The Last year has been particularly tough for Honda. Its sales trajectory has looked more Krishna Valley than Himalayan mountainside, imports like the CR-V have been at the mercy of the soaring Yen, and Honda remains the only carmaker in India with no diesel option. The worst part is that it has had to sit back and watch the competition sail past its hard-earned early lead. And that must have hurt.

But Honda has no one but itself to blame. It hasn’t been as committed to this market as its competitors and as a result its product range has been quite limited. The Japanese manufacturer has realised that just making the best cars is not good enough. It has to make cars that are best for the Indian customer. This rude awakening has prompted Honda to take some drastic steps to claw back its position. To begin with, Honda shocked the market by slashing the price of the City by Rs. 66,000 and introducing, the face-lifted Jazz at a mouthwatering Rs 5.50 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). But these are only appetisers before the main course. The Brio is what Honda is banking on for huge volumes. This baby hatchback is the cheapest that Honda has ever made in India, and it will sit below the Jazz in the range. Also, it is squarely aimed at the Swift, the current segment benchmark, and all its competitors. Honda has put its heart, soul blood, sweat and tears into what is easily the most important model for Honda in India. Have Honda’s clever engineers succeeded in creating a winner? That’s what we are here to find out.

FRESH FROM THE OVEN

The Brio has a futuristic look to it and the car will surely stand out in a parking lot. The lines are fresh, the stance is aggressive, the detailing sporty and the car has a compactness to it that’s quite appealing. Yes, it does take a while to get your head around the Brio, especially the rear, but there’s plenty to like straight off the bat. Details like the pitched-forward stance, the short overhangs which accentuate the wheels and the tightly stretched skin for a taut and dynamic look. Add the wide air intake in the chin and you have a car that is very fresh and different.

Honda has, however, used a glass-only hatch at the rear, and this takes away from some of the premium feel of the car; probably something to do with the fact that the original Maruti 800 had one. The tiny clear lens tail-lamp aren’t too attractive either and there is no rear wiper. But the biggest handicap Honda could face is that the Brio looks visually smaller than some of its rivals, which could create the perception that fits into a sub-class below.

What’s clearly evident on this car is Honda’s brilliant packaging. The 1.2-litre motor is squeezed really tight in the engine bay, the design of the dashboard is very shallow and Honda has concentrated on making the best use of the short 2345mm wheelbase, which incidentally is the shortest in its class.

Since fuel economy, performance and rigidity are all important, the Brio is pretty light too, tipping the scales at only 925kg. But this is not at the cost of rigidity, as plenty of high-strength steel and reinforcements in key areas have been used. The Brio’s suspension is well specified too. Sub-frames are used to locate important suspension bits, stronger control arms have been used instead of cheaper and more simple links and a column-type electric power steering system has been drafted in as well.

SPACE SAVER

Climb into the Brio and the first thing you notice is just how bit it is on the inside. While the cabin is not as spacious as the Jazz or the Vista, it’s so much larger than you expect and after looking at the car’s compact dimensions, it comes a surprise. It’s wider than a Swift at the front, the big windscreen helps deliver a very airy and open feel, and ingress and egress from the front seats is terrific too. Has Honda maximised all its space for front seat passengers? There’s only one way to find out. I set the driver’s seat for my five-foot-eight-inch frame, climb into the backseat and am even more surprised. There actually is plenty of legroom here too, as much as in the back of the new swift. The rear seat is pretty substantial and comfortable as well. Thigh support is good, the short backrest is reasonably supportive and there’s plenty of space for your feet under the front seats. How has Honda managed this?

The carmaker’s secret weapon for liberating space in the cabin is called ‘slenderisation’, and that actually involves putting every single bit of in-car furniture on a strict diet. So you get a dashboard squished down to its bare minimum, seats pressed almost chapatti-thin and even the door pockets seem to have been scooped out for more space. Still, sitting three abreast will only be comfortable over short distances since there’s only as much width here as in a Swift.

The dashboard with its two piece and offset centre console is unusual and may not to be to everyone’s tastes. Also, the dash has a Spartan feel to it and you can see that equipment levels aren’t very generous. However, what’s really impressive about the Brio is that despite being designed with tight cost targets in mind, it doesn’t feel like it is built using the lowest cost materials available, unlike the Etios Liva.

Some bits on the inside are actually quite nice. Honda’s soft-touch steering wheel looks very upmarket as do the instrument panel and hooded dials. The dark tan, black and being facia is quite smart but again it’s a matter of taste. The chrome rings around the air-con vents add a bit of class to the cabin and the most of the switchgear feels solid and good to operate. There’s plenty of storage too, especially ahead of the gearlever and in the big door pockets.

However, there are signs of cost cutting which didn’t escape our attention. There’s no driver’s seat height adjust, no rear parcel tray, no CD player and the rear power window switches look like they belong to a car from the ‘90s.

The boot too is quite small but again Honda has carved out every millimeter of the Brio’s limited luggage area and we were amazed by the size of bags we could fit vertically.

The new Brio does have one unique safety feature that deserves mention – the i-SRS airbag can sense the distance to your face, and that means it won’t always hit you with the ferocity of a Mike Tyson jab when it deploys.

HONDA’S LITTLE JET

The Brio has been designed to deliver a ‘concentrated Honda experience,’ and marketing spiel aside, it certainly does that. It’s the fastest, strongest performer in its class and this is apparent as soon as you wind up the little four-cylinder engine and let it stretch its legs. There’s a noticeable spike in power around 4500rpm and, like all Honda engine, its snarl tells you that it enjoys being wrung hard all the way to the 6500rpm  redline. There’s enough performance on tap to give you a nice little buzz; exactly what Honda wants to deliver. This is also the only car in its class that’s quick enough to duck under the 13-second barrier to 100kph and that means the Swift is already receding in its rearview mirror.

But despite all the variable valve trickery, the 1.2 I-VTEC lacks low end grunt. Though it’s fairly responsive on part-throttle when you floor the pedal at low revs, it takes a while to react. However, that doesn’t stop the Brio from outgunning most of the other hatchbacks when accelerating in-gear and this makes it a pretty capable performer both in the city and on the highway. The Brio, however, is best enjoyed by using the delightfully light and accurate gearshift to keep the engine on the boil. For the most part, the engine is smooth and silent but it does tend to get a bit vocal at higher engine speeds. Closing in on the redline, the engine is a touch raucous; it doesn’t feel as refined as the Swift’s K-series motor and you do get the feeling Honda could have insulated the engine bay a bit better.

Honda has also included a unique feature on this car. The letter ECO light up in green on the dash every time the car senses you are driving in an economical manner and it’s quite entertaining trying to keep the green light glowing in traffic – a fun way, if there was one, to save fuel.

Fun to drive is what the Brio is about. For a start, its power steering is a revelation for an electrical unit. It is light and easy to twirl at low speeds like most EPS systems but surprisingly well weighted and pretty direct, and that improves the driving experience tremendously. You get good feedback through corners and there’s a nice linear way in which the steering weights up. Yes, the Brio lacks the aggressive turn-in of the new Swift and it doesn’t have its body control either but this is still a car you enjoy pedaling hard.

What’s surprising is that it rides quite comfortably as well. The suspension is quite absorbent and silent and even really bad patches are sponged up without too much fuss. The short wheelbase, however, does mean it tends to get a bit choppy over some bad roads. There is some unnecessary up-and-down vertical movement too and the ride isn’t as flat or consistent as some of its rivals.

BRIO-LLIANT?

So, does the Brio have the right stuff? Does it have what it takes to go head to head against the best and hope to win? Yes, it does. It is spacious, comfortable, look good, has a fabulous engine, should deliver class-matching fuel economy and will be well serviced and looked after too. The Brio is well built and when the time comes to sell it, we are quite confident the Brio will hold its price well. Yes, a more upmarket dash would have gone a long way, it could do with a few more essential features, and a little more boot space would have been welcome. The best bit however is that Honda, after having learnt the hard way, now knows how to price its products and there’s talk of a starting price of Rs 4.3 lakh! Honda’s back with the Brio and back with a bang.