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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.

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