SUSILA'S HONDA FIT

It’s difficult to disagree with an adorable little car like the Honda Fit. There’s nothing much to dislike about it – excellent fuel economy, a buzzy i-VTEC engine, and a roomy cabin that fits practically anything you can throw at it.

You’re bound to know someone who owns, or has owned, one of the Honda Fit and Jazz twins in Singapore, thanks to affordable COE premiums when this generation of the Fit was launched. In fact, it was the number one selling model in Singapore’s 5-door hatchback segment, thanks to its practicality and cheerful disposition.
 

This Honda Fit here belongs to Susila, a nurse in the day and a full-time mother of two at all other times. By her own admission, she’s far from a car enthusiast, but being surrounded by automotive junkies in the form of her husband and son – who is a flourishing professional racing driver – she’s becoming a bit of a petrolhead.

Purchasing this car to replace her first-generation Fit that had reached the end of its COE, a not-insignificant amount of money has been spent refreshing it to her exacting standards. It’s a side effect of being in the medical industry, which accentuates her innate attention to detail – evident in how immaculately kept her car’s paintwork is.

Susila’s Honda Fit is the second generation of the compact hatchback, colloquially known as the ‘GE6’ in reference to its chassis designation. Identical to the previous-generation Fit, it’s equipped with a fuel-sipping 1.3-litre i-VTEC engine mated to a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

Equipped with these Volk Racing TE37-inspired wheels by the car’s previous owner, Susila opted to leave them on as they matched the gleaming white paintwork. She did, however, have a set of new tyres fitted – Bridgestone POTENZA Adrenalin RE003 tyres in the 205/45 R16 size.

Having the POTENZA Adrenalin RE003 fitted was an unexpected choice, as the car is used mostly as a daily driver, regularly shuttling Susila to and from work, regular grocery shopping trips, with the occasional Johor Bahru day trip thrown in to the mix.

"They’ve been excellent so far – they’re almost as comfortable as my old touring tyres from a different brand!”

It was only when she pulled up at the tyre shop when POTENZA Adrenalin RE003 was recommended by the proprietor, thanks to its reasonable price tag and acclaimed dry performance – a working-class hero for all cars, performance or not. “I was worried that the (POTENZA Adrenalin) RE003 would be uncomfortable or noisy as it’s a sports tyre, but they’ve been excellent so far – they’re almost as comfortable as my old touring tyres from a different brand!”
 

At the end of a long workday, Susila appreciates how easy the Fit is to drive, and the airy cabin does wonders dissipating the stress built up during working hours. To her, an ideal drive would be one with the panoramic moonroof (or skyroof, in Honda-speak) blinds open, no traffic ahead of her, and Barry Manilow playing on the radio – the best way to enjoy this car, she contends.

Johor Bahru shopping trips serve as both a short getaway for Susila, and for her to stock up on groceries. The Fit’s boot gets filled with groceries, and her family’s stomachs get filled with delectable Malaysian hawker delights. Typically uneventful apart from snarling traffic at the border crossing, it was on one of these routine day trips where POTENZA Adrenalin RE003 saved both her car and her family’s lives.

Travelling on a quiet and poorly lit trunk road while heading for Tuas Checkpoint, Susila was trailing a local motorist at a reasonable speed in an attempt to avoid hitting any potholes hiding in the dark. It seemed like a good idea; the motorist appeared to be aware of poor road conditions, slowing down just before a patch of rough tarmac manifested.
 

However, on a seemingly smooth patch of road, the said motorist abruptly braked hard and swerved to one side, catching Susila completely off guard after several kilometres of smooth driving. The moment the other vehicle swerved out of the lane, her headlights shone on the back end of a broken-down vehicle stopped in the middle of the road – a black car with no lights on, and no warning triangle placed behind it.

In a state of panic, all she could do was pray and execute an emergency lane change manoeuvre, swerving away just inches from the broken-down vehicle at approximately 80 kilometres an hour. The POTENZA Adrenalin RE003 tyres handled the manoeuvre perfectly, keeping her in control and allowing her to steer the car back into the lane after.