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Honda Life
Debut: 2004
Maker: Honda
Predecessor:
Life |
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 The
Japan-only Life was renewed in late 2003. As before, it falls in the
K-car
category, bounded by 3.4m length and 1.475m width. However, Honda still
found ways to increase its wheelbase by 60mm to 2420mm, which is
class-leading.
For instance, Daihatsu Mira is 2390mm; Suzuki Wagon R is 2360mm. This
gives
it an extraordinary roomy interior. The new Life also has a highly
flexible
seating plan. The most special of which is that the front passenger
seat
is mounted on rails thus can slide forward to give the driver access to
the rear cabin or to place big things inside the car. Another strength
of the car is an expensive looking dashboard which employs high quality
materials rarely seen in this class.
Mechanically,
there is also
some surprises. Life employs a new i-DSI engine similar to the Fit /
Jazz’s.
This is a 3-cylinder engine displacing 658cc, with just 2 valves per
cylinder
to accommodate a couple of spark plugs. Twin-spark design enables
quicker
propagation of fire thus cleaner combustion and lower fuel consumption.
It also enables a higher compression ratio to raise power, partly
compensating
the less efficient 2-valve head. Besides, this i-DSI engine has
unusually
oversquare combustion chambers, with a big 71mm bore and short 55.4mm
stroke.
This also leads to higher revvability hence higher power.
 In
normally aspirated form, the engine pumps out 52hp and 45lft of torque.
This rivals well with Daihatsu’s and Suzuki’s 4-valve and VVT-equipped
engine (58hp / 47lbft and 54hp / 46lbft respectively) while has an
advantage
in fuel consumption and production cost.
Turbocharged
version of the
engine generates 64hp (limited by regulation) and 69lbft.
Surprisingly,
there is no
CVT transmission available, just a 4-speed automatic with lockup
mechanism.
Suspensions are conventional MacPherson struts up front and
torsion-beam
axle at the rear.
Externally,
the
new Life
looks a little odd at the front end. But it is less conventional than
the
current class-leader Daihatsu Mira. Whether it can beat Mira is left to
be seen. |
| The
above report was last updated on 17 Aug
2004. All Rights Reserved. |
That's
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 Derived
from Life, That’s shares floorpan and all major parts with its sister.
What differs - if too trivial to most of us - is the pursuit of maximum
space out of the basically identical exterior dimensions, hence a boxy
profile. At least the styling is more contemporary. |
| The
above report was last updated on 8 Feb 2003. All
Rights Reserved. |
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