Honda Mobilio 1.5 i-VTEC / 1.5 i-DTEC Review: Evolved Mobility

Engines and performance

The Honda Mobilio, like the Amaze and the City will come equipped with 1.5 liter i-VTEC petrol and 1.5 liter i-DTEC Earth Dreams diesel engines. The power and torque output of the engines remain largely unchanged, though the two engines have been tuned to cope with the requirements of new body type, heavier kerb weight and higher specified gross laden weight.

In terms of numbers, the petrol engine puts out 119PS of power at 6600 rpm and 145 Nm of torque at 4600 rpm. The amazingly linear and torquey i-DTEC diesel pumps out 100PS of peak power at 3600 rpm and 200 Nm of torque at 1750 rpm. The absolute highlight of the diesel Mobilio is its remarkably high ARAI certified fuel efficiency of 24.2 kmpl which makes it by far the most fuel efficient MPV in the country. The petrol Mobilio has been rated at 17.3 kmpl by ARAI, which is a great number too.

Let’s start our discussion with the more relevant to the segment 1.5 i-DTEC unit, which comes mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. Seen prior in the Honda Amaze and the City, the i-DTEC diesel unit leads the pack in terms of linear power delivery and good tractability from the bottom of the rev-range. The big news about the i-DTEC unit on the Mobilio, however, is its significantly better NVH performance. While the i-DTEC engine sounded very noisy on the Amaze, and slightly less noisy on the City, Honda engineers have taken enough measures to ensure that the Mobilio’s cabin remains relatively well insulated from the noise. It’s not quiet in a segment leading way, but is a significant improvement over the previous two products.

On the move, the diesel unit has its generous reserve of torque at avail from as low as 1200 rpm. The Mobilio pulls from slightly above idling rpm, making it an extremely drivable car for the stop/start city traffic. While we haven’t performance tested the car on VBOX, a good look at the test times of the Amaze and factoring in the extra weight suggests that Mobilio should be able to hit the ton mark in about 16 seconds or thereabouts.

Thanks to the linear and relaxed demeanor of its engine, the Mobilio feels at home doing cruising speeds of 100-120 km/h. Hitting upto 140 kays isn’t a sweat, but the performance starts fading away in the higher part of the rev range. The Mobilio is more about hassle free, torquey, fuel efficient driving than hitting your enthusiastic nerve with the addictive turbo surge post 2000 rpm like most other small turbo diesel engines. It’s an incredibly practical unit, extremely suitable for the Indian requirements.

The rev limiter on the diesel engine cuts in at about 4400 rpm. To ensure that you don’t take race starts from a standstill and cause damage to the engine in the process, the engine won’t rev above 2000 rpm at a standstill.

The 1.5 liter i-VTEC petrol motor has been around for some time, and everyone identifies it for its sporty character. The petrol engine with its size, power and torque figures feels apt for a seven-seater machine, and offers good pulling power from low revs. The rev happy engine, which feels very eager on the City seems slightly out of its element on the Mobilio, probably because of the wider gear ratios. The response from the motor is crisp as ever, though, and it revs all the way to its 7,000 rpm red-line. The Petrol Mobilio, thanks to its more powerful motor is also quicker to hit the ton, and should have a higher top speed as well. It’s a versatile engine, with good low-rev response and grunt, and an equally potent top of the range performance.

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