The cheery one in the city

What we like:

Satisfying gearbox and shift feel. Zippy enough for city use.

What we dislike:

You-get-what-you-pay-for build quality. Vibrations at speeds above 70 km/h - not for highway use.

The clutch was still mushy and had a short travel, but this time, the biting point was easy to find and was no longer “somewhere there”. Overall shift feel was also more direct, and every gear shift was no longer accompanied by an annoying “clank”. Another pleasant surprise we had was the fact that although the engine did sound gruff at higher revs, there was a satisfying tone to it as the engine speed climbed higher.

Once we left the city to do the de rigueur expressway runs, the J1’s role as a strict city car became apparent. At speeds past 70 km/h, the J1 had its hands full trying to overcome wind resistance to reach the 90 km/h limit. And by that point, vibrations were making their way into the cabin. (Or as The Ed put it: “This must be the integrated massage system at work.”)

Just like its T11 sibling, the J1 is also a softie. Despite it being equipped with an anti-roll bar up front, going through speed bumps without slowing down will probably have you rapping “Bounce with me, bounce with me”. On another note, drivers who prefer a stiff setup will probably feel that the ride is a bit “marshmallow-y”. When driven in the city with passengers on board, the comfort-tuned suspension should work just fine. Perhaps the engineers simply preferred to err on the side of ride comfort.

This car turned out to be a surprisingly pleasant little city car. Its cheerful interior, coupled with the 5-speed manual gearbox, did make it fun to drive. The fact that the engine’s gruffness at higher revs actually wasn’t annoying must’ve contributed to that as well.

We do have to stress however, that taking the J1 out of the city and onto the expressway is akin to making an athlete who’s been trained as a sprinter run a full marathon – they could just run (no pun intended) into a little problem.

Thus if it’s a city car that you’re searching for, a backup for when it’s raining and impossible to grab a taxi, why not have a gander at the J1? It could be the city car you’ve been looking for...

Credits: Story by Jeremy R. Chua, pictures by Jeremy R. Chua and Azfar Hashim