My ride (Part 2)

In April 2004, my Kancil met an accident, it was rear ended by a large truck at a very low speed, but we can feel the tremendous shock in the car. It hit at the rear driver side and the rear hatch and light need to be replaced. We had to leave the car at the workshop for close to a month and it was during this time, we borrowed my mother’s Perodua Kenari and sometime, my dad’s Datsun Sunny for temporary use, depending on which one was available as my sister needed the Kenari to attend college while my dad used his Datsun for weekend drive.

The Kenari was launched in year 2000 when I graduated and my initial impression on this car was that it looked weird, has the shape of a bread van, with tall ride height that suggest it may topple easily. However, when I borrowed the Kenari for a few days of driving, it changed my perception on this car, to the extent that I have ended up purchasing one few months later, from the same salesperson that sold us the Kancil.

Actually, before I’ve arrived at my decision to get the Kenari, I’ve considered other option available in the market at that time which were the Perodua Kelisa, Inokom Atos and the Proton Wira. I’ve not chosen the Kelisa because the interior space is quite limited and not anywhere larger than my previous Kancil. However, the Wira can fulfill this aspect but the ancient 3 speed automatic gearbox used in the Wira has made me think twice. Then came the Atos which almost share the same shape as the Kenari and directly competing in the same segment. In fact, I’ve almost booked the Atos but after realising that the spare parts of this Korean based car is quite expensive, coupled with disappointing fuel consumption of the 4 cylinders engine, I’ve chosen the Kenari. In addition, the Atos sales person was not able to give a better trade in value compared to the Kenari sales person.

From the outside, the Kenari looked like a shrunk MPV running on 165/55/14 size tyre and shodded in 4.5 width aluminium alloy rim. The earlier version was given 165/60/13 size tyre. The standard tyre provided was Silverstone Powerblitz 1800, which share similar feature with the Kancil tyre. Foglights are provided which is slightly joined together with the main headlights in a peanut shape at the front while the rear lights take the shape of the C pillar. The roof rack has been removed while the earlier version is fitted with one.

The engine is definitely more updated than the Kancil. It is a 1.0 liter EFI DOHC 12 valves engine but has got no VVT while the dual camshafts are spun by one cam pulley. Interestingly, the ignition system is distributorless with one ignition coil for each spark plug, hence, no spark plug cable is required. Such ignition system is claimed to be able to ensure different ignition timing for each cylinder for optimum drivability. It also come with power steering and despite being a larger car than the Kancil, the Kenari can surprisingly maneuver on tight corners easily. I have chosen the 4 speed automatic transmission as this car will also be driven by my wife and she is more familiar with an auto box. The automatic gearbox comes with a transmission oil cooling system which is something that is absent in some upmarket car like the Proton Perdana.

The interior space is definitely more voluminous than the Kancil, with lots of headroom for easier access and getting out of the car. However, similar to the Kancil, the seatbelt and steering are not height adjustable. Another cost cutting measure is the absence of low fuel and door ajar warning light at the meter panel but a tachometer is provided. Both the front and rear seats have height adjustable headrests and in addition to that, the rear seats inclination are also adjustable but with the absence of a rear speaker board covering the boot. The rear speakers are mounted at the rear ceiling instead, coupled with an air ionizer. The gear position indicator light is positioned horizontally instead of vertically and the visibility can be hindered by the steering wheel. As mentioned in my previous post, the air conditioner controller is the same as the one used in the current line of Kancil, which has got a 3 speeds blower fan. During hot afternoon, the air conditioner needs to be set at full blast to keep the interior cool. At speed 2, the blower fan can be quite loud and disturbing. The doors are fitted with door trim with the similar pattern as the seat cushion and with a door pocket for storage of thin objects coupled with a cupholder. Power windows are only fitted for the front doors and door side mirror has to be manually adjusted at the mirror.

In terms of safety, it has no airbag or ABS but the manufacturer claims that the engine is designed to collapse underneath the car upon front collision while the doors are fitted with side impact bars. The export version has got not only ABS and airbags but also rear foglight as well and an engine with VVT (EJ-VE engine).

The Kenari is very easy to drive around town, thanks to the small turning radius, shortwheel base and a high ride height that allows greater visibility to the traffic in front. However, the downside is the ride comfort which can be quite unbearable at times and it is made worse with the 55 series low profile tyre. Acceleration on flat road is acceptable to me and can keep up with the traffic flow easily but can be quite sluggish when attacking slopes, particularly if the air conditioner suddenly kicks in. There is no overdrive switch at the gear shift but the automatic gear layout (2>3>D>R>P) allows some degree of control in case if I need to hold at certain gears. Despite being a 4 speed gearbox, it gearshift does not allow to hold the 1st gear and it will automatically upshift to the 2nd gear at 20km/h. The engine vibration can be felt in the cabin when accelerating at low speed to the extent of blurring the rear view mirror slightly. While some people thought this is common for a 3 cylinders engine, such vibration is not apparent in the Kancil. Even though driving in the city can be a breeze for the Kenari, when it is stuck in a jam for an extended period, the engine can be sluggish and reluctant to move. I’ve suspected that the crampy engine bay may have prevented hot air from escaping out of the bay and hence, made its way into the engine for combustion. Needless to say, hot intake air will rob some power and the sensor will normally retard the ignition timing under such circumstance.

After three years of ownership, the highest speed I have tried in the Kenari is 100km/h, the tachometer would be reading above 3000rpm by then while torque would taper off beyond that. Even then, the Kenari is incredibly stable at high speed compared to the Kancil but the engine and wind noise may reduce your confident in pushing the car further. In fact, the wind noise will be apparent starting from 70km/h which is worse than the Kancil.

So far, I’ve done minimal modification on my Kenari i.e. five extra earthing cables which has very no difference apart from cosmetic purpose, a piece of noise insulation carpet stuck under the hood and a DIY oil catch made from the Iswara fuel filter which does catch some oil but no improvement in power. In the quest to improve the ride comfort of the Kenari, I’ve attempted to replace my front tyres with better grades i.e. Bridgestone Potenza RE030 purchased at RM160 per piece. While this ‘Made in Japan’ tyre undeniably has reduced the road noise at high speed, ride comfort has not improved at all. Other tyres available for the standard size i.e. 165/55/14 are as follows:
Goodyear Ducaro GA
Silverstone Powerblitz 1800 (fitted as stock by manufacturer)
Falken Ziex 512
Kumho Ecsta
Yokohama Advan AD07
Continental Comfort Contact - 1
Simex SM8200

I’ve further replaced the front dampers with a pair of oil-gas dampers i.e. APM Performax at RM320 for a pair which claim to ‘flat out bumps’ while the rear is replaced with Kayaba oil dampers at RM80 per pair but does not really help much. Subsequently, I have changed the rear tyres to thicker sidewall tyres and I managed to source 175/60/13 tyres (Hyundai Atos stock tyre size) available in either Sime Astar Prima selling at RM130 or Yokohama A539 estimated to cost RM200 (depending on exchange rate). As this purchase is more of an experiment to improve ride comfort, I’ve decided to go for the cheaper Sime tyre. The next step is to find a used cheap 13 inch rim to fit that 175/60/13 tyre and found a set of four used Kelisa sport rim at U Tyre selling at RM150, with one piece dented and need repair around RM50, which I don’t actually need to repair it as I only need to use two rims at the moment. Initially, I’ve thought of using cheaper steel rim but abandon that idea as those rims would be worthless in case I need to resell it later due to failed experimentation. This 13 inch tyres are at first placed in the rear but unfortunately, being 10 mm wider than stock size, it rubs the car body when taking fast corner which mean I have to place it at the front and it rolls well. Apparently, there is a piece of metal sticking out of the body in the rear wheel arch that caused the tyre rubbing the body, some owners resorted to knock off that metal to fit wider tyres at the rear. With the 13 inch tyre fitted in front, ride comfort has only improved slightly as the sidewall is now 14 mm thicker than stock, with less road noise when rolling over uneven road but the tyre roar louder when traveling at high speed. This is probably due to the hard compound normally used in higher profile tyres as such tyre generates more heat due to more flex movement compared to low profile tyres. When the rear Potenza tyres wear out later, I may consider replacing it with 155/65/13 or 155/70/13 tyres, which will have thicker sidewall but narrower width, but currently, my tyre configuration is as follow:

Front – 175/60/13 Sime Astar Prima
Rear – 165/55/14 Bridgestone Potenza RE030

Notwithstanding the above, I’ve planned various upcoming modifications to my Kenari as follows:
- heat shield on exhaust manifold and air filter box
- polyurethane foam filling at A pillar
- fitting of superlon sheet on the roof
- fender, front lower arm and rear anti-roll bars
- intake length extension for cold air intake
- electric supercharging using 12V DC fan motor and water pump
- vortex generators

As far as maintenance is concerned, as expected from any K-cars, its engine bay is very cramped up is very little space for your hands to reach out deep into the engine. Similar to the Kancil, changing of clutch requires the lifting of the entire engine. Components such as the alternator are located deep inside and may require dismantling of various unrelated components to reach for it. Another blunder is the foglight where replacing its bulb require removing the entire front bumper, with 8 nuts to loosen and hidden at difficult to reach area. So far, the regular maintenance is carried out in authorized service centers and not DIY as I need to keep the warranty valid. The engine oil I’ve tested on my Kenari so far is the Petronas genuine oil recommended by Perodua which is a 5W-30 semi synthetic oil selling at RM55 for 3 liters (previously RM49). I’ve also tried those cheap Ace Hardware 5W-30 mineral engine oil once (at all time low RM6.90 per liter) but there was a major drop in performance. Spark plugs are required to be replaced every 10,000km which is really unnecessary but the worse of all, the 3 spark plugs cost me RM27. It is NGK BKR5-11 spark plug which has a V shaped groove at the electrode. Apart from the spark plug, the air filter requires replacement every 20,000 km and it cost RM52. I’ve tried extending the replacement of the air filter to 40,000 km but after changing it at that mileage, there is no difference in performance to me. Anyway, comes 50,000 km service, I may consider bleeding the brake system as it is quite spongy already and it just doesn’t less bite immediately. I’ll also increase the frequency of changing of automatic gearbox fluid to every 10,000 km as this component could be more fragile than the engine.

The car has currently registered 48,000 km of mileage but has not given me any headache so far. Among the minor defects that I’ve experienced are as follow:
- the rear right and front left door is difficult to move or open, complained to the service center but they have only greased the door swivel instead of realigning it.
- the air conditioner can be smelly occasionally the moment after it is switched on but the smell only lasted for a minute
- the sport rims come with a integrated wheel cap that can easily be detached and it cost RM10 per piece for a replacement