What’s your take on these? Toyota ipsum vs Noah, Mazda Verisa vs Demio

Mazda verisa

Hello Paul, I appreciate your piece of advice in Thursday’s Daily Monitor. I have gained a lot from reading your column. I am spoilt for choice on which car to buy between any type of Toyota Ipsum and a 1997/1999 Toyota Noah.

Hello, thanks for your keen readership. Toyota Ipsum is a seven-seater mini passenger van with a lower profile and ground clearance. On the other hand, the Noah of your choice is an eight-seater passenger van with a higher profile and ground clearance.

Noah is a lot roomier and comfortable passenger carrier over long journeys. Ipsum will feel squashed on a highway trip. The two options have their strong points.

Ipsum’s size and profile will make it more fuel efficient but that is also relative. If you have the smaller 1.8 litre petrol engine on the Ipsum and load it with seven adults, your engine revs will be high and so will your fuel consumption. Ipsum will probably be cheaper to repair, but the benefits of using the bigger passenger van - Noah outweigh the little extra cost of maintenance. So, fuel economy should not hinder you from choosing the car of your choice.

Dear mechanic, I have a new found love; it is Mazda Verisa. A head-to-head comparison with Mazda Demio would be good. Which is better in terms of performance and others? Justine J.

Hello JJ, an engine performance comparison between the popular 2007 Mazda Verisa and Mazda Demio will yield the same results.

The two siblings share the 1.5 litre ZYVE Mazda engine, which delivers the same power out put of 83 KW and 113 horsepower @ 6000rpm.

Both the 2007 Verisa and Demio are sub-compact five-door hatchbacks so their fuel economy and acceleration statistics are the same (approx 20 km/l and 0-100kph in 10 seconds).

When driving about, the Verisa will feel slightly more grounded and comfortable to manoeuver because it has a wider wheel base. But again they are not high performance cars.

The real race between these two sub-compact cars is with the styling, design and comfort features. The Verisa whose name and design cues are inspired by the theme ‘true fulfillment’, is more stylish and commands better attention to its bolder looking presence.

While both the Verisa and Demio are in the sub-compact category, the Verisa is slightly longer and wider hence affording slightly bigger leg and shoulder room.

Both cars have the same height but Verisa feels roomier. Mark you, the Demio, which was launched in 1996 is probably more popular because it has been around for a decade longer. But Verisa will catch your eye and turn heads when you drive by because it has a what you would call—mini cooper continental ‘touch’.

Verisa has better exterior dressing with more stylish and attractive bright modern colours bedecked with impressive chrome finishes. Verisa interior is more fashionable and sports a high quality black metallic instrument panel and colour coded seats.

The Verisa designer is a little more generous with small details such as the steering wheel audio controls and door fitted ground illumination lamps.
When you sit behind Verisa’s steering wheel, you cannot help noticing the ambience created by the the indirect blue LED lighting in the interior and the instrument clustre.

This is the perfect option for a classy and modern lady. Go on and ‘fall head over heels’ with the Verisa, you will not look back.

Ask the mechanic / By Paul Kaganzi (0772316145)
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