Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI), represented by its luxury H350 van and by the Hyundai Grand Starex, shone once again on the global stage as Official Vehicle Partner of the 2018 FIA Motorsports Conference, organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in collaboration with the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP).

Sleek and stylish. Powerful and exhilarating. Intuitive and intelligent. These are just some of the adjectives that aptly describe the titleholder of this year’s World Car of the Year award. Given at the New York International Auto Show, Volvo’s midsize premium SUV: the XC60 has yet again earned another accolade to add to its already long list of awards.

The Petron x Philippine Endurance Challenge (Petron PEC) is a battle of attrition, racing non-stop to see who can go the farthest around the clock. But the 2018 edition of the 4 Oras ng Pilipinas had several new elements that added to the difficulty of the event. Not only did the mixed 23-car grid had to brave non-stop rain, but the merger of the Kalayaan Cup meant that several teams had to outlast the full 12 hours.

All British Cars marked the inaugural opening of the official Jaguar and Land Rover showroom located at 1008 EDSA Greenhills, San Juan City.

Motor Image Pilipinas, Inc., the exclusive distributor of Subaru vehicles in the Philippines, invites everyone to be a part of a truly unique driving experience in the coming months.

Columbian Autocar Corporation (CAC), the distributor of Kia vehicles in the Philippines, encourages Kia owners to explore the outdoors, share, and mark their photos on the Kia Motors Philippines Facebook page with #MyKiaPH.

Waze, the world’s largest community-based mobility app and a Google company, has appointed Sarah Rodriguez as Country Manager for the Philippines.

Two top-tier touring car racing series will race together under a joint series starting in 2019. Germany’s Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) and Japan’s Super GT have finalized plans for a joint regulation under “Class 1” starting with two races in 2019.

Porsche just gifted itself with an awesome birthday present in the 911 Speedster Concept. Produced to commemorate the German brand’s 70th anniversary, the 911 Speedster Concept is a road-ready study (i.e. we’ll produce it if you clamor hard enough) that puts driving experience as the main focus of the car.

Grab is introducing a new feature that should help keep its riders at ease during lone commutes, especially at night: an Emergency SOS button.

In Japan, if you’re rich, you don’t roll in a Lexus; that’s reserved for plebeians. You hit the town riding in the Toyota Century. Turns out, the Kim Kardashians there are lucky because Toyota just rolled out the first completely re-designed Century in 21 years.

With the rising popularity of 7-seater vehicles in the country, it’s no wonder why Honda came up with not one, not two, but 3 three-row offerings in the market: the Mobilio, the BR-V, and the CR-V. Clearly, they think there’s a market for each, and for the purposes of this story, we’ll take a closer look at the Mobilio—their MPV that was designed to rival the Toyota Avanza and the Suzuki Ertiga.

I’ll be frank: in terms of design, there’s no comparison. Although the Honda Mobilio does resemble a minivan, it still has that some of that signature sporty Honda look that makes it look less of a purely functional vehicle (i.e. mom car) and more like one designed for a truly modern family.


Light and Easy

On the upside, I appreciate how easy the Mobilio is to maneuver in and out of traffic. The light steering is perfect to someone who’s had more seat time in smaller vehicles and sedans. The size of the Mobilio may be intimidating at first, but once I got used to it, it afforded me to have extra confidence. It’s easy to move from lane to lane and its acceleration felt safe. It also responds quickly to braking without the slow glide/abrupt stop that some vehicles would tend to have.

On the downside, it feels too light at times. For something of its size, I expected it to have a more solid feel similar to the Jazz or City. However, once I got it to the highway and accelerated to around 80 km/h, it felt like catching air. This actually made me doubt as to how much control it afforded once you come across things like cross winds or tackling a sharp turn or a sudden lane change.

In short, it does pretty well around city dwellings, but perhaps requires a bit of driver confidence when taken on a longer road trip.


That Bounce, Though

I’m chalking this up to its lightness. We took the back roads to Tagaytay (and back) as a shortcut — because Waze said so — and came across more bumps and potholes than you can imagine. While I was expecting the suspension to be stiffer than that of a sedan or a crossover, I didn’t expect to feel every little bounce. Since the purpose of the Mobilio is to move lots of people in comfort, it may be more adept that doing this sort of thing fully loaded.

Spacious and Comfortable (It Depends)

One of the factors in choosing a vehicle for a barkada or family road trip will always be space. Not only do we account for how many people can come along, but it also has to be roomy enough for all the essentials, whether it’s for a day trip or an overnight stay. The Mobilio, at least, offers that. Despite its compact exterior, the second and third row seats can actually squeeze 7 typically-sized adults and up to 9 petite-sized individuals if you dare.

However, considering the Mobilio’s size, the cargo capacity is a challenge if the third-row is kept up. Increasing cargo space means having to fold down the third row and this automatically reduces the seating capacity to five.


The Verdict

Based on this experience, I’d say that the Honda Mobilio works well for day-to-day city driving, but perhaps not so much for a long highway drive. It scores high because of its functionality and packaging. And while the 1.5-liter engine could easily keep up with the demands of highway driving, it feels less than stable at high speed. I also wished for a more pliant ride. It’s a great daily driver, but those looking for a more adept road trip car, perhaps the CR-V would be the better choice.

Words and Photos by Gen Tiu.

While not exactly GT Academy, Nissan is rewarding gamers who choose Nissan and win in an upcoming official FIA championship made for the Playstation game, Gran Turismo Sport.

Sharing common values of credibility, integrity, and efficiency, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation was named the fuel partner of Toyota Manila Bay Corp, the largest car dealership group in the country.

Mazda has finally confirmed that their more powerful, higher-revving MX-5 won’t be a Japanese only offering. It’s going to be made available for overseas markets as early as the September of this year.

Subaru owners can have extra peace of mind this rainy season as Motor Image Pilipinas, the exclusive distributor of Subaru vehicles will offer discounts on selected parts and services starting on Wednesday, June 27.

Are you used to your Conduction Sticker Number? Well, you better get un-used to it as the Land Transportation Office (LTO) announced that the first batch of locally manufactured motor vehicle (MV) plates have begun shipping.

Forget all your nostalgic memories of a flagship BMW grand tourer with pop-up headlights; this here is the all-new BMW 8 Series Coupe and frankly, it looks a Germanized Ford Mustang.

Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines registered total sales of 2,054 units for the month of May. This puts total year-to-date sales for 2018 at 13,130 units, or a 7.3 percent decrease from the recorded 14,163 units in the same period of 2017.

Admittedly, this gimmick is a year too late, but at least Chevron Philippines, Inc. (CPI) is giving DC Comics fans some love. From today until August 15, 2018, Caltex will be offering Justice League collectible toy cars for just P 250.

The Philippine Senate together with Isuzu Philippines Corporation set an example and paved the way for the future of the Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) with the turnover of 15 modernized jeepneys as part of the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).

It might be in production for over a decade now, but the Nissan GT-R is still one of the world’s fastest sportscars. And while it’s sometimes associated with speedsters and hooligans, there’s one R35 that’s siding with the law. Would-be crooks in the Tochigi Prefecture should be shaking in their boots with the arrival of the prefecture’s first R35 GT-R police car.

Suzuki has had enough of spy shots and brochure leaks and decided once and for all to release the first official photos of the 2018 Jimny a month before its official debut in July 2018.

It’s the middle of June and the rain just won’t let up. It’s wet, gloomy, and dreary—conditions that don’t suit the 2018 Ford Mustang. With four hundred sixty horsepower driving the rear wheels and a canvas soft top, this thing doesn’t make any practical sense for half the year. But once you press the starter button, you’ll crack a smile and say: f*ck it. I’m gonna drive this thing. Once you do, you’re reminded at how good life could be.

Mazda Philippines basically put money where their mouth is by letting us drive a 2017 Mazda3 for a year. They likely knew what they were getting: an honest look into Mazda ownership without any pretenses. Now, four hundred twelve days and 7,510 kilometers later, this is our verdict: Mazda, both as a maker of driver-centric vehicles and as a provider of aftersales service for said vehicles has come a long, long way.

Ferrari took no fewer than 6 awards in this year’s International Engine of the Year Awards making it the most decorated sportscar company with a total of 27 trophies in the award’s 20-year history.