A history lesson
The Alza is simply brilliant. We used to have the previous version. The previous car was like the Malaysian version of the American station wagon. Its the car you use to haul the family, commute from work to home on a daily basis, its the car you ‘pinjam’ to go out on trips with friends, which turns into a party bus. Yet it runs on relatively cheap to purchase 15 inch tyres and a frugal yet sufficiently powerful 1.5 litre engine. It is as complete a car can get for Malaysia.
The King is back
Which is why we were very excited about the replacement Perodua Alza after all this time. We wanted to know if it would live up to the expectation. Our first experience with the Alza was during the Sahur Drive which we organised with the Route Hunters Malaysia Members. This first exposure we had of the Alza.
The first impression
After driving from our Garage, through the pitch black mountains between Selangor and Negeri Sembilan to our Eco Park, and then back to our Garage, the most striking thing we saw was the distance the fuel gauge moved. It’s a frugal car. Which is precisely what we need for a car that is designed to haul people across distances.
The second thing we noticed is the far sorted ride and handling compared to the rest of the Perodua range, including the Ativa. The Alza’s long wheelbase gives it a stable drive feel, while being just the right amount of sorted for the twisty mountain roads we first experienced it on.
The Hardware that matters
The biggest ace of this car is its space. There’s comfortable amount of seating for all 3 rows, the interior is versatile with the right amount of storage space. The biggest criticism for the previous Alza, the lack of a 2nd AC blower has been addressed in this version.
The CVT gearbox is happy at cruising at 45-55kph, which is exactly where you want to be during the rush hour crawls. Plus it returns great consumption numbers while driving at those speeds.
Last but not least, there’s Apple Carplay available for the Alza. This critical feature thats missing from Proton cars may not be an absolute deal breaker but the convenience the system is like the silver bullet for Perodua sales staff to win potential sales on the showroom floors.
The Drawback
The vagueness of the steering that we felt, is common across all Perodua models. The dampers and tyres although provide a comfortable ride, the relatively small size sends over quite a bit of vibration from the road to the body, especially over rough patch.
There is an adaptive cruise control system, although functional its not as reliable as the system you find on Proton cars, chiefly since they are camera based and not radar based.
Overall….
For the RM75,500 price tag the Alza has no real rivals, with the closest competition coming from Toyota while Proton’s X90 coming in at a much higher price tag. Of course the Proton brings alot more to the table, but that’s a story for another day.
If you’re looking for a reliable people carrier that will move a family of 5 with all the cargo, occasionally carry 7 people, in relative comfort, the Alza is as ideal as it gets.
