On mission: the relentless Isuzu Crosswind
The Adarna Group Foundation had this two-part mission for Nueva Ecija. First, scout a route through rough roads to an elementary school on the eastern approaches to Gapan City, the place where they’d…
Driving the BYD F-0 AMT: It’s not a ‘matic, but it’s automated
For their F-0’s AMT variant, what BYD did was bolt a Magneti Marelli kit onto the same 5-speed manual gearbox of the micro-hatchback’s MT variants. Like other carmakers in China (and also in…
The Tata Super Ace chassis with passenger body: a tough 18-seater truck with a van’s suspension
We drive the Tata Super Ace chassis with passenger body, taking the compact, city-sized truck into the countryside to bring a busload of teaching volunteers on an outreach mission. Stable at speed and…
The BAIC A115: family-sized city car, at home on the highway
With its sub-compact size and decent cargo space, the BAIC A115 fits the up-market definition for a family’s proper-sized city car. But with vehicle dynamics that make it at home on the highway…
A safari truck in the city: Tata’s Ace Magic variant
Before the jeepney-style multi-cab body was built onto its basic truck chassis for the Philippine people-mover version (see the related story–Riding the Elephant: Tata’s surprising Ace micro-truck), the passenger variant of the Tata…
The BAIC A1 series: how Daimler-Mitsubishi engineering lives on in a Chinese sub-compact
Put one way, the design language of the BAIC A1 line of sub-compacts, flowing but still angular with the subtlest of tapering to the rear for a tear-drop airfoil profile, speaks assertively of…
The 2015 Isuzu Crosswind XL: a basic ten-seater that’s a comfortable and competent soft-roader
We drive the 2015 Isuzu Crosswind XL on unpaved, rain-swept roads. The base-variant XL is a ten-seat people mover that’s become ubiquitous as a “UV Express” transporter in urban settings. But with its…
Driving the BAIC A115 hatchback built on the Z-Platform of DaimlerChrysler and Mitsubishi
We drive the top-spec BAIC A1 hatchback (called the E1 in some markets). Built on the Z platform developed jointly by DaimlerChrysler and Mitsubishi, and powered by a Mitsubishi MIVEC made by a…
On the Honda Brio, Sport and Eco modes without the switches
Honda Brio variants with automatic transmissions don’t have those familiar Eco or Sport modes, nor that semi-auto Manual mode for selecting a particular gear on the 5-speed gearbox. Even so, fine throttle control…
Going “manual” on the BYD F0’s AMT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxhsda0F1dI&w=auto&align=center
Taking the Honda Brio DOWN and back UP the Tagaytay-Talisay Road
HARD BRAKE, DOWNSHIFT, TURN IN: We took a Brio AT variant down the winding Tagaytay-Talisay Road to see how well it could take the twisties with its D, D3, D2 and D1 drive…
Cabbing it to a sunrise: taking the BYD F3 to the Pacific Coast
We were in the thick of the Marifanta twisties, the turns of the Marikina-Infanta Highway, already heading back to Manila when the truth of it struck me: instead of a De Niro Taxi…