Honda’s cute little car, the Brio has been around since a long time. The continuous sales dip of the car amidst the launch of the better options from the competitors really asked Honda to launch a new facelift model. Now that Honda is out with the Brio facelift at the last, we spend some time with it to know if it is late to the party or if it can still pull in some numbers.
Looks
The Honda Brio is a cute little thing. Honda has worked to make the car develop mature looks very nicely. The Brio now gets the family face with the new single-bar grille, that replicates the look of the new Honda cars. The bumper has been upgraded and the whole car now looks slightly more aggressive. Thankfully, there is no more chrome staring at your face now. The Brio really looks much more mature and better than what it used to look.
From the rear too, Honda has managed to give the Brio a very nice aged looks. The car gets a bigger roof mounted spoiler and a set of trademark round tail lamps. The new Brio also gets new alloy wheels, which look alright but would have really looked better if they were in a darker shade, similar to the color of the grille. On the outside, these are the only changes, major upgrade work has happened on the inside of the car.
Interiors
The Brio now looks much more premium from the inside. The car gets a brand new dashboard to start with. The dashboard is similar to the one that is available with the BR-V. The circular AC vents of the car have been replaced with a set of sleeker rectangular ones that are get brushed aluminum inserts. The premium looking brushed aluminum look elevates the look of the car to a whole new level.
There is a new infotainment system with gloss black surrounds and the best part is the new carbon fibre inspired design pattern that really makes the car stand out from the rest. Lower variants of the car get the beige interiors. Honda has improved the quality of the fabrics massively though.
The infotainment system is similar to the one in BR-V too, there is no touchscreen in the car but the infotainment system does a fairly good job of making the interiors look premium. The system can get hooked up with phone through Bluetooth and can be operated through steering mounted controls.
Engine
Till now, there was only the petrol 1.2-litre i-VTEC engine available with the Brio and the car continues to offer the same. There is no diesel engine as everyone expected. The petrol engine develops a maximum power of 88 BHP along with 109 Nm of maximum torque. Now Honda is known for their quality petrol engines and the Brio drips every inch of of that quality. The petrol engine is smooth and very quiet. There is no vibrations. Honda gives a 5-speed manual gearbox as standard but also offers 5-speed automatic with the Brio. There is no CVT because of the cost involved but the Brio automatic is very smooth and behaves very well even during the worst of traffic situations.
Should you buy one?
It has been a really long time since Honda Brio has been around. With the competition becoming so stiff, Honda should have worked a little more to bring out a revamped product than the mere facelift job. The car also costs more than competition but does not offer a very long feature list. To say the least, Honda banked upon the brand name for a bit too long. It will be a difficult job for Honda to sell the car with this price tag and so little to offer.
