This is my first car and I love it.
It do, it does.
Throttle
Mechanical throttle is love. No ECU interfering my blips going
Oh you wanted to blip right now? Too bad, I don’t think this is something to do so I won’t open throttle valve.
Clutch
Normal cable clutch. Feels smooth. However mine seems to vibrate if I try to move at lower rpms. Meh, works good otherwise.
Transmission
5 forward, 1 reverse. Reverse is good, using on incline inspires confidence.
1st gear has awesome torque. But wheel-spin is very easy to do close to WOT, so that needs caring.
2nd is like normal cars. Nothing special.
3rd is nice. Usually the one to do pulls with. RPM range covers good enough speed range.
4th is fine. But not as fun.
5th is surprisingly good. Torque is present, car still pulls. However I try to avoid accelerating fast as it’s mostly for fuel economy and maintaining a set speed rather than pulling in it.
Basically good. No complaints.
Chassis
Meh.
Suspension
This felt interesting. Car understeers like a normal FF car, but I also feel it very floaty in rear. Can’t really oversteer but the rear seems very soft and squishy. Going over a small bump at a turn flings rear.
Engine Bay
Oh boy do I love the engine bay. Big. Lots of space. Can’t really see the starter near firewall but otherwise it’s big enough to make most tasks easy. That doesn’t include the alternator. That feels like a pain. But at least it’s not small like a Honda City i-DSI. That is the definition of claustrophobic.
Exhaust
Not obnoxious. Quiet. I love it. Stock exhaust good.
Intake
Stock cold air intake. Nice. Bellmouth just behind headlight but disappointing as it acts more like a restriction making the air go down first, then make a u-turn back up the air box.
Takes air from fender. Cold cold air. Go over a rainy road at 3k rpm and sometimes the note changes to the “oh i inhaled a bit of water”. Not good, but not too bad.
Very restrictive sound. But I’m just not that stupid to replace a perfectly fine cold air intake with a “hot air intake” flowery cone thing to suck up hot air from exhaust and engine bay. Because the engine bay gets hot. Real hot. Opened once after a long drive and I couldn’t touch the plastic air box even.
Good points for a stock cold-air intake.
Engine
Mines 1.3L i.e. G13BB. Nice engine. Likes to be revved high. I used to drive around 1500-2500 RPM. After rebuild, I now drive around 2000-4000. Doesn’t give that good economy but engine feels happy. I want it to be happy. Last long.
Verdict
Driver’s car for me. Floaty boaty.