A top editor once told me, “don’t worry if there’s other stuff, even people, in your shot … these could bring warmth.” Well, on this 2015 shakedown drive to Sagada with the then new BAIC M20 MPV, the other stuff were not incidental, not just tolerated but caught deliberately, fortunately, in the composition.
A picture, any picture, ought to tell a story all its own. There’s nuance, there’s atmosphere, there’s a notion of what comes after, all conveyed in life made still for endless scrutiny. And, on the hardy M20 there’s even the odd pun to plumb: people-mover in foreground, a person, and movement, in back. I did warn you, a pun.
Seriously, though, the photo’s story is yours for the telling. There’s the M20–big, wide, metal sleek and placidly parked in the foreground. She’s pointedly stationary, as underscored by the van blurring by (an old L300 Versavan by the looks of her roofline), and she seems empty. Enter the man in red. He’s not the main subject of the image, but his presence, his striding stance away from the scene, could somehow explain it. You have to ask: Is he leaving or looking?
The actual narrative is explained by what he’s gazing at over his right shoulder. It was the seventh hour of a drive that started at midnight, a push from Manila to Sagada to test the new MPV. This scene finds us, a party of five passenger/drivers, on Halsema Highway and caught in the shadows of a mountain sunrise while those peaks to the west were already getting sunlight.
It was a serene moment on what was once considered, up to a handful of years ago, as one of the most dangerous roads in Asia (but is now a proud and well paved wonder). That guy in red, our car buddy, a well traveled engineer, had gotten the jump on us. We put the M20 on a lay-by to do what anyone would do in the situation … look for a spot to do a selfie.
Early in the drive, an informal fuel-eco run on NLEX from Petron Marilao to Petron Lakeshore, showed the M20 consuming just 1.5L of 95-test unleaded over a distance of 50.2km (based on the M20’s trip-meter). This translates to an impressive 33.5km/l on a max-conserve cruise with the engine turning at 2250rpm for 80km/h in 5th gear. (At 2250rpm, the engine had been delivering an estimated 99lb-ft or 89% of its peak torque though at mid-range, keeping power consumption to just 40hp or 38% of maximum.)
And, finally, at Sagada itself with narrow twisting roads made even more crowded by numerous transports either chartered or plying regular routes to the popular destination, the M20’s precise, electrically boosted steering, was an excellent match for the compact MPV’s heft. With little or no give to the system, with any tug causing a steering change, the M20’s setup needs getting used to but the end result is a relatively compact mini-van that could weave politely amongst pedestrians and vehicles alike.
The wheels would look in better, more handsome proportion to the M20’s height, certainly, but more importantly, the cushiony tires would provide a wider inflation pressure range that could be adjusted to suit road and load conditions, and would instantly increase the MPV’s 162mm ground clearance by 9 to 18mm. This’ll raise the soft-roader MPV into true high-rider territory with from 171 to 180mm of minimum ground clearance, while the slightly deeper-than-usual 3.857:1 reduction in first gear ought to be able to handle the slightly larger wheel diameter on roll-outs.
The weight distribution on this middle child feels optimal. The typical front-weight bias on the front-engine, front-wheel-drive A115 is mitigated somewhat by the mass of that roomy cabin with max headroom all the way back to the rear dash. Judging by its official axle-loading figures, the hatchback has a front weight-bias of just 51:49 (actually, just 50.4:49.6). Plus, the car’s form seems not to let any wind get under its skirt, with tangible down-force created front and back by its down-turned and faceted hood, and its slightly tear-dropped roof-line ending in an integral rear wing.
The BAIC A115 mounts the 1.5 liter inline-4 Mitsubishi 4A91 MIVEC engine with variable valve timing (VVT) logic that doesn’t put a premium on low-end torque but instead on mid to high-end sustained horsepower. The MIVEC engine’s power curve starts low but rises quickly to deliver peak torque of 107lb-ft at 4000rpm and 107hp at 6000rpm, and redlines starting at 6500rpm.
Just above idle with 1000rpm brings up just 48% of potential torque, 2000rpm brings a sudden rise to 83%, and 3000rpm to 94%. And, with a conventional 4-speed AT with widely spread gear ratios, that humpy power curve needs some management.
An automatic can be stopped while in drive, or allowed to crawl, while the engine is still idling under 1000rpm. The reason is that fluid link between engine and transmission (a “fluid coupling” it’s actually called, but I’ve chosen “link” to lose the innuendo). If it had been a clutch with its hard contact against the pressure plate, the vehicle would’ve stalled. Instead, on an automatic, the impeller just keeps on rotating while the turbine is either braked or allowed to rotate to push the car forward.
On the A115, if you want a stronger roll-out, go ahead and slightly surge up the revs to 2800-3000rpm while it shifts up through 1st and 2nd gears, then settle it down to the 2200-2500rpm range when you reach 3rd gear for the onset of cruise. If you like, keep it up even as you go through 80km/h, to prevent the lock-up clutch from kicking in, retaining that fluid gear reduction until you hit your desired cruising speed and reel things back in (at around 2000 to 2200rpm for a 100km/h cruise, depending on your load).
This rev surging takes practice—inherent tachymeter delay means you’ll be relying more on engine sound than on rpm readings, letting off the gas even before the needle finishes its climb to the surged revs level—but it makes for a more satisfying drive, maybe a more economical one, and perhaps more interestingly, it’s somewhat of a tradition among veteran Mitsubishi Lancer drivers.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
With its maxed out wheelbase under an otherwise compact body, the MZ45 is easy to drive and lithe enough to weave through traffic with composure. It’s visibly narrower than most anything else on the road but that long 2,900mm wheelbase does a lot for making the compact van rock-steady in turns and jinks. Even from a driver’s seat that’s about a meter above ground, there’s no pronounced roll when taking a turn at a good clip, not more than would’ve been felt on a lower slung sedan.
Once you get your frontage through a gap, that gap that’s smaller than what full-sized vans would need, it’s just a matter of timing to know when the rest of the long body has made it through, when it’s safe to start turning the wheel and not cause the tail-end on its overhang to swing out and sideswipe something. No case of cold sweats even when parking despite that reversing camera not being included as stock equipment.
Although the MZ45 can be had with factory-installed jump seats on the second and third benches, I find that the lack of these options gives me more, well, options. These could expand seating capacity to 11, yes, but would then entail some anxious load planning. With standard payload maxed out at 675kg, the MZ45 has the capacity to seat 9 people even if all of them are full-grown adults. But, with the 11 seats you’d be able to fill with the optional jump seats installed, you’d then have to worry about the size and weight of each of those 11 passengers so as not to bottom-out the suspension.
At this wedding last month, I noticed that several groups arrived in chartered UV Express vans—Toyota HiAces and Nissan Urvans, really big vans that they didn’t seem to be able to fill. And yet, the vans seemed practical for them. Practical even for my bunch because we had also arrived in an unmarked HiAce Commuter that our group had chartered despite not being able to fill all its seats. At the end of the day, it always makes sense to take one van instead of several sedans … it’s even more fun, with all of us being in the same space and able to chat as folks would normally want to.
The new, TNVS category that legitimizes Uber also suggests an area for expansion by the popular online service. TNVS vehicles include not only sedans but also multi-purpose vehicles, minivans and full-sized vans. And yet, the economy-class Uber X service features only compact and sub-compact sedans, while the higher end Uber Black service speaks of premium SUVs. The new TNVS category is not explicit on the matter of SUVs and appears to close the door on the luxury Uber Black service, while also seeming to open another one for an intermediate category of oversized transport such as minivans and bigger. Call it Uber XL, a new category for hiring extra-large vehicles that can seat more than what sedans could, and at an appropriately higher rate than on Uber X.
However, until Uber XL becomes a reality, the folks who’d want to rent out their vans will just have to do it as before, off-meter and on contracted fees. This isn’t true for a BAIC MZ45 owner. An MZ45 owner can rent out his van as a sedan equivalent under Uber X, taking on 4 passengers at a time and gaining regular customers who may eventually be interested in hiring the vehicle as a full-blown chartered van that’ll carry 8 (excluding the driver). Until another Uber category is introduced for mini and full-sized vans, there’s the BAIC MZ45 that could be useful every day both for business and for the family… a truly variable vehicle.
Seen in images without passengers to put it in scale, it’s easy to mistake the WeVan to be as small as the Suzuki SuperCarrry and the Daihatsu HiJet, both popular micro-vans characterized by small wheels and just a second seating row, no third. The WeVan might look to have the same proportions but is significantly larger, though with curiously narrow shoulders.
The seating layout, though on thin but adequate padding, is generously spaced with deep leg areas as well as expansive seat cushions deeper than the average person’s thighbone is long. These dimensions made for a comfortable slouch if and when the drone of the road lulls you to sleep, as it did for my passenger volunteers both on the trip out and the one back.
The floor covering is of vinyl, cheesy to some but a real plus for charter service operators and harried heads of families who have to give in to their passengers wanting to take meals on the road. And, of course, there’s always the option of throwing in some rugs for that cozy touch, and for improving the acoustics.
And, on the hot day that the Saturday had turned out to be, the air-conditioning also made it easy to nod off. The WeVan’s relatively small engine was matched with an A/C compressor impressively strong enough to cool down the large cabin space, particularly with air being circulated through ducted vents with their own blower and controls for the rear.
And we did! Even with eight people on board, the WeVan gradually accelerated to its published top speed of 130km/h, the engine revving to just over 4,000rpm, sounding throaty but not strained. The fully loaded van remained firm on pavement, no shimmies to alarm or even indicate that we were topped out, and with the wind noise from the outside not at all becoming intrusive.