Travelling 101: Pushing Nimble Viva Up North

We were clearly able to pick up speed to 100 kilometres per hour on the highway but it comes with a problem – stability. Perodua Viva do not come with the Lotus DNA, unlike the other national cars.

It has been in our plans to have at least 2 cars at home which will serve a different purpose and the addition of the small Perodua Viva was just considering the time. And once we have cleared the first 1,000 kilometres service, we decided on a drive up North and we took the Viva instead the usual bigger car.

The Viva passed several important ‘thresholds’

Firstly, it was my wife’s first experience driving on the North-South Highway – she now realises why driving on highways can be very tiring and taxing. She managed to clock in a new experience on Viva of overtaking heavy vehicles on the highway although initially there were plenty of ‘comments’ from me on her style of driving. After a while, I noticed she was able to handle the driving stress well and thus, I went to sleep until I was woken up for my turn for driving (which was not long).

Secondly, fresh from its first 1,000 kilometres service, we managed to bring the Viva up to speed exceeding the usual highway speed (that is with me in the pilot seat of course) but anything more than 110 kilometres, the car demonstrates some instability especially when overtaking huge trucks (it could be due to the height and the lightweight of the car). The alignment was a bit out, understandably as the car was driven over a lot of pot-holes in the first few weeks, but the car was able to handle well during the corners to some extend.

Although we did not get the high spec of the Perodua Viva line-up, it still a good car with good specifications – DOHC, DVVT, Low Fuel Consumption, etc. On the downside of things, it does not come with airbags or other safety features, it is small and the body looks fragile. Image source: Autocruz

Thirdly, Viva’s boot can accommodate 2 large luggage bags and have more space for several smaller bags despite the “smallish look” from the outside. The rear passenger side also have enough space on the floor for more bags but we did not come to that extent – the boot was more than enough for a family of 2 adults and 1 excited kid.

We spent about RM80 for petrol for the journey, clocking almost 600 kilometres. That workout mileage of 19 kilometres per litre – a better fuel consumption compared to my beaten up Proton which gives mileage of 12 kilometres per litre for the same distance.

Having my wife as the first driver and me as the backup driver helps to relieve tiredness driving on the highway – with both of us taking turns, we arrived at our destination fresh and less sleepy. With my wife now more skilled in driving, she was able to drive for shopping and relatives house without the need for me to drive.

The car was able to carry 4 adults and 1 kid rather comfortably for short distances but the suspension is rather soft – we passed several humps on the road and we can hear some ‘scrapping’ sound from the bottom of the car. The side skirting of the car took some beating at a certain part of the kampung road near my in-law’s house.

The drive back to KL was uneventful and we really did not have the chance to test the car on wet roads. The bypass in Ipoh was a welcome sight – we did not have to stop for toll plazas like the last time.