Round Penang Island
Kew 
Living in an island, once we get a new car, there is always the first thing to do, round island. I am not sure if this is a ritual for all Penang folks, but it is a ritual for me. Partly also I want to rack up the 1k mileage so that I can get the car 1st kilometer service and also partly, the round island terrain covers from freeway to windy mountain road and currently, some construction roads. This allow me to test the car fully and identify issues with the car before the 1st K service to get it fix then.
Starting from the coastal highway, the drive was smooth in the morning, there wasn’t that many cars and the car just cruise at max speed limit. The car was a little bouncy from the sinking road, my old Honda City was also behaving this way and it had a much more harder suspension. Coming into Georgetown, the traffic starts to built up and I had to slow down, especially at Jetty area, the road are patch here and there and I could feel the detail bumps on the road. This is the part that I don’t like, new car going through bumpy roads. I guess this is where all other new car owners would feel “sakit hati” subjecting their car through these bumps.
Next, when we come to the north part of the island, this is where the road start to gets very windy. Something similar to the Initial Drift, the hill side winding road provides opportunity to test out the car handling at this condition. I wasn’t that familiar with the car and had many times oversteer coming out of a corner. Later I realize that I had not been turning the steering enough, and once compensated, the drive was much more enjoyable. The car did not roll that much, however, going though these bending roads did get us dizzy a little. The old Honda City handles much better here, mostly because it was tuned with a harder suspension and was able to take the bend at a much better speed.
Finally, at the south west part of the island, the highway construction at Balik Pulau – Gertak Sanggul has still not been completed yet and was perfect for testing the car out. The dirt road was not that forgiving and the car came back with a thick layer of dust on the body. The drive was unpleasant and I am reminded not to take that road again, especially with a new car.
I manage to complete the new car ritual of going a full circle of the island within a week getting the car. Me and my wife enjoyed the trip today and the drive was pleasant. I am starting to enjoy driving the Alza, though it is different from the Honda City, it has it’s own characteristic and charm.
[...] Honda City ← Round Penang Island Fuel Consumption after 1 week [...]