Honda Ascot & Rafaga 5-Cylinder

Good points about the Honda Ascot/Rafaga:

- Excellent reliability
- Smooth and powerful engine
- Excellent build quality
- High quality materials
- Nicely weighted steering
- Excellent brakes
- Comfortable seats (very unusual for a Honda!)

Bad points about the Honda Ascot/Rafaga:

- Leg room is poor in the rear
- Only the Ascot 2.5S has a tilt-adjustable driver's seat
- The 2 litre engine is lacking in torque below 3,500 RPM
- Road noise is high for a luxury car
- The high quality materials are let down by a cheap and nasty glovebox lid
- Wide turning circle
- Oil filter and transmission fluid dipstick are difficult to access

Fuel economy:

After several months of ownership I was able to calculate accurate fuel consumption figures:

CITY: Best: 9.7 litres/100km (24.3mpg) --- Worst: 10.2 litres/100km (23.2mpg)
HIGHWAY: Best: 7.6 litres/100km (30.9mpg)

Naturally, fuel economy depends on an individual's driving style. You could easily get worse economy than me if you regularly exploit the engine's performance potential, but it would be difficult to get much better than the figures above.

Reliability:

In the 18 months since I purchased my Ascot it hasn't let me down once. Aside from normal wear and tear (one new CV joint, new engine belts and a radiator cap) it's proved 100% reliable. It drives incredibly well for a nine-year-old car and doesn't use a drop of oil between changes.

Update: My automatic transmission started to flare sometimes when changing between 2nd and 3rd gears at around 115,000km. I sold the car not long after this. I have since read that automatic transmission realiability is a weak point for Hondas in general.

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