Bread Van selection - Noah, Spada Stepwgn, Serena

[Lala81]

As detailed in my previous post on the Electric cars thread. Looks like going to be bread van driver in coming years. 

Quote

Car going to scrap in Jan '25. Going to make use of the Elantra until May 28 when that's due for scrap.
Probably going to get a van-like people mover as the family car due to ageing parents going to find it harder to get in/out of sedan.
And a need for 6 seater just if want to bring my parents out for meals. my kids growing up liao, cant squeeze 4 pax into backseat liao.

Also times are tough with increased cost of living etc. Luxury of 2nd car not really affordable anymore. 
Used to scoff at vans but going to turn to bread van driver in coming years. 

Going full EV seems a bit far away for my locations for now. My estate dont even have charging yet. 

Chinese EV makers dont seem to focus on smaller minivans. The alphard sized ones are too unwieldy to drive, and i dont need the size anyway.

So far, if Maxus Mifa 7 arrives on our shores, that's the best EV MPV I've seen so far. Actually have multi-link for rear suspension.
Otherwise it would be the serena or the spada 2.0 HEV. Both have their pros and cons. 

Features, specs and trims can be easily found on websites.

Things can change as more PHEV models come into play. But given the focus on Crossovers and Alphard-sized competitors by the Chinese EV makers. I think this JDM category will be one of the last to get targeted.

Last night i spent some time looking for Japan crash ratings for the 3 above vehicles. All 3 should have the full suite of driver safety tech assistants.

Spada

 

Noah/Voxy

 

Serena

 

 

All 3 have 5 star japanese ratings. However i think if you look at the structural at the middle part of the vehicle, on the frontal and frontal overlap crash testing, the Toyota comes off best, maybe serena edges out Spada. 
For side collision, the Serena comes off best, followed by Noah. The Spada toppled over which is not good. 

 

[Tianmo]

In term of spec and features, I believe the Serena is the best among them.  I am not sure of the spada, but the Noah is quite bare with 2 air bags only (maybe the latest version has improve).  Some commented that the epower on the Serena is weak, but I test drove it once and it feels ok to me on flat roads. The other 2 are PIs,  hybrid so I guess no issue with the 1.8L engine. 

My heart still lean towards the Toyotas, but there is a good chance might go with Mifa 7 also.

 

[Lala81]

On 7/24/2024 at 3:20 PM, Tianmo said:

In term of spec and features, I believe the Serena is the best among them.  I am not sure of the spada, but the Noah is quite bare with 2 air bags only (maybe the latest version has improve).  Some commented that the epower on the Serena is weak, but I test drove it once and it feels ok to me on flat roads. The other 2 are PIs,  hybrid so I guess no issue with the 1.8L engine. 

My heart still lean towards the Toyotas, but there is a good chance might go with Mifa 7 also.

 

In terms of drive train,

Serena e-power should feel the zippiest at lower speeds due to the wheels only being driven by electric motor.
It also has more electrical regen. Also has 1 pedal driving mode. 

It has similar torque to the spada's eHEV electric motor. However the 2.0 eHEV honda system emphasises smooth delivery rather than torquey acceleration. 

But due to the tiny battery and the small engine that doesnt power to the wheels, it will be weak at higher speed acceleration (NSH highway speeds) and also contant upslope acceleration like in genting. Whereas the Honda 2.0 eHEV should be measured but smooth up to speeds that the spada should not be driving at. 

I feel the toyota systems the difference between electric and engine the torque/acceleration is not that smooth when you press a bit harder. Even when i drove the 2.5L system in the camry hybrid.
But you can feel the taxi/PHV drivers accelerating harder then car runs out of steam as it switches to petrol. 

Depending on your driving style, serena ties with spada for city driving. on NSH, spada is the top.
Toyota is the least thirsty > Honda > Nissan. 

 

 

 

[Lala81]

On 7/24/2024 at 3:20 PM, Tianmo said:

In term of spec and features, I believe the Serena is the best among them.  I am not sure of the spada, but the Noah is quite bare with 2 air bags only (maybe the latest version has improve).  Some commented that the epower on the Serena is weak, but I test drove it once and it feels ok to me on flat roads. The other 2 are PIs,  hybrid so I guess no issue with the 1.8L engine. 

My heart still lean towards the Toyotas, but there is a good chance might go with Mifa 7 also.

 

Mifa 7 looks good. 

 

Euro Ncap

 

Based on the euro NCAP frontal overlap result, i would rate the mifa 7 over the japs. And it did well in side collision too. 

And it comes with multi-link at the rear. So passenger NVH would definitely be lower than the torsion beam japs.

 

Edited July 24 by Lala81

[inlinesix]

In terms of drivetrain, Honda is most ideal.

It is either full electric (< 60km/h) or full ICE.

Under heavy load, it is likely full ICE.

When charging, the engine is kept at 2.5k RPM.

It might not be noisy in the cabin.

2L (Honda) charging be faster than 1.4L (NIssan).

PI mostly brings in Spada (mid range). It should be better than Voxy/Noah

[zipping]

https://topgear.com.sg/features/top-gears-top-9-now-thats-what-i-call-breadvans

Top Gear’s Top 9: now that’s what I call breadvans

 

Reading e article, after e 2nd n 3rd breadvan...... inevitably, one name pop-ups ..........

[Inlinefour]

Loti Chia is the local sinkies name them 🤩🤩🤩

 

including the spf van 🫣🫣🫣use by av for area cleaning raids 🤫🤫🤫

 

best loti is Eurokars kannian 👏👏👏

[Voodooman]

Wah. Why need a buy a van? You have a lot of people to move around daily? 

[ER-3682]

On 7/24/2024 at 8:12 PM, Voodooman said:

Wah. Why need a buy a van? You have a lot of people to move around daily? 

Moving His Cash around lah.😆

[Stratovarius]

Tiagong Toyota hiace mini bus jin wu lak.

Rwd with minimal drive assist provides a very sporty and engaging drive.

 

[Lala81]

On 7/24/2024 at 8:12 PM, Voodooman said:

Wah. Why need a buy a van? You have a lot of people to move around daily? 

5 seater can't bring parents out mah once the kids are older. 

[Freeder]

On 7/24/2024 at 10:50 PM, Lala81 said:

5 seater can't bring parents out mah once the kids are older. 

Used Hybrid Honda Odyssey will suit u if u don’t mind buying ..

 

[Lala81]

On 7/24/2024 at 10:59 PM, Freeder said:

Used Hybrid Honda Odyssey will suit u if u don’t mind buying ..

 

Waiting for coe drop during peak supply so will only buy new. 

Odyssey hybrid has the same 2.0 ehev drive train. Is another 30k up and also a bigger vehicle. My wife will be driving quite a bit also. Prefer something a tad smaller. Hence the small mini van series. 

 

[Lala81]

Didn't realise KM stopped offering their Odyssey. Lol. 

[Theoldjaffa]

On 7/24/2024 at 2:52 PM, Lala81 said:

As detailed in my previous post on the Electric cars thread. Looks like going to be bread van driver in coming years. 

Features, specs and trims can be easily found on websites.

Things can change as more PHEV models come into play. But given the focus on Crossovers and Alphard-sized competitors by the Chinese EV makers. I think this JDM category will be one of the last to get targeted.

Last night i spent some time looking for Japan crash ratings for the 3 above vehicles. All 3 should have the full suite of driver safety tech assistants.

Spada

 

Noah/Voxy

 

Serena

 

 

All 3 have 5 star japanese ratings. However i think if you look at the structural at the middle part of the vehicle, on the frontal and frontal overlap crash testing, the Toyota comes off best, maybe serena edges out Spada. 
For side collision, the Serena comes off best, followed by Noah. The Spada toppled over which is not good. 

 

Serena for the win.

Buy the V8 version

 

[Scholesy]

On 7/25/2024 at 8:01 AM, Lala81 said:

Didn't realise KM stopped offering their Odyssey. Lol. 

yes they killed the ody. 

i hv the noah hybrid 80 model since 2018. wat can i say - poor pickup, poor nvh (cant really hear radio on expressways - made worse by the Falkens its on now haha). other than that, the function over form is on the dot. spacious for 7 pax, fc range can fr 15-21 (depending how ones drives), its actually not a big wide car so not too difficult to transit to from a sedan. 

i am in the fb group which has 90% phv drivers in it haha. reliability - the battery lasts well past 2-300k so dont think normal drivers will need to worry. the one that really fail is the brake pump set which cost $3k ish. i was surprised brake pump so exp then learnt that its because its part of the charging system. this happens bet 80-150k mileage. other than that, nothing else you need to watch, its basically a toyota. road tax is normal 1.8 ($900+) as well as insurance ($600 50% ncd).  

let me know if you need any further info ya....

 

[Unltd]

Out of the 3, I would go for Noah / Voxy, among the Japanese car manufacturers, Toyota is quite superior in terms of their tech and reliability. Just don’t expect “performance”. If you want to go for Nissan, you may as well go for full electric and skip the gas. For Honda, they can’t compete in the MPV segment with Toyota, the Spada is equivalent to a mid tier Noah/Voxy with a larger engine (more road tax). You can go check out the specs of the different variants for Noah / Voxy, I think you will be surprised.

When it comes to repairs and maintenance, because of the sheer numbers for Toyota, it is easy to get done. The downside is you might be mistaken for a PHV, you would be anyway so long as you are driving an MPV nowadays.

On another note which is related, the Japanese makers are losing market share like crazy, because the Chinese are starting to export their vehicles and expand overseas due to the poor economic conditions in China. If you can wait for year end or next year, and are open to EV, you can probably look at the Chinese cars, or in the worse case, the Japanese makes start lowering prices or provide better offers (although it is PI which is very unlikely, unless you are looking at Serena which is AD).

[Lala81]

On 7/25/2024 at 9:09 AM, Unltd said:

Out of the 3, I would go for Noah / Voxy, among the Japanese car manufacturers, Toyota is quite superior in terms of their tech and reliability. Just don’t expect “performance”. If you want to go for Nissan, you may as well go for full electric and skip the gas. For Honda, they can’t compete in the MPV segment with Toyota, the Spada is equivalent to a mid tier Noah/Voxy with a larger engine (more road tax). You can go check out the specs of the different variants for Noah / Voxy, I think you will be surprised.

When it comes to repairs and maintenance, because of the sheer numbers for Toyota, it is easy to get done. The downside is you might be mistaken for a PHV, you would be anyway so long as you are driving an MPV nowadays.

On another note which is related, the Japanese makers are losing market share like crazy, because the Chinese are starting to export their vehicles and expand overseas due to the poor economic conditions in China. If you can wait for year end or next year, and are open to EV, you can probably look at the Chinese cars, or in the worse case, the Japanese makes start lowering prices or provide better offers (although it is PI which is very unlikely, unless you are looking at Serena which is AD).

I don't really like how the toyota hybrids drive. 
my own preference is for the Honda eHEV system. I think the serena one is also acceptable. I'm not a high mileage user. Mostly short drives but repeated in northern sg.

There are no serenas and spada PHVs that I've seen (at least currently). Yeah I don't really want to be PHV driver.

SG whatever discounting doesn't really matter, cos everything is amplified by COE and ARF. 

Anyway this thread is going to drag out into 2026/2027 even. I'm not in a rush. It's all a COE waiting game.

 

I believe the toyota advantage will emerge only mostly when you are going to exceed 250k km in your 10 years. 

My honda at 9.5 years (AC change) has underwent less repairs than my altis at 6.5 years(leaking shocks + AC change).

Edited July 25 by Lala81