Honda Hybrid Family Road Trip 2013 @ Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV, Kota Bharu

I picked up the Honda Civic Hybrid last Thursday to go on the media trip to Kota Bharu for the Honda Hybrid Family Road Trip 2013 at Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV held on the 14 - 15 September. It was my first time driving such a long distance as the furthest I've driven to is Kuala Terengganu seconded by Penang.

Crystal Black Pearl Honda Civic Hybrid 1.5L
A few years back, I've test driven the Honda Jazz Hybrid and Honda Insight. At that time, Honda CRZ manual variant was not yet available for test drive. I've always admire Honda Civic especially the 1.8L VTEC model launched in 2010 but now I get to drive a newer generation of Honda Civic incorporated with the Hybrid system.



I woke up as early as 4.30am, got ready and headed to pick up Elwyn at 5.30am from his place. We headed to our meet up point with the rest of the bloggers at the Shell petrol station before the Gombak tol plaza. After our McDonald's breakfast, we took off around 6am and we drove all the way to Kota Bharu and we didn't even stop for lunch break. We did a few stops only for toilet break and to fill up petrol. It's not easy for 4 cars to travel together in a convoy but I guess it's a new experience for some of us.



After a good 8 hours drive, we finally reach our destination - Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV where the roadshow was held. Although I felt sleepy but it went passed as soon as we've arrived. I was feeling so excited that I almost forgotten about lunch! By the way, one full tank of petrol on Honda Civic Hybrid is more than enough to reach Kota Bharu from KL and still have one quarter tank to drive around the city as long as you go on ECON mode majority of the time. That's quite impressive eh!



Upon arrival, we were brought into The Honda Hybrid Home which was divided into 3 zones.

Zone 1: Discovery
Zone 2: Inspiration
Zone 3: Ignite



In Zone 1: Discovery, there's a few things prepared here. First one is the Honda Green Auto Technology Milestones where they showed us their car manufacturing history from the year 1972 till present. From what I read there, their very first commercialized Hybrid car was Honda Civic back in 2007.


Within the same zone, there's a section called the Power of Two with three tandem bikes - a bicycle for two cyclist. Cyclist on the bike will have to cycle until a certain power level to trigger the alarm.

Thanks to Syukri & Ishak for volunteering to cycle the bike.
One cyclist will have to work harder in order to trigger it while two cyclist will make the job seems much easier. The system implied here is the same with the Honda Hybrid system which combine an internal combustion engine and one electric motor. When only half or less petrol is consumed to move the vehicle, hence it's more eco-friendly and prolong the lifetime of the engine.



Next to it is the Honda Formula-E where we get to control the Honda Hybrid cars to reach the destination in the shortest time.



Not only we get to control the cars but by looking at the meter gauge, we get to learn how the petrol and battery works on the Hybrid system.



After that, we went into a dark room called 'What is Hybrid?' to watch two videos. One is done by  JinnyboyTV, I've included the video below and one is... I'll let you find out yourself at the next roadshow.


What do you think about the video? Fuuny? How many of you practice rojak language? Haha...


The last section in this zone is the Build Your Hybrid Challenge where we get to build the hybrid car accordingly on the interactive touch monitor. Upon completing the task, each will be given an eco-friendly pen as a reward.



Let's move on to Zone 2: Inspiration.

CKD Honda Jazz Hybrid 1.3L
In this Inspiration zone, we get to look at all the Honda Hybrid Family models. Today we get to purchase the Honda Jazz Hybrid slightly cheaper at RM89,900 since it's completely assembled locally in Malaysia.



What I like most about this CKD Honda Jazz Hybrid is the Ultra Seats feature where we can arranged the seats to suit our lifestyle needs. There are things that has been omitted from this CKD version such as Hill Start Assist, cruise control, one touch lane change, automatic wipers, audio controls on the steering wheel and shift paddles found on the CBU version. I really miss that shift paddles though. It's a joy to shift its 7-speed on the road!

Frosty White Honda Civic Hybrid 1.5L from RM119,980
The Honda Civic Hyrbid is the car that I've driven up to Kota Bharu. It's really comfortable proven with the 8 long hours journey, not really a fan of its design but nevertheless, it saves a lot of petrol with the ECON mode! Plus it comes with the keyless Smart Entry and Engine Start/Stop Button which are really convenient during rainy days in outdoors. At least you get to keep the car key in the pocket when your hands are fully occupied with things.

Honda CRZ 1.5L from RM119,00
One of the most popular Hybrid model at the roadshow - the Honda CR-Z 1.5L CVT. I think the crowd was attracted with its Milano Red and from what I heard, the S++ function is really a joy to be equipped into this CR-Z.


Sporty looking interior, the CR-Z is designed with sleek style and substance for your comfort and convenience. Subtly elegant, the interior of the CR-Z is made to be functional in every form. Vivaciously versatile, every drive is different with the CR-Z.



The CR-Z is designed to rev up enjoyment; it efficiently saves fuel while lowering carbon emissions. It gives power and performance without compromising your driving pleasure.

Honda Insight 1.3L from RM99,800
Last but not least, it's the Honda Insight which was launched during Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show 2010. I was at the launch at that time and I did get to see the whole half cut of the system. It was quite impressive that Honda made this as the most affordable Hybrid car at that time.



Some of the Guidance Function, Versatile Seating Arrangement and VSA features on Honda Insight. Somehow I feel that this car is underpowered with its 1.3L engine comparing its size and the weight of the car.



Seems like someone is having fun at the back boot of the Insight.


The last zone, Ignite - where customers can register to test drive any of the Hybrid cars. They will get a mystery gift after completing their test drive and there's also table for further discussion if customers are keen to learn more about the Hybrid cars or want to book any of the models on that day.



Here's the mystery gift! A Honda keychain and a t-shirt :)



Aside from the Honda Hybrid Home, there's also the Honda Eco Bazaar around it. Majority of the booth offers eco-friendly product and there's also free balloons, popcorn and cotton candy for everyone!


The Honda Genuine Accessories and merchandise are the top spot for some of the Honda car club members in Kota Bharu.


The HotFM Zoomers and FlyFM Troopers came all the way up as well from KL to entertain the crowd and giveaway goodies at the roadshow.


Honda Hybrid graffiti! The cars looked so cute with their googly eyes!


We managed to drive around Kota Bharu to visit some of the places of interest such as Istana Jahar, Muzium Diraja Istana Batu and Pusat Kraftangan Kelantan.



At the Pusat Kraftangan Kelantan, some of us managed to try out the batik painting in the art class. We only paid RM15 for this. It was a great experience I must say.



Apart from that, we also get to try out some of the local food in Kota Bharu such as the Nasi Kerabu and Laksam. It's only RM3 for the Nasi Kerabu and RM1.50 for Laksam. Cheap till we almost wanted to pack a few more for ourself to eat it in our hotel room.

A group picture of the bloggers with our Honda Hybrid cars.
Overall, it was a short but sweet experience traveling on the Honda Hybrid cars. I don't mind to driving up again given the Honda Civic Hybrid or better off the newly launched Honda Accord Hybrid.

Here's a good news for you. Do you want to test drive a Honda Hybrid for 3 days 2 nights? Register yourself at http://bit.ly/IQcsrI and it is FREE of charge. As long as you own a valid MyKad and a valid Driving Licence, you can experience the Honda Hybrid cars!

For more information about HONDA, please visit:
Facebook: fb.com/hondamalaysia


.: Peace Out :.

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