Honda Drive: From BGC to BRC with the new Brio and City

Hondas at BRC? That sounds familiar

“We're driving Hondas at the Batangas Racing Circuit, bro”.

If you've been into cars long enough, you'll know that this phrase is all too familiar. I mean how many times have you seen Hondas with their screaming VTEC engines blast past BRC's main straight? PDRF, PTCC, or BGRC, you name it. There's a good chance you'll see a Honda going fast around that track.

For this drive, however, the Hondas we drove aren't exactly what you would expect to be a racecar. Well, they can be one if you wanted to, much like the EK and EG Civics of yore. But honestly, they are more optimized for normal everyday driving. And somehow, the fun factor was just as good. Most of all, they were very safe. Well, that's what our experience felt like when we took the new Honda Brio and the new Honda City from BGC to BRC.

As you know, the Brio and City recently had a mid-cycle refresh. For Honda's smallest hatchback offering, it gets an updated look with a bigger front grille and a new mesh pattern, along with standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Honda brought three units of the RS Black Top variant and one mid-spec V variant for the drive. They all came with striking colors but the new Stellar Diamond Pearl stood out for me. It's somehow similar to the BR-V and HR-V's Premium Opal White Silver Pearl which made the hatchback all the more attractive.

On the other hand, the new City has more in store for its mid-cycle refresh. Apart from the updated look and infotainment system, it also gets Honda Sensing as standard for all variants.

The manufacturer brought in the RS variants in Red and White, but lucky for me I had first dibs on the V variant that had the new Obsidian Blue Pearl color. The other was the S variant with the Modulo kit, but the V in blue was indeed a refreshing sight.

This has confirmed what I've noticed with Honda and the models they are bringing as of late; they are making excellent color choices. That holds true even with the Civic Type R. You won't mind having one in Racing Blue instead of the iconic Championship White; that's something my boss and I would agree on.

We set off from One Bonifacio High Street going to BRC in the City V. And right away, I was reminded of how great sedans are in terms of driving dynamics, and even more so with the new City. We've been reviewing a lot of crossovers and SUVs lately, so going back to a sedan is really a feel-good affair for me.

There's just something different with driving a sedan, or the City in particular; it's just the overall balance that gets me. The driving dynamics, the comfort, and the efficiency. You know if only we had better roads and very minimal flooding, I think most would still prefer this as a primary daily driver. Now that it has Honda Sensing as standard, going through SLEX became more convenient and a lot safer. The adaptive cruise control of Honda Sensing is something I'm familiar with, as I thoroughly enjoyed it on my first-ever drive with the HR-V last year. And to have those equipped on the City just levels up the sedan experience even further.

We eventually reached Batangas Racing Circuit after a two-hour drive. Right after a short briefing, the track activities laid out for us were composed of exercises that bring out the best features of both the new Brio and City, along with its safety tech. But the highlight of the day had to be the Gymkhana and the EcoSpeed Challenge.

As a small hatchback, the Brio might not be your first choice on a track as big as BRC since the 1.2-liter engine can only do so much. But on a gymkhana course where you need an agile and peppy vehicle for low speeds, the new Brio feels right at home.

The way it weaves around cones and does the 180-degree turns easily makes it very maneuverable over tight spaces and could prove to be very useful especially in traffic. And for those who'd like to take it racing, I think it would be a competitive weapon for autocross tracks with its go-kart handling. It's enjoyable even in stock form considering how light it is.

Meanwhile, the EcoSpeed Challenge was a balancing act of setting a fast lap time around the track and at the same time using the least amount of fuel. We were grouped in pairs, and I ended up with AI alumnus Martin Aguilar. While everyone else focused on saving fuel, me and Martin totally forgot about the Economy side and decided to go as fast as we could.

But surprise surprise, in the end, our technique of staying between 50 to 100 km/h on the track paid off, as we were awarded the overall winner in both the Brio and the City.

But perhaps the most important takeaway from this drive is that Honda never lost its touch in terms of hitting the sweet spot of what customers want in a car. The new Brio's funky colors and styling is great for a daily driver along with the standard Android Auto. On the other hand, the new City for me is not about the looks, and not even the wireless Android Auto.

It's the Honda Sensing suite that's available on all variants. In fact, Honda just became one of the first brands in the country to offer a refined ADAS in the sub-1 million peso range. Based on what we've tested, the operation is just as smooth as what you'd find in the all-new HR-V and even in the bigger Civic.

So clearly, Honda is making an effort to remove the notion that advanced safety comes with a premium price. They just made it a lot more affordable to consumers by offering it in the new City. It's one step closer to their goal of reducing traffic accidents and making roads safer going forward.