W

ith around 200 cars already sold and 500 others in reserve, the public may soon recognize the Hyundai Grand Avega on the streets.

The exterior of the Grand Avega, which was first introduced to car enthusiasts at the Indonesian International Motor Show 2011 in July, is very different from its predecessor, the Hyundai Avega.

The Avega is unmistakably a sedan with a regular look, while the five-door hatchback Grand Avega is more sporty and casual.

Early this week, The Jakarta Post and dozens other journalists had the opportunity to give it a test drive, taking a long journey of some 700 kilometers from Jakarta to Yogyakarta.

The tour was divided into two legs. On the first day, we went from Jakarta to Purwokerto in Central Java, while on the second day we took a more difficult route from Purwokerto to Yogyakarta.

A fellow journalist and I drove a manual model, a sleek silver design with a Gamma 1.4 double overhead camshaft engine and a 43 liter capacity fuel tank.

It delivers a maximum power of 108 PS at 6,300 revolutions per minute (rpm) and 13.9 kg.m of torque at 5,000 rpm. The car, which has 14 inch wheels, comes in two options; manual 5-speed transmission and automatic transmission with 4-speed shiftronic lever.

A fleet of 10 cars was ready and we were heading to the Cikampek high way in West Java, guarded by two police cars. It was still around 10 o’clock in the morning when we reached the quiet highway, which was perfect to test the speed.

The car was speeding, starting from 80 kilometers per hour and up. It was such a nice and comfortable ride that I did not realize my friend had pressed the gas pedal deeply reaching 190 kilometers per hour at some points.

I examined the interior design closely. The cabin is spacious, allowing a tall driver to adjust the sitting position while leaving enough room for the passengers. The cabin seats are upholstered in standard two-toned fabric.

We plugged in a flash drive containing dozens of songs to check the audio system, which uses double din with USB port, CD player, radio and four speakers. The sound quality was decent, but I was unhappy with the dark background of the small audio monitor, which made the text unclear.

Bebin Djuana, the deputy director marketing of PT Hyundai Mobil Indonesia (HMI), said he was proud to introduce the powerful engine design and efficient fuel consumption of the Grand Avega.

The efficient fuel consumption, he said, was the result of the installation of a unique eco-mode in the car that not only better manages the air conditioning system but also displays suggestions on the monitor screen about optimum gear use.

“Another interesting feature is our shiftronic, which is the only one available among automatic cars of this type. We hope this long journey will demonstrate the toughness of our Grand Avega,” he said.

After passing Indramayu and Cirebon, we drove south and arrived at a hotel in Purwokerto for a night’s rest. We woke up early in the morning to continue the journey to Yogyakarta.

The company public relation officers were tightlipped about details of the itinerary in an apparent effort to provide us with an adventurous experience. They only told us that on the second leg of the tour, we would take the southern route, which would be more challenging.

The scenery we encountered shortly after the start of the second leg of the tour was indeed beautiful, proudly displaying a beautiful delta with a fine view overlooking a beach. However, to say that the route was challenging, is, I am afraid, too mild.

The hilly and narrow road in Kebumen was extreme, featuring a number of sharp right and left turns as well as uphill and downhill tracks. I do not recommend this track to those who do not possess good driving skills. As for our tour, the challenge lay not only in crisscrossing hilly terrain on barely fenced roads but also the long row of cars in the convoy.

All the participants in the tour managed to pass the difficult track, successfully testing the car’s good road holding abilities. In spite the agility of the car however, the hellish mountainous area combined with some bad sections of road gave me an uncomfortable feeling.

As a passenger sitting in the back, I felt the worst turbulence and quickly felt unwell. The straight back seats topped off by three head rests offered some help in dealing with the situation and most of us heaved a sigh of relief when we reached Bantul and Yogyakarta.

The front brake system uses ventilated discs while the rear brakes use drums, which work well. The car, however, does not come with an anti-lock breaking system (ABS) or safety air bags.

HMI president director Jongkie D. Sugiarto said the manual transmission model is offered at Rp 161.5 million (US$17,894), while the automatic comes in at Rp 171.5 million.

The Grand Avega is a comfortable and affordable sedan, providing an alternative option for the Indonesian market currently dominated by Japanese vehicles.