The 5th Honda STEPWGN test drive report 【1.5L turbo】

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What kind of car?

Honda Step WGN, the major features of the 5th generation are the ease of use due to the exciting door(“wakuwaku-door”) installed in the tailgate, the smallest displacement in history, and the nimble driving with the 1.5L gasoline turbo.

Genealogy of STEP WGN

1st and 2nd generation feature a square body.

1st 2nd

3rd generation became stylish minivan, and achieved driving that is not like a minivan.

3rd

Forth and 5th have returned to the origin and deigned square, look bigger.

forth

Exciting door(“wakuwaku door”)

The left half of the rear gate opens and closes, allowing you to put in and take out luggage and get on and off the rear seats in a narrow space.

However, the rear design was unpopular because it had a vertical line in the center,that is asymmetrical

The low floor makes it easy to get in.

1.5L gasoline turbo engine

It’s amazing to generate max torque at 1600rpm, so you can drive the car just by stepping on the accelrator a little.

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Until now, it was equipped with 2.0L engine, but the 5th has a smaller engine.

Exterior

STEP WGN has become a late model and has a powerful design.

STEP WGN the early model

It has simple design.

It’s actually very box-shaped, but it’s a design that doesn’t make you feel that much. In 5number-ristriction it has nice design.

Rear design seen from the left rear.

Rear design seen from the right rear.

It is a left-right asymmetric rear gate with pros and cons. Although functional, the design is subtle and contributes to sluggish sales.

Interior

The view from the driver’s seat is very good.

It’s easy to get a sense of width size.

However, the A-pillar was diagonally in front of me, and when I was on a carve, the direction of driving and the pillars sometimes covered my view.

In 5th Step WGN, the position of the A-pillar was located behind, so the view will be better.

The texture of the door panel looks cheap, but this is a family car. Materials that are easy to clean are preferred.

Passenger’s drink holder is easy to get in.

It’s easy to move between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat.

Pedal position

There is a slight offset.

View

right mirror

There are few blind spot.

left mirror

The left is also.

The view from the rear-view mirror. There is a pillar in the center, so you can see the vertical lines.

The windshield is too big, and the movement of the line of sight when looking at the left door mirror, right door mirror and room mirror becomes large.

Side view support mirror

It’s great feature. It is easy to see because the visible range is wide and the position is good.

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However, depending on how the sun was shining, the plastic panel f the A-pillar was reflected and reflected in the mirror, which could make it difficult to see.

Second seat

It’s big enough that you won’t get tired even if you ride for a long time.

The space in front of the knee is very large.

It is also equipped with a table and is easy to use.

The space under the front eat.

The space under the front seat s large. However, this is not the case with hybrid vehicles because they are equipped with batteries.

There is plenty of over head space, but the height of the headrest is not enough.

The texture of the door panel is low.

3rd row seat

The space is enough. The backrest reclines in three stages.

It can also be full flat.

The space of the knee

The second row seat is located at the back, and there is plenty of space in front of the knee.

You can put own your feet under the row seats.

There is plenty of over head space.

But, the backrest and headrest aren’t enough.

Getting on and off from the wakuwaku door

you can fold the third row seat with one touch, and getting on and off from the wakuwaku door.

Opening and closing the wakuwaku door

Luggage space

With the third row of seats unfolded, a vast space expands.

The third row is not a flip-up method, so it does not block the side windows.

Driving performance

Power performance

The accelerator pedal is light.

Compared to rival cars, minivans in this class do not have enough power performance, so they tend to open throttle more than the accelerator opening. It will suddenly start runnning with a little accelerator operation.

However, this STEP WGN has enough torque, so there is no such tendency.

It can reach up to about 60km/h without increasing the engine rpm.

At speeds of 80km/h and above, it is necessary to turn the engine, but since there is torque from low rpm, it will be sufficiently fast.

Rigidity

The rigidity of the car body is not extremely high.

I felt a squeak from the body because it was a car that ran a lot of distances as a rental car.

Ride quality

In the city riding area, it’s a very normal impression. If you get over a step, there will be an average impact, and the impact will be on average in the class.

If you run at 60km/h, you will get over the unevenness very smoohly.

Handling

There was nothing special about street riding compared to its rivals, but at high speeds it turned out to be a very good ride.

Acurate handling

Roll firmly. However, I was not worried about how to roll it, and in addition, there was weight transfer back and forth, so I was able to turn the curve with confidence.

You can see how much you should turn the steering wheel.

When driving a minivan of this class, I don’t know how much to turn when turning, so I often rush into the curve in an uneasy state, and after understeering, I often turn the steering wheel in a hurry. , I didn’t have to worry about it with the Step WGN.

Minivan to enjoy cruising

I could feel the goodness of this car in the area where the speed is high to some extent.