Ford's Laser Lynx is blinding value for money

By John Aglionby

WHEN the original Mr. Ford started building cars, there were several design aspects of modern vehicles he did not have to think about.

One was rearview mirrors and another was giving backseat passengers sufficient headroom while maintaining a stylish design.

Almost a century has passed and it seems Henry Ford's successors have not bothered to address these two issues -- at least not in the Ford Laser Lynx, the fourth generation of Laser that went on sale in Indonesia earlier this month.

While test-driving the Lynx around Jakarta, it soon became apparent there was a huge blind spot on each side.

And after adjusting the mirrors the result was the same; I was engulfed by traffic creeping up on either side before I could see it.

Cynics would argue rear-view mirrors are not necessary in this country; drivers only need to see what is in front of them, have a horn that works well and leave the rest to their guardian angel.

I disagree and found it very disconcerting that I could not see a vehicle as large as a Kijang in my mirror.

The design of the Lynx suffers a similar fate with space achieved at the expense of exterior style.

The Lynx does not look like its predecessors that have lights on the roof and meters on the dashboard and there is plenty of headroom in the front and the back for people taller than 1.90m.

From the front, the Lynx does look stylish but from the side it looks uncannily like the Timor car.

And when trying to maneuver around tight corners or into narrow spaces, the car seemed much longer and wider than it actually is (4.42m by 1.71m). But this should not be a problem after getting used to the vehicle.

Fortunately for Ford, the Lynx performs much better than the Timor car.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well it handled in both the snarled traffic arteries of the city and on the open toll roads.

When accelerating through first and second gears, the engine and gearbox seemed, at times, to gang up. Only after a noticeable grumble or two was it possible to reach third gear comfortably some of the time.

Perhaps these problems were because the car was new but I have never experienced them in other new cars.

The clutch was one of the smoothest I have tried in Indonesia, which really made a difference when stuck in the ubiquitous traffic jams.

Driving in congested traffic was not the chore it is with other cars.

Once in third gear and beyond, the car performed admirably.

I was driving the 1.8-liter gasoline version (a 1.6-liter gasoline model is also available here) and it generated more than enough output and torque than is necessary in most situations.

Maximum output is 140ps at 6500 rpm and maximum torque is 16.6kgm at 4700 rpm.

At high speeds -- you will struggle to get it above 200km/h on most Indonesian roads -- the smooth feeling was no less in evidence and the rack and pinion tilting and power-assisted steering made for comfortable driving.

But it was noticeable that the lack of antilock brakes meant there was often a little skidding when braking hard.

There are a variety of other attractions enticing people to buy a Lynx.

The most useful are the fog lamps, door courtesy lamps in addition to the cabin lamps and the six-CD changer.

The latter is kept in the trunk and part of the car's security system is that this can be sealed so it can only be opened with the key -- as opposed to via the rear seats or the latch next to the driver's seat.

The pricing is also competitive.

The Lynx is nowhere near the same class as the last car I tested -- the Volvo V70 -- but more than matches the luxury Swedish vehicle in value for money.

While the V70 could cost more than Rp 200 million (US$36,500 at the time of writing), the Lynx is a much more reasonable Rp 69.5 million.

Other enticements are a two-year/60,000km spare parts guarantee, a home-service call, 24-hour emergency service, five- year corrosion warranty and a repurchase guarantee.

Jongkie Sugiarto, the vice president director of PT Bimantara Cakra Nusa, which has a 38.5 percent stake in Ford's local partner PT Indonesian Republic Motor Company, says sales of Timor cars show more people are taking the psychological leap and moving from people movers to sedans.

With a competitive price, good performance and the services included, the Lynx could establish itself at the lower end of the sedan market.

The only provisos are that people are still buying cars and they are not concerned about what might be trying to overtake them on the road.