Perodua Kancil 'Evo 6'

Well, guys, you may find this interesting.

Ooi Joo Hong, Deputy GM (Marketing Services) of Perodua Sales, is a man who always looks for something catchy to introduce the company’s new models to the press. This time round, for the new Kancil 850 EZi Automatic, he started off by talking about the ‘Evo 6’… which was a bit puzzling as the only ‘Evo’ enthusiasts know is that road rocket made by Mitsubishi.

Then it became clear: the new Kancil variant is the sixth one in the 8-year ‘evolution’ of the automatic version (you get it now?) and it is the most significant as it involves a ‘change of heart’.

Up till the end of 2002, 470,896 Kancils were sold in Malaysia and the automatic variants have accounted for almost 66,000 units or about 14%. The earlier 660 cc version was sold between 1995 and 1999 while the 850 cc version has continued to this day.

Statistics presented by Mr Ooi showed that 70% of Kancil 850EZ Automatic owners are female (not surprising) and predictably, older people drive an automatic: 57% are between the ages of 30 and 49.

Statistics tell marketing people many things but there are also other aspects of a car which are more subjective and from feedback over the years, one of the big requests was “more power”. This is understandable considering the small displacement of the Kancil engine but it is also a small car and there is limited space in the engine bay – so you can’t just drop a bigger engine in.

However, with new technology you can still extract more power from a given displacement and the new ED-DE engine features twin cams, 4 valves per cylinder and EFI. It’s not just a ‘head job’ on the old single carburetor engine but an entirely new engine (still 3 cylinders) which is adapted from the 1000 cc unit used for the Kelisa.

The new long-stroke engine produces an impressive 36.7 kW (50 ps) of power at 5200 rpm - 30% more than the old engine – and 74.4 Nm of torque at 4000 rpm (18% more). Considering that the weight has gone up by just 27 kgs, or about 4%, what this increased output means is a much better weight-to-power ratio. In other words, more power pushing around less weight which translates into even better performance.

According to Mr Ooi, factory tests have shown that the new Kancil 850EZi can go 10% further on a litre of fuel which is not surprising since having EFI also increases fuel efficiency. Of course, Kancil owners have never had an issue with fuel consumption at all but little savings still add up to big ones at the end of the month.

The automatic transmission is still a 3-speeder with the same low final drive of 3.966:1, typical for such cars. However, there are slight changes in the first and second gear ratios while top gear is 1:1.

There are no other major mechanical changes to the specifications but the catalytic converter is different. Where the previous engine had a 2-way catalytic converter (which is actually incorporated in right up at the exhaust manifold), the new ED-DE engine has a 3-way type which also works on poisonous nitrogen oxide.

The suspension system is unchanged too but a new design of alloy wheels is used with the 155/70R12 Goodyear GPS2 tyres.

There are only two visible differences on the exterior - the ‘850EZi’ sticker on the rear hatch and a trim piece surrounding the rear numberplate. Inside too, there are no differences other than the shift lever and the LCD panel inside the speedometer having a gear position indicator.