EX). Note that only ABC motors is selling CVT in a Japanese brand in Mauritius. You have CVT gearboxes in the Tiida and Murano (yeah it’s sports SUV).
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  Second hand vehicles from Singapore usually have 4-AT. E.g. the Honda Jazz will have 4-AT or 5-AT while the Fit has CVT automatic.

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• Double-Clutch 6-speed – this is the standard automatic you get in sports cars including Lancer Evolution, Porsche, Ferrari and most automatic supercars. As the name says, this one has 2 gearboxes close to each other. One has gears 1,3,5 and the other 2,4,6. While you’re driving in 2nd gear, the other gearbox can be in 3rd. Once you press the paddle (gear shifter), you can imagine the speed in switching. It’s more expensive but sporty as well.
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• Double-Clutch 7-speed – newer version of the DC-6, seen it only in super cars. Bugatti claims that it’d be impossible to accelerate 0-100kph in less than 3 seconds with a manual gearbox. So they developed a 7-speed double clutch for the record breaker 1001hp Bugatti Veyron.
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• 6-speed step automatic only for rear wheel drives due to their size. You get is in BMW’s.
• 8-speed step automatic only on Toyota Crown and Lexus IS-F.

Well lorries have even more gears, but that’s another subject. Gearbox types in bold are the ones you have to know about.

So the point is that before you buy an automatic car, check if it’s CVT. If it’s the old 4-AT, prepare for lower economy. The problem with CVT now is that they cannot handle the load of a big lorry or bus engine. So these vehicles are stuck with step-auto until further development. Like manuals, they use oil. And another precaution is not to drive in neutral gear (you wouldn’t need to) because of reduced oil pressure…

I’ll write more soon.

Useful websites to learn more are:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/

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

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There has been a clear lack of 1. correct models and options for Mauritius; 2. inaccurate and incomplete marketing campaigns. Let’s take them one by one. Anyone who wants to critic me is open to do so.

Let’s consider the E150 Corolla that they’ve been bringing for about 2 years only as a 4-speed automatic 1.5L. Now come on, everyone knows that Mauritians who buy Japanese prefer manual gearbox. Simply offering only that (in ads) was a deterrant to many Toyota-lovers. Ah, it’s only now, after so many months that they’ve started to offer the 1.6L 5-speed manual… Late I’d say, when the market has been taken by Honda Civic and Mitsubishi Lancer (Iframac claims the Lancer to be no 1 in sales for mid-size vehicles for 2007 and 2008 although the Lancer is more a compact sedan rather than a mid-size -MotorMag, June 2009).
The Avensis is still the old model too, and the Camry has an inefficient engine, and is almost as big as a Premio/Allion: it won’t sell! 2.4L means huge taxes.

The local car market believes strongly in Japanese cars and the suitability of their models.

1. The Corolla Axio E140 is more suited to our market, with a short length but same interior space, and as wide as previous generations. Bring in the 5-sp manual and the CVT automatic (yeah, the economical one, not the retard 4-speed step-auto).

2. Bring in the CVT version of the Yaris as well. Small car buyers are women who want comfort rather than control. That would be smooth and economical while being an automatic.

3. The Allion/Premio 1.5L/1.8L sister cars are going to sell if they bring it. Allion with aero kit would definitely appeal the youth who are not taking the dated Avensis. Ah, that’s another model that should see the new version sell, which is already selling in Europe. The 1.6L Valvematic engine will do justice. Bring in the diesel version and sell for economy as well.

4. No to Camry. The Mark X would do a better job at higher end. With a 2.5L V6 doing 210hp (vs 170 something for the Camry) while being more economical and better looking. That would be the answer to the Cefiro/Teana. Mark X is larger than the Camry and it’s built on the solid Crown Royal sedan platform. After all, Mauritian car buyers are more Japanese than American…

5. Auris is the hatchback version of the Corolla E150. That definitely needs to be here to face the increasing sale of the Tiida (given similar dimensions). Same gearboxes as the Corolla and sell it as the Corolla Auris.

6. Where are the smaller cars? Peugeot is already selling the 107 with a Yaris engine (which is similar to the Toyota Aygo), so bring that here! Small cars sell good in Mauritius.

Now about the campaign. Imagine how disgusted I was when I barely saw any USP in the Camry ad. Where’s the USP’s? It’s the best selling car in USA for over
10 years, has very comfortable interior and boot etc… Same for the Corolla, after all, it’s the best selling car in the world and also the most reliable according to some… I would do a better job at the press ads and billboards…

And here I claim that if I were to choose the models to sell in Mauritius and lead their marketing campaigns, there would be a clear rise in their market share within months of making the changes!

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