Another option for sedan-lovers
Primastuti Handayani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
What would you do if you had a brand-new car and an empty motor racing circuit? Speed up for sure. No police officer to ticket you, no traffic jam and no other cars overtaking.
That's exactly what we, journalists, did when PT Ford Motor Indonesia invited us to the "Ride and Drive Ford Lynx" event.
Six new Lynx cars were waiting for us when we arrived at the Sentul circuit in Bogor, about 60 kilometers south of here.
Though there have been older versions of Ford's Lynx cruising Jakarta's streets, the Lynx has been more familiar to Filipinos as the car is produced in the neighboring country.
The Lynx has a more luxurious appearance compared with its earlier version. The new Lynx has rear lamps similar to those of the Toyota Corolla Altis. The Lynx is something between a sedan and a hatchback, with a trunk only about 30 centimeters long.
The front part of the car has an aerodynamic design, with the front window laminated to reduce sunlight penetration by 97 percent. The Lynx is also equipped with projecting headlamps and oversized bumpers with a chrome insert. Both front and rear bumpers are resistant to low-speed collisions.
A parking sensor, whose alarm will turn on when the car approaches another object behind it at a distance of less than 50 centimeters, is also available.
Offered with a choice of either manual or automatic transmission, the Lynx is targeted at young professionals. Ford believes that it can give the Altis, Honda Civic and Mitsubishi Lancer a good run for their money, to grab a decent share of the 30,000-unit market segment potentially available.
Marketing and product planning manager of PT Ford Motor Indonesia Johannes Saragih said the company had targeted 600 sales this year alone.
The company began selling the Lynx on May 22 to coincide with the opening of its second superstore, Ford Jakbar, on Jl. S. Parman, West Jakarta.
During the test drive, it was surprising to learn that the Lynx substantially reduced noise, vibration and harshness (NVH).
Getting out of the paddock, the car could accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour (kph) within only 11 seconds. The car could easily corner on the circuit's sharp bends at a speed of 80 kph to 100 kph.
On the straight, the Lynx could accelerate to around 140 kph, thanks to its new 1.8l DOHC engine.
The engine's distributorless ignition system enables it to achieve a low fuel consumption.
Four-wheel disk brakes -- using the antilock braking system (ABS) with an electronic brake distribution (EBD) system -- helped during the slalom.
The suspension is another area that has received a lot of attention from Ford. The front suspension uses independent McPherson struts, while the rear is equipped with fully independent suspension.
Both types of suspension gave the Lynx stability at high speed as well as during the slalom.
To improve passenger safety, Ford has built the Lynx using an H-type chassis to support the roof, body and floor from any high impact.
Lynx interior reflects its level of luxury, with two-tone colors used on the leather seating and trim. However, the dashboard is much too modest compared with its Japanese rivals or even the French-made Peugeot 307.
The car is also complete with an Alpine cassette player and six-stack CD changer located in the trunk, with six speakers and two tweeters, enough to entertain you as you drive.
After establishing its image in Indonesia with the Ranger -- a 4x4 off-road truck comfortable enough for on-road use that 300 units have been sold -- Ford hopes to regain its position here as a leading car maker.
With the plan to launch another two types of car -- the Escape SUV (sports utility vehicle) and the Station Wagon -- Ford can expect to be warmly received by customers for providing another sedan choice.