360 seconds with the new Viva

Sebana Cove is a resort off the road to Desaru in Johor. It’s a nice place along a river (supposedly a premium resort but they can’t even make two keys per room when people are forced to share rooms) and a couple of years ago, Volvo Car Malaysia gave us XC90s to drive there for a media preview. Perodua also chose the same place for the preview of the Viva but we flew to Senai (no, fortunately not on Air Asia though Perodua seemed to have a tight budget) and then took a bus ride of almost 2 hours from the airport to get there.

The test-drive session was quite unusual - 360 seconds (sounds better than 6 minutes) per car (only two allowed) on a course of 4400 metres (sounds better than 4.4 kms) at a speed of not more than 70 km/h. To give it a ‘technical feel’, we were also provided detailed information about the course (actually a road in the resort) such as the road width (8 metres), speed bump severity (4, mild), the severity of corners (large radius/R70 above), road condition (good/no patches), size of roundabout (R15) and even a note about what we could see (golf course, pier and sea view). Plus, of course, safety regulations that reminded us ‘to remain in test-drive car at all times during test-drive turns’. It sounded like a fun event and they even had tickets for us as well – one green and one red – and queue numbers. But when the drive session started, the queue system failed because people did not arrive in time for their turn as some were busy interviewing the MD or had to walk some distance to their rooms to get something, so in the end, it became a ‘first come, first drive’ thing. And it was raining too…

The 360-second test course

I’m providing these details of the event so you can understand if the driving impressions are somewhat short since there’s not a lot you can discern in just 360 seconds and even trying to check the handling in turns brings out a red flag (no joke!). Maybe Perodua tried to replicate its test course in the factory in which case, we need not have done that 2-hour bus ride.

I had a go at the Viva 660 first, as is my usual practice to start from the smallest because if you start from the biggest engine, then there may be a feeling that the smallest is inadequate. The 660 is under 800 kgs so with the new engine, it certainly zips more quickly than the Kancil. But there’s still no escaping that ‘motorboat sound’ which is characteristic of the 3-cylinder engine.

The light weight makes power steering unnecessary and there’s good road feel without it anyway. I was going to see how quick steering response was at the roundabout but as I entered the turn, a red flag suddenly appeared so I backed off. Further down the road, on a sweeping curve, another red flag flashed and I thought there was an accident, so I had to slow down. Well, if nothing else, it certainly gave me a feeling like I was in a race!

While driving in the rain, I did notice that the roof insulation is definitely better than the Kancil and Kelisa. In those two cars, I often heard the raindrops beating on the roof like stones but with the Viva, I found it muted although there did seem to be more splashing noises evident from the wheel wells. Ride comfort was fine with the 12-inch wheels and the car wasn’t thrown about much hitting the speedbumps fast.

As for the 1000 cc auto, this was quite a pleasant surprise in terms of engine response. Over the 4400 metres, I could tell that the engine had a muscular low end (for a 1000 cc engine) and revved freely to the redline when I tried using manual selection. It doesn’t have the same ‘go-kart’ character like the Kelisa which would usually put a smile on my face when I drove it. The Viva is a ‘softer’ sort of car, like the Myvi, and though it stills has fail-safe handling, I feel the Kelisa was more fun to drive. I would have liked to test the ABS, especially as the roads were wet, but that might have brought out black flags!

So that’s about all I can say about what it’s like behind the wheel. But fortunately, there was a special ‘exhibition’ set up to provide the ‘inside story’ of the Viva which was very well done indeed. The R&D people involved in the various areas were on hand to answer questions, something which is very useful as they are the ones who know best.

The first nice thing is the wide opening doors which open to 90 degrees, making it a bit like having the doors taken off. While opening that wide may not be necessary all the time, it is a good feature to have if you are loading bulky items or helping old folks in and out.

Both the Kancil and Kelisa had the ‘small car feel’ because their body dimensions were small but the Viva does not feel so ‘snug’, which will be appreciated by everyone (except perhaps lovers). The rear seating area is best for two adults but can probably take three if one is not too ‘wide’.

Dashboard is well designed, more functional than Kancil and Kelisa	Vanity mirror only for driver (on some versions)

The dashboard has a nice design which is very polished in overall look and feel, especially the centre section. Though it doesn’t have the ‘integrated’ style like the Myvi, I think that many buyers will be happier because the audio head unit is a conventional 1DIN type and can be changed easily. So those who liked having ‘boom-boxes’ in their Kancil can also do so in the Viva. Maybe with the larger cabin volume, they’ll also enjoy nice reverberations and echoes!

Netting in the boot is a nice idea but better if it is also strung across the opening to prevent things from falling out.

One thing which Perodua’s R&D head, Hiroyasu Hirata, asked me to check out was the feel of the switchgear. He said that extra effort had gone into giving a better feel and when I rotated the ventilation knobs, they did feel solid. Unlike some low-cost models, fresh air ventilation is still available in the Viva.

When I used to test the Kancil, one of the things I disliked was not having a proper place to put small items, especially a handphone. There was no tray between the seats so often, everything would be thrown on the floor in front of the passenger’s seat. Thankfully, the Viva has a console tray between the seats and also door pockets. I did ask a designer whey they didn’t consider providing a slot for the toll card (which is in Korean models) and he said that they did look into that at one time but feedback from customers was that there was a fear of it attracting thieves if so visible. Instead, what they have provided is a small drop-open utility box to the right of the steering column which can keep such items, but out of sight. It’s big enough for a handphone too.

Overall build quality in the cars provided was good, which is hardly surprising as Perodua does put in a lot of effort. They pay big bucks for the JD Power reports each year to identify quality issues and try to resolve them. One example is the blower noise which, though still loud, has a better ‘note’ in the Viva; it’s not rough and ‘raspy’ even at its fastest speed.

It offers technology that was previously not available in this segment. Safety provisions are higher too, something which was simply not possible to upgrade with the designs of the older models. I think that this area is something very important in this segment because of the size of the cars as well as the fact that many drivers will be first-timers and statistics show that this group is often more likely to have accidents due to inexperience and age.

As a replacement for the Kelisa and Kancil, the Viva is definitely up to the task.