"Honda-Solaris": specifications, photos and reviews

The secret of success of bestsellers in the car market is often hidden in obvious and simple things. It remains to be wondered, why there are still obviously unattractive models. It would seem that it is enough to develop a concept that satisfies the needs of the target audience, to conduct a marketing campaign and to periodically amend it in the course of planned restyling. In practice, however, manufacturers are faced with a lot of technical nuances, most of which interfere with the embodiment of the conceived. And vice versa: the Korean car "Honda Solaris" shows an example of how a virtuoso manufacturer can create an almost ideal budget-class model. At least, it looks like this in the eyes of many thousands of Russian motorists.

General information about the model

The complexity of the task, which faced the developers of the model, boiled down to the endowment of an inexpensive machine with bearable handling qualities, pleasant design and a modern set of options. Of course, in this list of the advantages of the car "Honda Solaris" should be added and power, which in many ways determined the success of the compact. The exterior of the model, which Koreans themselves consider to be one of the key factors of attractiveness, was fulfilled with the expectation of a home philosophy of the brand.

But as experience of many eminent manufacturers shows, the most beautiful and stylish car will not interest the buyer without the corresponding maintenance and suitable operational qualities. And in this respect the model also did not disappoint the consumer. The compact and maneuverable Honda Solaris provides enough space for the owner to use, is notable for a decent power for the budgetary employee and at the same time pleases with economical fuel consumption.

Specifications

In the history of the model creation, the fact that it was designed practically from a new platform is also noteworthy. Perhaps this saved the machine from the "hereditary" problems that are often encountered when using the old database. The official figures, of course, do not give a complete idea of all the possibilities of the design, but already from them one can judge the balanced approach of engineers to the development of the Honda Solaris, the technical characteristics of which look like this:

• The length is 437 cm.
• Height - 147 cm.
• The width is 170 cm.
• The base of the wheels is 257 cm.
• Ground clearance - 16 cm.
• The front track is 149.5 cm.
• The rear track is 150.2 cm.
• The capacity of the luggage compartment is 465 liters.
• The capacity of the tank is 43 liters.
• The total weight of the car is 1565 kg.
• Transmission - automatic for 4 steps.
• Drive - front.

Characteristics of the power "stuffing"

On the example of the motor scale, the original approach of Korean designers is especially visible from the point of view of the budgetary producer. The company refused to use cheap low-power engines, having formed a modern line from the Gamma units. The initial engine installed on the Honda Solaris, the technical characteristics of which can be represented by a 1.4 liter capacity and a capacity of 107 liters. With., Corresponds to the status of the traditional golf class. For those who do not have enough basic offer, the manufacturer has provided for a 123-horsepower 1.6-liter engine.

There is nothing supernatural in these engines, if not for one nuance. Still, the model does not just refer to maneuverable urban machines, but is positioned as a subcompact. It is obvious that the power potential is more than 100 liters. from. Excessive for a car of the level "Honda Solaris" in the body of the hatchback. But the matter is not even in technical and operational conformity, but in economic expediency. Budget machines rarely supply powerful power fillings precisely because of increasing price tags.

Performance

By and large, the decision to use powerful engines has benefited the car. True, the advantages of power units are evaluated in different ways. Despite the return in 107 liters. With., The standard version of the Honda Solaris is rapidly losing its confident course behind the 100 km / h bar. But in the city the younger engine optimally reveals the advantages of the model.

A more powerful package, rather, is suitable for trips outside the city, but there are some nuances. In particular, the suspension, softly tuned by caring Koreans, can behave quite unpredictably when crossing to different levels of coverage. Often there is a skid of the back part, from which, however, helps to get out the stabilizer. In the dynamics of the Honda Solaris, the performance is also not impressive - the maximum speed is 175 km / h, and acceleration to hundreds occurs in 13.4 seconds. For a compact small sicikar, such data correspond to the average.

Updated version

One of the components of the success of the modern automaker is a reasonable approach to the implementation of updates. A lot of examples, when the changes turned away from the model of the most devoted fans. But this does not apply to the Korean "Honda Solaris". The new device has significantly changed not only externally, but also in the technical stuffing. As for the exterior, you can see the updated optics and more elegant forms of the bow and stern. In the interior appeared soft armrests, as well as pockets for bottles and other small things. If you want, you can see the use of higher quality materials, which indicates the desire of the manufacturer to raise the status of the model.

The power unit at 1.6 in the new device is complemented by a 6-speed automatic. True, the 107-horsepower engine, which is also supplied with the Honda Solaris, did not touch this update - it works in tandem with the 4-speed mechanism. Otherwise, the technical parameters remain the same.

Positive feedback about the model

The car has a lot of advantages, which are noted and the owners of the first copies, and users of the updated version. Most of the positive reviews converge on decent ergonomics, stylish and attractive design, thoughtful power "stuffing", reliable construction and good handling. Actually, there are many models with similar qualities, but everything is decided by the price. The fact that the car "Honda Solaris" with a run in Moscow can be purchased for 300-400 thousand rubles. European models with similar advantages in the mass are estimated at 2-3 hundred thousand more expensive. And this is in view of the fact that the element base of "Solaris" is extremely high quality for a budget car, which inspires confidence even in the copies of the secondary market.

Negative feedback

Serious problems, which are noted by many users, only two. In the first case, this is the suspension in the back of the car. Its weak design poorly copes with cargo in the trunk and almost does not hold the control on turns - as noted above, the stabilizer, which is present in the list of options "Honda Solaris", saves. Comments on the second shortcoming indicate a lack of isolation. More precisely, it is present, but it is designed so that its effectiveness is practically not felt. This applies to noise reduction, and thermal insulation materials. However, this problem was slightly corrected when updating the car. Partly in this helped new decoration materials.

Conclusion

If you forget about the market position of the Korean model and just look at it, and then make a small test drive, then the idea of a budget segment will even try to sneak in. Both in appearance and interior decoration the car "Honda Solaris" deserves a higher status. Understand this and the creators, which expand the range of bundles, releasing to the market version with a more respectable price tag. To what extent such an investment is justified, the question is individual, but for those who resolutely connect the purchase with the initial level of the car market, this option should be considered first. However, the lover of European comfortable sedans omit the bar does not make sense. You can win in price, practicality and even driving performance, but security and reliability are not at all those features that made the Korean subcompact a bestseller.