The A-star is built for the city – compact, peppy and good-looking to boot. An enjoyable car for city driving – OverDrive (Feb. ’09) feels this is the closest to bike convenience on four wheels. The steering is responsive, provides good feedback and has predictable control. OverDrive (Feb. ’09) likes its tight turning radius of just 4.5m, ensuring confident U-turns and easy parking.

Things are impressive under the hood too. The 998cc, three-cylinder, KB-series engine has already won the OverDrive Award for best technology of the year and while it isn’t a particularly silky smooth engine, its rev happy nature makes it a spirited performer.

The engine makes its maximum power and torque at higher rpm. All the top end rush is a disadvantage in the city, where the A-star constantly needs to be kept in the first two gears to keep the revs in its powerband. Frequent gearshifts certainly take a toll on its city fuel efficiency, the OVerDrive A-star returning 11.5kmpl on an average in traffic. The figure rose to 13.8kmpl on the highway, with the throttle pinned. This highlights the A-star’s decent abilities on the freeway. Cruising at 140kmph, the A-star feels absolutely unstressed while 160kmph takes a little more patience.

On the inside, the A-star has no surprises to offer in terms of space. The car feels cramped especially at the rear and the boot space. Also it feels a little under-specced says OverDrive (Feb. ’09), without the alloy wheels, rear screen wash wipe and even a basic anti-glare rear-view mirror.