Owner Review: Enjoyable Track Time with My #Anzbaby - Honda City

My Honda City, better known as #anzbaby which simply stands for Anwar’s baby. He looks like a typical City that is souped up, under the hood it’s running a 1.5 Fit RS engine along with a 6 speed manual transmission. My driving machine that is daily driven, from the streets to the tracks. May not be as powerful, but assured to give driving pleasure.

December 2010, visited Honda Imavest Ulu Klang, Ampang (now Sg Long) showroom to get my very first car, the Honda City (TMO/GM2). Requested for a silver coloured manual, only to find out Honda Malaysia doesn’t bring in manual transmission. Salesman suggested to go for the higher spec, 1.5E which includes paddle shifters, at least something to get the gear shifting feel. Booked the car, expected to collect on April 2011, however delayed 3 months due to the flash floods in Thailand that time that affected the Honda manufacturing plant.

From the moment I drove #anzbaby out of the showroom, I could feel that it was the start of something new. Just like most typical car owner, drove all around to complete the ‘break-in’ period sooner. #anzbaby took me around town and interstate travels with no issue, from my college days till I started working.

Since schooling days, I had a fascination towards car racing games and movies. This excitement didn’t die as I grew, but how am I going to race an automatic compact sedan that is built mainly for fuel economy? Only one way to find out, I participated in an open trackday at Sepang International Circuit towards the end of 2014 for the first time. I managed to observe the capabilities and limits, as well as the behavior and response of #anzbaby. To sum it up, it was challenging, yet addictive.

First thing’s first, the basic upgrades such as adjustable suspension, brakes, tyres and so on were done. Then, I gathered fellow City friends of the similar mindset/kaki along my journey, and we started hill climb activities, also known as ‘touge’. Touge may be seen as street racing by majority, but the truth is, it’s not. There is no winning in touge, it mainly a hill drive to enjoy the drive. We usually touge on the known trails such as Genting, Karak, Ulu Yam and Kuala Klawang. The responsible way we enjoy this activity is driving within our limits, not pushing too hard and causing hazard to other road users.

After several trackdays, I realized that with such decent power output of the stock L15A iVTEC engine, it would perform better as a manual. Thus I began my research and browsing till I decided to do manual conversion using a Jazz GE 5 speed gearbox in early 2016 at a workshop in Batu Tiga, Shah Alam. However, the transplant didn’t turn out well. #anzbaby couldn’t come to live due to ECU going haywire. After several trial and error process, we managed to start #anzbaby, but with several side effects such as an unstable ECU, speedometer max out at 40km/h, rev cut at 5k RPM, unstable combustion and occasional cut-off to throttle body’s DBW system. Anyways, I was thankful that the car could start and I could enjoy the manual transmission despite these side effects.

After 3 years, I decided to go for a full conversion at a garage near i-City, Shah Alam that specializes on Honda City (GM2). This time, it was a Fit RS (GE) half cut from Japan. We did a 1 to 1 conversion, from the engine & gearbox, to the ECU and harness. #anzbaby woke up from the transplant with a new breath of life, in perfection this time. To date, I’m enjoying the 6 speed manual transmission on a L15A7 engine, with no regrets at all. Despite me facing traffic jam as I drive to work everyday, it is sheer pleasure in every miles gained.

I am looking forward to more fun drives at trackdays, time attacks and road trips. And speaking of road trip, #anzbaby recently made a road trip from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket, Thailand, with detours at Hatyai & Krabi. It was an unforgettable experience, and once the borders are reopened, I aim to drive up to Ranong, or maybe Hua Hin or further?

As time passes, body value depreciates, and impressive innovations from successors and competitors can be tempting. However, I won’t be letting go #anzbaby anytime soon simply due to the memories made along the journey and sentimental value that money can’t buy. After all, it is pretty unique to run a manual Honda City in Malaysia, and I’m actually glad to see more and more manual conversions. We shall prove that Honda Citys are not your typical ‘kereta pergi pasar beli sayur´ but a car that one can find pleasure in the drive and can also be track worthy.