Honda invited an elite group of journalists in Thailand to drive the new Honda Brio sedan (which still doesn't have a name) and we have plenty of details and photographs to share from the event.
The Brio sedan, codenamed Honda 2TP, measures 3,990mm long, and is spread out over a wheelbase of 2,407mm which is about 380mm and 62mm longer than the hatchback respectively.
The 1,680mm width and 1,485mm height are unaltered. It has plenty more rear seat comfort coming from the extended wheelbase. A larger and cushier rear bench sits instead of the hatchback's city-minded seat.
The front seats with integrated headrests are retained and much of the soft components that constitute the interior were not replaced or redesigned to save cost and time. Variations to the colors used across the dashboard and door trim try distinguishing the hatchback from the sedan. Our sources tell us the baby sedan won't get expensive features like a climate control system or a fancy LCD infotainment system to keep the costs down.
Despite the addition of the boot, and the extra section of steel for a longer wheelbase, Honda engineers claim the three-box is only 26kg heavier than the hatchback and is just 0.1 seconds slower to 100kph. The rear suspension setup is same but it features beefed-up coil springs to counter the excess weight.
For the Thailand market, the Brio sedan draws outputs from the same 90hp 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine mated to a CVT automatic transmission, that manages a fantastic fuel efficiency figure of 20.4kpl.
For the Indian market, we learn that a 1.2L four-cylinder diesel engine with about 75PS is being developed and fully localized for use on Brio platform models. Honda has confirmed a MPV derivative for the Indonesian market, which should set gun for the Ertiga in 2014.
The Brio sedan makes its world premiere in Thailand next month.
In case you are new here, IndianAutosBlog.com was the first to bring online an imaginative rendering of the Brio-based sedan way back in the second week of April 2011.
