|
You can hear the diesel engine growling away at all times. Because the engine is in a separate compartment, the noise is unobtrusive, unlike in vans where the engine is sitting right below your butt. Which allowed us to enjoy the Starex’ excellent sound system. 6-CD changer and boom-box bass kept us amused while puttering around town. I’m sure some of you are thinking, enough of the driving—my driver can handle it; what’s it like in the back, where I’m gonna sit? Well, the rear aircon (with foot vents) is adequate but not freezingly cold. Seats are softly stuffed, and so is the seat fabric. Ride comfort is excellent in the second row of seats, but third-row ride is a bit bumpy. At least the firm ride takes the wallowing motion out of the equation. In all three rows, there’s almost as much legroom as in your favorite THX theatre, so you can stretch out and nap if someone else is doing the driving. This particular van has already proven its mettle by going from Manila to Baguio and back (about 600 km total), with a full load of passengers and luggage on the rooftop storage bin. No problems with overheating or reliability whatsoever on that trip. Mileage varied from 9 km/liter on the straight portions, to a measly 4 km/l on the steep uphill portions of the winding Kennon Road. Average mileage is an unimpressive 6 km/l. Can a single guy or girl be comfortable with this? Or even a couple with just one kid, no driver? Quite frankly, no. A single guy or girl with a million bucks to spend and a need for luggage space will be better off with a muscular pickup truck. A couple with just one kid can go for a plush sedan or wagon (Camry, CRV, HRV, Accord, Galant, Cefiro, etc.—take your pick.). This van was made strictly to haul people—lots of them. We hope that car-based MPVs like the Toyota Sienna/Picnic will make their way into our market. However, with the poor peso continuing to suffer because of our esteemed president, that seems unlikely. Given that Honda stopped selling its excellent Odyssey minivan after the first generation (ditto the Mazda MPV) says to us that these car-based vans have become too expensive to compete. Witness the puny Chevy Zafira retailing for a whopping P1.1 million. |
|
||||||
