5 things the Perodua Ativa needs to improve on – Long term review #10

With the third round of MCO announced, we’ll have to postpone our plans for a long-distance drive with our Perodua Ativa. Almost everyone in the WapCar team has driven Cik Tiva, and she has served us well up to this point.

As much as we acknowledge the Ativa to be Perodua’s best car to date, there are still some things about it that we do not like and could use some improvement. What are they? Well, we've got them all listed here for you.

1. It’s not that fuel efficient

So, we’ve driven the Ativa for more than 4,000 kilometres now, and we find the 1.0-litre turbocharged engine to be not as fuel efficient as claimed to be.

The EEV sticker has "5.3 litre/100km" printed on it, but we are yet to even get near that figure with our Ativa.

So far, we have only managed to obtain 7.5 litre/100 km on average. And in the most conservative driving conditions, we've managed to get 6.76 litre/100km. 

Unfortunately the Ativa doesn't manage to match our tested fuel consumption of the also 1.0-litre-turbo engine Nissan Almera (5.8 litre/100km).

Based on our fuel consumption test, the Ativa even loses out to larger-capacity non-turbocharged cars like the Honda City (6.3 litre/100 km) and Toyota Vios (6.5 litre/100 km).

We don’t know what sort of testing standard was used to obtain the 5.3 litre/100km figure.

Even when driving, you can already tell that Ativa burns more fuel. At highway speeds (about 110-130 km/h), the Ativa’s 1.0-litre engine revs near the 3,000 rpm mark. 

The Ativa has a punchy engine paired with a good transmission, but if fuel efficiency is your top priority, it might disappoint you.

2. There’s no telescopic steering adjustment

Having telescopic steering adjustment is great for achieving your ideal driving position. Unfortunately, the Ativa lacks this feature.

Thus it requires you to adjust the back rest forward so that your arms could reach the steering wheel properly.

As such, some of us with long legs but short arms struggle to obtain a perfect seating position. And even when we do, we find ourselves in an upright but awkward position.

Forgive us as we’re a bit spoiled with the presence of telescopic steering adjustment in the Proton X50 and Honda City. Joining the Ativa in terms of the lack of this feature are the Toyota Vios and Proton Persona.

3. The suspension is not confidence inspiring, and feels almost isolated

If you’ve read our earlier articles, you would know that we had praised the Ativa’s suspension. It was very impressive during our initial review with the press car and continued to impress us during our first few weeks of ownership.

However, the good impression only lasts for as long as you drive the Ativa in urban areas. On wavy roads, the Ativa feels like it is about to launch you into the air. You have to drive really gently so the Ativa can keep up with the undulations.

The rebound is slow and while the “floating” feel can be great during slow cruises, it does scare you a little bit if you need to speed up on "adventerous" surfaces.

We’re still not discrediting the fact that this is most comfortable Perodua to date. It just could be a little bit more firm to balance things out.

4. No Android Auto or Apple CarPlay

Good mobile connectivity should be available in top-variant entry level cars in 2021. The floating screen is already a good touch in the Ativa. It just needs Android Auto/Apple CarPlay connectivity to keep it on par with its rivals.

5. The tonneau cover makes it a bit harder to access the boot

The Perodua Ativa’s tonneau cover is space-efficient and on first impression, I found it to be quite clever. It takes up little space both when in use and when not in use.

However, having used the car for a while now, it actually can be a little bit cumbersome.

Why?

Well, it does not lift with tailgate like the parcel shelf of a hatchback, and it is not easily retractable like the ones you find in bigger SUVs.

Let’s say you want to arrange some items in the boot, the tonneau cover needs to be removed first to allow for easy access. Removing the tonneau cover is easy. Folding it needs some practice.

If not removed, the boot opening becomes small, requiring you to contort your body to arrange items in your boot.

You could say we’re nit-picking here, but that’s our experience with it so far. The tonneau cover is great for saving space, but it's not the most convenient design out there.

Conclusion

So, those our pretty much our gripes with our very own Perodua Ativa. I was going to include the rattling sound from the rear right drum brake too, but we're still giving Perodua a chance to fix that issue.

Other than the things we have listed, most things are tolerable in the Ativa. We still hold it as the best Perodua car ever made so far.

The recently-announced third round of MCO may delay some of our plans with the Ativa, but we still have other MCO-friendly activities lined up for it.

Stay tuned for more updates on WapCar’s Cik Tiva.

Our average fuel consumption so far:

More stories on our long-term review here.

Also Read: 

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