Honda Grace Hybrid (Parallel Imported)

Overall, the car is great as a daily car. Coming from a much smaller sedan car, I expected this car to consume more fuel especially since it is more powerful. However, to my surprise, on the first week of owning it I have hit about 20.7km/litre of fuel.

The extremely low consumption of fuel, the great pick up which even beats some of the petrol models of Mercedes Benz, the very easy to manoeuvre around tight spaces despite being a big car

Nothing much bad to say given the price of the car.

I've been driving the Grace Hybrid for a year. This is a long term review of the car. We switched to Honda from a premium European brand for reliability reasons. Before selecting the Grace, we considered the City from the authorised dealer. Comparing specs, performance figures, country of origin and amount of kit provided, the Grace wins hands down. Just make sure you get yours from a parallel importer with ready stocks, to reduce any uncertainties. Given the fact that this isn't one of Honda's most popular models, you may be able to negotiate deeper discounts with your PI, which translates to even greater value for money!

Made in Japan - built in Honda's Yorii plant and over-engineered for durability

140 bhp - boy-racer performance from an uncle-looking sedan

0-100 km/h in 8.8 sec - double the oomph from petrol + hybrid engines

Drive-by-wire 7-speed dual clutch - second gen transmission, bugs ironed out

275mm of rear legroom - E-Class and 5 Series only have 210mm to 240mm

Responsive steering and handling - added Ultra Racing bars for extra stability

Silent - changed out stock tyres for a more hushed ride

Customisable - no integrated infotainment so you can spice your ICE

Cheap to run - half the bill at the pump, double the savings each month

Reliable - Grab drivers have done 250,000km on this model without hiccups

JB-friendly - Looks like any Honda City, a common unassuming Malaysian car

VIP access - Security guards think it's a PHV and wave you into condos

Soft suspension - installed TTC urethane buffers, made a significant difference

No safety gizmos - rely on your eyes for blind spot detection, etc.

Basic steering wheel - not leather-wrapped, no touch controls

Fuel consumption - never came close to the advertised 34.4km/l

Few on the road - it's a great car, so get one and keep me company!

Previously was driving a Honda jazz and upgraded to the Honda Grace Hybrid. I would really get this over Honda City due to the engine type used. Drove the car (DX version) for 3 weeks+, I am amazed by the car performance and also the fuel efficiency. Really a car that is economy friendly yet sufficiently powerful for singapore's traffic condition. Though the fuel efficiency was not as high as what was advertised, it still meets the required performance. If you learnt to train on your stepping pedal habits, the fuel efficiency can go as high as 25km/l on average per full tank (as compared to the advertised 34.4km/l). I personally tried to be 90% Highway in a single trip, did not get even close to 34.4km/l. The max i got was about 31km/l. (Maybe you need to be 100% Highway)

The function of what you want for your car will heavily dependent on the price you willing to afford. You could get a price in between DX and LX to suit your needs :)

My DX had additional,

-keyless engine starts

-Auto Headlights

-Bluetooth interface

-smarts key function

-Remote boot release

-Reverse Cam

-Leather seats

-3 modes (econ, normal and sports)

-Good acceleration performance for the price you are paying while on Sport mode. About 9s from 0-100km/h

-Fuel efficiency on normal driving mode (full tank), 22km/l for what i am achieving (40% city, 60% highway)

-Wide interior space and comfortable seat.

-good handling performance

-Rear seat aircon (could be better if there is multi-zoned aircon)

-Does not come with a sport rims for DX version (personally i upgraded to 16 inch just for the sports rim, stock was 15 inch btw)

-No Spare tire due to the space used for the battery (hybrid), if you travel to JB often, do get one :) and waste your space on your car boot

-Car body(on stock) looks like my grandfather would drive (personally a youngster would be more attracted by Honda Civic).

-Headlights could be LED on DX

-The freaking car is in Japanese language. If you could have tune it for Singlish people. (google translate can do the job, just a bit troublesome)

Firstly, for those who are new to hybrids, the hybrid technology is one that improves fuel efficiency and also at the same time giving extra power. Many would have the false impression that hybrid cars are slow and underpowered. However, the Grace Hybrid proves itself to be built for efficiency and power.

For the people who read my other reviews, many would know that I own an Audi SQ5 since 2018. Not long ago, I also registered yet another compact family hatchback, the Honda Fit Hybrid into my family. Now that my father is retired, he spends most of his time going out with his friends for coffee or just going around the Singapore Island, discovering places he has never been to. Before this, he owns his own car so transportation wasnt an issue. Now that he is retired and his car has been scrapped, he would need a new car to drive as it is a little inconvenient for him to be taking public transport over a long distance. As he is already retired, I thought that I should buy him a new car as he probably does not have much cash to spare. Hence, I brought him down to PI to pick a model. As he is not really a car guy, he told me to pick a car that is affordable, fuel efficient and yet spacious on the inside. I had wanted to purchase a Toyota Noah for him however, he feels that the car was too big and he would not use all of the 7 seats as well. Hence, after much deliberation between the Toyota Prius Hybrid, Honda Shuttle Hybrid and Honda Grace Hybrid, I booked the Honda Grace Hybrid for a few reasons.

On a side note, we collected the car a week ago.

Firstly, before we step into the car, just looking at the Vehicle Specifications would get anyone excited. The car specifies that the car comes with an engine that is as poweful as the Honda Civic 1.8. Didnt really believe it at first because the car really does not look like it is a car that is made for speed. It looks more like a weekend kind of car. However, the test drive proved me wrong. The pick up speed was fast and if you are a little naughty, you can press on the S button. When you press that button, your car can easily drive at speeds of 100km/h and above. The drive Mode (ECON) gives drivers a maximum speed of about 90km/h which is really powerful. So in terms of performance, Satisfaction Guranteed.

Now in terms of the interior, the back seat is the most impressive to me. The width of the car really does not look wide on the outside however, when one steps into the back cabin of the Grace Hybrid, there you go, you get ample shoulder room, leg room as well as head room. I really like how the interior space is so big in a B-Segment Sedan car.

The infotainment screen is manufactured in way where the screen pivots towards the drivers eyes. This makes things easy especially for people who use the navigation system frequently. I think many can relate how irritating it is when the frame of the screen is not in our angle or radius. Drivers would not experience this anymore.

A bonus to drivers who like to exit the car park without turning on headlights especially at night. If you are always afraid of getting caught by the cameras all over the roads, this is the car to buy. This car comes with the Auto-headlights which means if you forget to turn on the headlights, the system does it for you.

Lastly, A review of a hybrid car is not complete without a review of the fuel efficiency.

After nearly a week of heavy usage on the Grace Hybrid, the car has managed to give me a mileage of 22km/l which is close to the advertised 27.8km/l.

Firstly, the outlook design of the car does not really look impressive at first sight. It looks like some outdated design. Many refer to the car as the Ah Peh car.

The seats are comfortable however, the cabin gets a little hot at the back seat.( Ps: there is an air vent for the cooling of the batteries in the back seat. This is where the hot air comes out from.)

This car is a sedan however, the bootspace is just like a hatchback. Pretty disappointing though. This limits the extent of what we can do with the car.

Initially looking for Honda Vezel (SUX) and Shuttle (stationwagen), but end up buying Honda Grace LX Hybrid (Sedan) after seeing the good review from Honda City. Have been driving for more than a month.

- good FC (Ave 18km/l, 70% highway, 30% city)

- good pick up

- big boot space

- 6 air bags

-rear air-con

-16 in sport rim

- DVD system

-rear camera

-cruise control

-keyless entry

- auto and LED head light

- no spare tire

- noise but bearable

-rear drum brake

Just got the car for about a week.

On average, this car works well for an all round sedan to get the job done. In short it's a "Win some, lose some" Car.

It's a good price for a car in terms of what it can offer as compared to those around the price range.

Well...... I guess if you are looking for a car that is

(a) very value for dollar, you can consider it

(b) simply need a car to go point A to B and

(c) maybe some fun occasionally...

*note Reliability is average but no idea since this car is relatively young on the road...

- very good mileage (max currently is 27.7km /litre)

- above average good specs for cars around that price range. Torque and BHP is even better than similar priced cars

- Able to deliver if need to push the car

- Car handling is very nimble and agile, quasi-hatch style (salt please)

- Can EV at 90 /100km (of course range is limited in that mode)

- Spacious enough for front, rear and trunk

- comfort isn't fantastic to be honest.

- ride is bumpy /jerky. Particularly the back seats and boot area

- Driver's headrest isn't head friendly. Gave me a neck-ache (personal perhaps?)

- clattered with super cheapo plastics that fail the finger flick test... C'mon Honda...

- Needs to be ultra fairy light pedal style to stay in EV mode (don't take off slowly in EV mode... even the trishaw will be faster)