Honda Shuttle

The Shuttle name in the history of Honda has been around since the Civic Shuttle and the Fit Shuttle and for the newest model, the all-new Honda Shuttle, which is an MPV based on the latest Honda Fit hatchback, is all about practicality and efficiency. Just everything what an average Japanese family would need for their imminent summer holiday.

2016 Honda Shuttle

First and foremost, the design for the new Shuttle is an utterly questionable one. At the front view, it looks like it's not adequate for a family-friendly people carrier because by the looks of it, it looks like surgeons gave an ugly man a big, ridiculous, lips. That's so nuts for someone with a horseface and then we get at the back which looks like it came from one of its chief rivals, the Toyota Wish. The old Fit Shuttle is like performing a surgery on a young woman's body and then resulted to an oversized buttocks but the new Shuttle is now becoming more like...Diego's. Yep, that guy from BG but atlit...

2016 Honda Shuttle interior

2016 Honda Shuttle interior

Because the new Shuttle is derived from the long line of Fit relatives including the Vezel crossover, the Grace sedan, and the recently-launched Jade MPV, which has a better-looking design than the Shuttle, the interior looks more similar to its cousins. You get seats for five people, some luggage space for your essentials, and then, the added compartment in the form of a storage unit hidden underneath the loading bay. Now that's convenient if you're going on a fishing trip with your kids at a lake.

2016 Honda Shuttle

The Shuttle only comes with 1.5L i-VTEC engine producing 132PS of power, 155Nm of torque, and 21.8km/L of fuel economy while connected with a CVT gearbox but if you want more range, you can opt with the hybrid variant which comes with the 7-speed dual clutch transmission, 22kW electric motor, and a li-ion battery, resulting to an incredible fuel economy of 34.0km/L, comfortably beating the Toyota Prius Alpha by a long shot. Running on electric motor alone, it produces more torque than its petrol engine.

You can have either a front-wheel drive if you're a casual civilian or if you're feeling under the weather, a 4WD model is at hand. Either way, you can expect the added quality and stability thanks to its amplitude reactive dampers. It's great for city use or in the suburbs but in open roads, it doesn't feel its sporty character from within. Overall, it's boring if you're on a trip in, let's just say, Tagaytay or Subic or Antipolo. It maybe quite a road trip car but for fun factor, it's worth a misery.

As for value of money, the Shuttle begins at 1,690,000 for the normal petrol variant while the hybrid model starts at 1,990,000 Yen so on paper, it's more affordable to own than the Prius Alpha and imagine how much money you save instead of buying the bigger Prius. Besides, with all that double clutch malarkey, this is much more engaging to drive than the Prius Alpha but rest assured, this is not the kind the car you want to own if you're still single or in a relationship. If you're married and had few kids, this is ideal for you or if you do have friends from high school, this is the better choice. Although the design looks more of a horseface to me, the new Shuttle might just be the ideal car for the Japanese family preparing for their imminent summer holiday.

Available colors: White Orchid Pearl, Alabaster Silver Metallic, Tinted Silver Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl, Midnight Blue Beam Metallic, Mystic Garnet Pearl, Milano Red, and Gold Brown Metallic.

Photo: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.