Perodua Elite Viva EZ Review: Back to basics

What we like:

ABS

EBD and dual airbags come standard. Extremely frugal engine makes motoring easy on the wallet.

What we dislike:

Light weight makes it prone to being tossed around by crosswinds. Engine can get loud.

Floor the throttle and the engine does get raucous, so we don’t recommend doing this unless you can put up with the noise. Pickup from low speed is a tad slow, but luckily, the engine’s on the responsive side and does what it can to try and keep up with your right foot. The Viva’s a decent cruiser on the highway, but owing to its light weight, you need to watch out for crosswinds that can toss this car about. We highly recommend that you stick to the speed limit to avoid having the same problem at triple digit speeds.

Handling is comfort-biased, but again, due to the Viva’s size and weight, it can be chucked into corners, albeit with some body roll. As mentioned earlier, parking shouldn’t be a problem – not only because of its size, but also because of the presence of a reversing sensor. How thoughtful…

Frugality is where the Viva really shines. With an engine displacing less than 1 liter, this car merely sips petrol. Driven around the entire day, I only managed to consume a single LED-bar’s worth on the car’s fuel gauge. And that’s really not a lot, considering the car’s fuel tank only has a 36-liter capacity.

We were expecting the Viva to be quite the plain Jane, and as such, were pleasantly surprised to find it came with quite a few goodies - the electric windows and mirrors, ABS, EBD, and dual airbags are equipment you’re more likely to come across in more expensive cars.

The Viva is also just right for drivers who not only just passed their driving test, but are looking to buy the first car which they’ll spend their first few years practicing on. Its easy handling (plus reverse sensor) makes parking a breeze, while the frugal engine is easy on the wallet as well.

Well, going basic doesn’t sound like such a bad idea after all.

Credits: Story & pictures by Jeremy R. Chua