The Perodua MPV would have made many people wait after news that they were going to release its MPV in September. This of course did not materialize after it was postponed and finally it is here. While Perodua has a tendency to ‘follow’ its Japanese ‘brothers’ designs, this one is different and Perodua has done quite a remarkable job on the Alza which comes from a Spanish word that means ‘To Rise’.
There are in total 4 variants currently available while the top of the range will be available starting next march. The entry level model is the Alza 1.5L M/T which is sold for about RM56,000 and its automatic version will cost about RM3k more. The Premium edition costs about RM61,000 and RM64,000 for the manual and automatic transmission respectively.
To say the least, the Alza comes with a 1.5 liter DVVT engine which typically is the 3SZ-VE engine fitted in the Toyota Avanza. This means that while the 1.3 version is a bit underpowered, the 1.5 one give you a bit more. But if you are carrying 7 passengers, then power might not be quite favouable. Typically, being a 7 seater, you would expect a lot of space and while you will appreciate the on-board gear knob, Perodua being Perodua seemed to keep space to quite a limit here. Hence as compared to the Avanza, the third row might be a bit tight. But if you are not to use the third row, then you are welcomed with quite a lot of boot space.
In terms of safety features, the top range model comes with full ABS and dual SRS airbags up front but this is not available in the entry version which can be quite disappointing. Otherwise, this car is pretty quite a good drive and one which is pretty economical as well. One wonders what took them so long.
