Are You a Motorhead? Bought a Myvi SE? Well, You Bought the Wrong Car

Last weekend I had a go in a Perodua Mvyi SE. I had to help a good friend of mine move cars around as the family was preparing the front of the house for a kenduri (a get together). This car is the Myvi that Perodua sells fully loaded. It comes with seats, doors and wheels. Like all Myvis but adds tough looking front and rear bumpers, side skirts, different (slightly sportier in design) rims but still in the same size, ABS, airbags, leather seats and the latest ones come with a USB connection to play the thousands of (mostly illegal) downloaded songs through the factory sound system. There is sadly no power or handling upgrades coupled with this version of the Myvi.


This Myvi SE or Myvi Special Edition comes with everything a supermini should and could have. And because of this Perodua sells about a gazillion units of this per day. Especially in that Tangerine Orange colour you see almost everywhere. Everyone seems to like this version of the Myvi, guys seem to think its sporty, girls like it because it comes in that funky orange. Both sexes must think that they've made a fantastic choice by buying the most expensive of all the Myvis around. And they are happy with it, oblivious to the fact that the SE is actually the worst Myvi of them all, in terms of actual driving pleasure. In terms of transport, even a bullock cart can do the same function.

So now some of you Myvi owners out there may be actually shaking your heads in disbelief or may be about to start cussing and swearing at yours truly right now but I have valid reasons saying what I did above. Actually I have only two reasons why the SE is a very bad choice over the standard Myvi. And to make it a story worth reading I shall explain forthwith. Oh. Do remember that I am an experienced motorhead. I know what I am saying here.

If you are someone who is supposedly someone who likes driving fast and thinks that he's Jenson Button or a Sebastian Loeb who likes taking fast corners all the time but has a budget of around RM50,000 you should never buy the Myvi SE. The fact of the matter is that the SE, for all of its RM50,000 plus cannot take any corner faster than the standard Myvi, or for that matter any Proton out there in the known universe.

The SE, has seat coverings made from a few cows. This fact I know. But the fact that I didn't know was that the cow was used to cover one of the flattest known vehicular seats in the known universe. Perodua also didn't You see, in order to drive a car you have to get in it and sit yourself down in it. So I get into the SE that has twenty thousand kilometers on the clock, and slide in, and you keep sliding. The leather somehow gets more slippery after some time as the seats do not have any ribbing, perforations or grooves to at least make it grip the body a little. There is no product development at all. Perodua just slapped on the cows because people here think it makes the car more luxurious. More luxurious yes, but more rubbish at cornering too.

This slip-sliding does not stop. The leather seats are so slippery that when you do a sharp right or left turn your butt heads towards the outside of the corner. If you really take a right hand bend at faster than usual speeds you are surely to end up on the passenger side if you don't hold on tightly to the steering wheel. This is disappointing for a guy that relishes in the finer points of handling .

If you bought a basic Myvi, it would come in cloth seats. Of course the seats have the same lack of side support and the same lack of under tigh support as the SE, but the fabric used (like in other cloth seats) tend to grip to the clothes you wear. Hence you get slightly more support during corners. So if you took a corner enthusiastically, your butt would at least remain where it is supposed to be. So if you think you're driving the sportiest and most expensive Myvi out there by getting the SE, you're terribly wrong. The fastest Myvis are those with cloth seats. Really.

The next thing that made me slightly upset is the brakes. Really crappy ones at that. The brake pedal is spongy and travels a fair bit before there is a semblance of bite. In other words it lacks feel and progression. It feels as if I'm stepping on a sponge cake or on jelly. Hello Perodua, pedal feel please?

But this problem afflicts all Myvis (maybe less so with those basic models without ABS as ABS robs some feel sometimes), so there is not much you can do about it other than improve the braking system by better pads, brake fluid, discs and maybe steel braided hoses. You may be able to get some pedal feel from this close to a thousand Ringgit investment on the braking system.

Maybe you get monkeys if you pay bananas. The Myvi tries to cover all bases. It covers looks, space and practicality well. It has above average build quality for a car that costs in the RM50,000 region. It has all the stuff an average Malaysian wants to have in a car. Except for brake feel. It will stop. But it lacks tactility and feel. And I hate sponges. With the exception of a certain Mr. Squarepants.

But I can now understand why Jeremy Clarkson didn't like the Myvi, claiming the brakes, seats and the interior were rubbish. He is right in at least two of the three counts. I find the interior of the Myvi decent. It won't cause headaches to anyone buying this car for RM50,000 or thereabouts. If it costs RM2 million, then I'd really bitch about the spartan interior. Its a cheap car for Godssake.

• SO, If you are a girl, or a guy who thinks that it is just a funky kind of car that just allows you to go from here to there, then you can go ahead and enjoy that SE of yours without a complain from yours truly. You have my blessing.

• BUT, if you are an SE owner who purportedly likes motorsport, fast driving and handling and you are now reading this, let me put it plainly....You BOUGHT THE WRONG CAR.

• OR if you still feel you bought the right car, well, it has the WRONG seats then. Buy aftermarket seats with proper support. Even cheaps one would do. Trust me on this. Anything is better than the stock leather seats.

This is the Myvi that you want to take corners with. It looks decent too.

So there you have it. Two major flaws in the Myvi SE. In the base Myvi, you can at least take corners without worry and without the bodykit and sporty looks, the car is no longer a pretentious piece of machinery. You feel normal and its not like driving the SE, which is supposedly special, but isn't special.

If you actually like driving and want to buy a car at the price of a Myvi SE, buy a basic Myvi and use the money you saved to modify the brakes or then again don't bother. Buy any Proton Persona, Gen2 or heaven forbid, the only for hobbits, Satria Neo. At least these cars come in proper seats that at least have some waist and hip hugging seats. Slightly bad quality nonetheless, but at least they corner well.