2019 Honda Brio: First impression

The Honda Brio has been among the top contenders in the segment ever since it was launched in the country. However, its rivals eventually caught up as time passed by and the Brio didn’t receive any major upgrades to make things right. Fortunately, things will now be different because Honda Philippines has finally launched the all-new and 2019 Brio. This is a much-deserved upgrade that Honda should have brought in much earlier. Anyways, better late than never, right?

The new Honda Brio is available in 4 variants with the RS Black Top being the most expensive one at Php 732,000. Since the car is here in flesh, let’s have a close look at the new boy in town and try to find out what makes it better than the previous model. Here is our first impression of the new Brio.

Exterior

We give a big thumbs up to Honda for revamping the exterior of the new Brio. If it would have been just a minor facelift with some new stickers, it would have ruined the moment. Thankfully, it isn’t. The new Honda Brio comes with large multi-reflector halogen headlamps that make the hatchback look a bit bigger from the front. Thanks to the LED parking light guide, the car now looks modern. There is the Honda signature grille at the front housing in a sporty bumper.

The side profile of the new Brio is enhanced by the new alloy wheels. Moving to the rear end of the car, we find the roof-mounted rear spoiler to the best feature. The small tail light clusters fit in perfectly and match the overall size and dimensions of the car. We also like the sporty rear bumper.

If you want your Brio to stand out from the crowd then we would advise you to go for the range-topping RS Black Top model as it comes with certain exclusive elements which make it look better than the others. For example, it has a black roof and a black front grille instead of the chrome one. It even comes with large 15-inch RS design alloy wheels and power folding door mirrors with side turn signals.

Interior

Honda has tweaked the interior of the new Brio as well. Things look more mature now as many round elements have given way to the angular ones. Another great touch by Honda is the silver or orange linings inside the car. This depends on the variant you pick and freshens up things even more.

The new Brio comes with a new 7-inch touch screen infotainment system that supports Bluetooth and USB connectivity. However, this feature is limited to the higher end models. The base model gets a single-DIN stereo system only.

The fit & finish and the quality of materials are more or less the same as before. However, the interior space has been increased by a bit as the new 2019 Brio is a tad bit bigger than the previous model.

Engine

Talking about the 2019 Honda Brio specs, the new hatchback now comes with a new motor. Honda decided to retire the old 1.3-litre unit and replace it with a new 1.2-litre i-VTEC mill that has been tuned to produce a max power of 90 PS at 6000 rpm and a peak torque of 110 Nm at 4800 rpm. This is the only engine option available across the range. As far as the transmission is concerned, the base model comes with a manual gearbox whereas the rest of the models are equipped with Honda’s Earth Dreams technology CVT unit.

Safety features

This is an area where we think Honda could have improved things a bit more because there aren’t many safety features to talk about. Basically, we get only dual airbags and ABS as the main safety features.

The new 2019 Honda Brio price is Php 585,000 for the base model. This is an introductory price that Honda Philippines is offering till 30th June 2019. So, if you’re interested in buying this new hatchback, now is the time. Avail the benefits of the introductory prices. The new Brio is available in 5 different colors - Taffeta White, Rallye Red, Modern Steel, Carnival Yellow, and our favourite Phoenix Orange.