We’re reporting live from the 2011 Bangkok Motor Show, which for the first time is held at IMPACT Muang Thong Thani, the biggest exhibition centre in the Thai capital. Ford attracted plenty of attention thanks to the all-new Ranger pick-up truck, which we showed you yesterday, but there were other noteworthy showcars as well. One of them is the Honda Brio, which made its debut as a production car in Thailand last week.
Powered by an an i-VTEC four-cylinder 1.2-litre SOHC engine with 90 and 110 Nm, this Thai eco car is the entry level Honda fighting tasked with fighting the brisk selling Nissan March. With two transmission options – 5-speed manual and CVT – the Brio comes in two trim levels, S and V.
As usual, official photos show the top spec car in the most flattering way, so our live gallery focuses on the threadbare S spec, which is priced at 399,900 baht in Thailand. We also have images of the highest V spec CVT model for comparison. Note that airbags, ABS and EBD are standard across the range, even on the kosong S spec.
There were many lining up to touch and feel the Brio, and I was part of the queue too. Space wise, it obviously felt smaller inside compared with the Jazz and Myvi from the segment above, but it’s far from cramped. The light colours did its part here, and the front seats are more supportive than those in the Hyundai i10.
Plastics are of course hard at this price point, but the panel surrounding the instruments and radio has a different texture and is of a different colour – it works well. At the back, yours truly and a fellow media member of a similar 175 cm height had no problems fitting in. Headroom and legroom is adequate with the front seat set to my position. With rear seats in place, the boot is a deep but slim hole, and the load lip is relatively high.
View the full live gallery after the jump.
Honda Brio S spec
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Honda Brio V spec
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Honda Brio official images
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rear boot has limited space compare to viva….
put an woofer, habis..
they use steel wheel for show car!!
wonder how does this brio drives?
Interior just doesn’t look like a Honda. What’s with the big kosong panel in the cheapest version, at first I thought it was an LCD display.
This is how cars in the the 1980s were. Simple. Without all kinds of electronic rubbish.
true lah bro..
the plastics, adoiiii….
frustrating laa!
At first glance I thought too an LCD display. Aiyo….like my friend said “Tipah tertipu”.
haha…. A viva 660cc wannabe.
How glad if it was a Lcd display…
My first point of view was lcd.. then after read the comment only realize it was a plastics cover… Disappointed. Dun bring it to Malaysia, i dunwan to see U …!!
people in honda must laugh at us now and say “you want a cheap car? now you get a cheapest car” lol…
Still cannot digest the antenna……even proton don’t put that on their current models…arrghhh
So damn hot.must be a real contender to myvi 1.5
beutiful or not, is really subjective..
for me, the exterior is so so, but the interior is yuck!!!
look at the pictures, the dashboard, steering, gear knob, and the seat in one peice, all look cheap and outdate.. althought not touching on it, but the images show the quality is so poor…
nice~ FOR HIM. (r) oo
the basic got no audio.. emm..?
for such RM40k car.. got no audio… wth~!
i can see proton’s booth in front of the brio’s
anything special from them?
Nothing new from Proton. They brought the Lekir concept shown at KLIMS.
http://paultan.org/2010/12/02/proton-lekir-concept-would-a-proton-badged-lotus-europa-sports-car-work/
This Sucks!!
FUGLY.
That’s the only thing I can say.
depan ok.. tapi belakang sangat2 out, does not complement each other..
freaking ugly…wonder who’se the designer
How about the interior quality compared to Hyundai i10?
I think i10 interior better lah. This brio’s interior is oly comparable to MyVi
seriously fugly…yuckk….
looking at honda’s design nowadays….clueless. really don’t know what is their direction.
hey,i really like its body curve,but i really2 hate both its head n tail lamps!
ugly interior…..nano more better ….
lol…
Really looks cheap and nasty!
ugly……
Is it just me or does the manual gear looks like a tesla coil?
hahahah….true
Main banyak sangat Red Alert ni :P
But I agree, hahaha, just like a tesla coil indeed :D
ahaha, mmg macam tesla coil
Of all the comments… Tesla coil.. hahaha!
Anyway this is supposed to be a cheap Honda car so I guess the quality is as expected.
Honda can’t put in much with a small pricetag.
fugly!
it will be expensive in bolehland, but again, its honda ppl will buy one.
it already expensive in thai!
frankly speaking, Kancil’s boot are larger than Brio’s. No offence.
i don’t know why, but i really dislike this car
Nice exterior design but the dashboard .. well.. how to say it without offending Honda fan..well.. better don’t say it :-)
Hey, read what Mr Paul write first then baru tengok comments lah.. btw bashing = interesting & irresistable heheh ^(‘o’)^
Is it coming here by any chance?
the one with steel rim remind me of proton savvy lite few years ago
omg. the boot space can only fit small backpacks?
Buy proton emas lah…hahaha
i think, the price is relevant compare to its design n spec..
But when it comes to our land, everything turn upside down..huh
naza sutera clone!
Minimal in every way.. Not sure about the price we it reaches the shore.. huhhu
sure got alot of bengbrio next time…
How about the interior quality compared to i10?
kereta sorong inspired rims..honda people in Malaysia surely will like it no matter what…sigh~
omg, the rear end looks so wrong..
so Brio, what’s all the hype with the power of dreams and shit?
I used to think HONDA products were great, especially when they had the ASIMO gag unveiled to the world last time (yeah, I was laughing). now, the ONLY sustainable future i see in Honda would be their bikes and that would be a letdown too once these homo-designers put their hands onto Honda bikes, sooner or later.
cool. check out the steel rims?
Hey, in the 2nd pic of the S spec gallery, DSC_1006, there’s a Proton booth! what did proton show over there??
astonishing wheelbarrow
looks like a more premium version of proton savvy baseline models, just look at that steel rims,never though to see steel rim in a honda ! very scary indeed
Probably one of the worst honda car ever built.
another one is the latest honda civic…
Looks like Honda is back to basic again… remember the 1st gen Civic hatchback? Hmm… if it happens to reach Malaysia, I’m guessing “now everyone can buy a Honda”. Should the cheapest Honda available in the market eh… and i expect it to sell like hot cakes… the Dugong Vios is serious example there, despite the negative comments on the looks…
Because it is a Honda, it will sell for 50K here, (at least) and people will queue up for it! Pity. But it can beat Nissan March because of the brand too.
50K so cheap meh!! At lease 70K…Honda mah, those die hard fans and Vtec kaki support one! And sell like hot cake. Honda Malaysia pls bring it in and sell at 70K !! :-)
wow.. the S spec is quite nice.. a decent basic spec.. kinda like it..
Agree, looks like the first generation Civic.
Oklah the car. But will be expensive at Bolehland. But still a Honda. Lets imagine is a Perodua or Proton? Wht u guys u say about it??
lagi teruk kena kutuk…hahahha
the only thing i dislike about this car is…
1) Antenna design so 90’s
2)Manual rear window
Nice car.
nak untung jer lebih. nanti kalau masuk malaysia jadi macam freefd jugak laaa
WTF?
B399,000 for a manual no frills version
Savvy is cheaper & much better than this POS.
http://www.protonthailand.com/index.php?action=savvy_price&lang=en
Doesn’t really matter, both abang and adik…
gimme a break lol
Car really is sparse and looks cheap. But I bet you a lot of Malaysian will buy just becoz they want to tell people “I own a Honda”..hahaha
The rear looks really so so…the rear wind screen is also serve as the rear bonnet so any minor accident happen the screen will scrap as no metal frame to hold it.
But for a price of ~RM40k can start to own a Honda model so that are the spec…what are the model with similar money value in boleh land…(P1, P2…) not much.
better buy honda EX-5..
WOW…
at least we can commend on this for a RM40K car, it has Airbags ABS and EBD.
“Note that airbags, ABS and EBD are standard across the range, even on the kosong S spec.”
Exactly, not many cars in this price range are as well equipped re: abs airbags, ebd. Even the base model jazz had a single airbag until recently. Dropping these would have reduced the price close to 300-50K baht. It’s a good buy in Thailand but probably not as good a value for money in Malaysia.
Personally I’ll be looking at the top model manual version. This engine has proven itself in the uk honda jazz (90 hp, manual, 0-100 12.5 sec). Brio same engine, manual, 140 kg LESS at 920 kg, 0-100 ??? It won;t be fast but not slow either.
To me the main drawback is the lack of variety – need a cheap auto version like in the March; no dark interior (but the beige makes it look larger inside).
I’ll stop short of saying it’s ugly – it is what it is for its price – fuel efficient basic transport. Other cars are more attractive but also cost much more too. So attractiveness is just part of the equations (though a large part for some people, it seems). It will look fine with black windows, lowered on 16″ wheels.
This is insulting to HONDA fans…can’t believe HONDA do this to us…argghhhh!!
eeeeeee…. what an ugly interior!
kosong version no radio?
but better la got abs, ebd, airbag.. but if put radio will void warranty..
No worry got ipod mah!
just look that that low rent cabin…..an i10 would be considered a luxury cabin compared to that
Hope that (if could) HONDA Malaysia will sell this BRIO with both trans (auto & manual)…
this car is good enuf for every day city driving la…exterior ok..interior a bit like viva…hope it can come to malaysia….then can compare side by side….
macam viva …
Rim macam viva aje
hey honda..put cover rim la…very ugly like this… cover rim also want to cut cost ka??
ouch…i also tertipu..i think it got LCD..butttt…just got cheap plastic cap…..aircond fin also too much thin… i bet kancil or and savvy is more better in dashboard design
Interior quality looks cacat ! Honda cutting cost left and right now…terrible.
To keep the price competitive, Honda reduce the accessories but keep the ABS, EBD, Airbag.
Proton and Perodua, add on accessories but remove ABS, EBD and Airbag to keep the price competitive. Look at the Myvi LE, add those fancy but not practical accessories, but remove the ABS. Buy this car if you can compromise your safety for those cheap accessories.
Honda: Safety first!
Proton and Perodua: You don’t crash your car I don’t have people to buy my new car!
to be honest proton emas has more leg room!
Supposedly Honda is trying to copycat Proton or Perodua…cut here…cut there..cut budget…After 2 or 5 years, you can actually see the resemblance between Honda cars and Protons’