The Bali Beach Tour with the All-New Ertiga, which was organized by Boustead Sdn Bhd, the sole distributor of Suzuki automotive in Brunei Darussalam, has come to an end with the certificate presentation to the three media personnel at Rama Candi Dasa Hotel, Bali on the 28th April 2019.

Throughout the tour, we were accompanied by Mr. Domu Arisanto, the Export 4W Manager / Ass. Section Head Export 4W of PT Suzuki Indomobil Motor (SIM) and Mr. Abdul Mukti, the Technical Engineer of Sejahtera IndoBali Trada (SIT) Bali, the authorized dealer of Suzuki in Bali. A total of nine personnel including two tour guides took part in the journey, and with the support of both the SIM and the SIT, we had the opportunities to drive two units of the All-New Ertiga throughout Bali i.e. the 1.5 GT Automatic Transmission and the 1.5 GX Manual Transmission.

The Bali Beach Tour was kicked-off on the 24th April 2019 with the product presentation of the All-New Ertiga by Mr. Domu Arisanto and Mr. Abdul Mukti at the Holiday Inn Express Baruna in Kuta, Bali. The media took the opportunity to drive the vehicles on the busy road of South Kuta to reach the first destination, one of the Suzuki Showroom in Denpasar. Greeted by the Mr. Agus Ady Setiawan, the Marketing Manager and Mr. Isbowo Priyo Haryono, the General Manager of SIT Bali, we were given a quick introduction and tour of the Suzuki Showroom and Service Centre.

To be behind the wheel of the All-New Ertiga while driving in South Kuta was a big challenge due to packs of moving motorists along the narrow roads in the city. However, it gave us the opportunity to experience the smoothness of the ride, proving that the suspensions had done a satisfactory job as few roads within the city were rough and patchy. It distributed the comfort evenly for all passengers including those in the third row seat.

“Driving the Ertiga in the heart of Kuta on our first day felt natural. There’s no understeering or oversteering when navigating through the tight turns of the city. For a car of this size, it was fairly easy to move around, and the steering wheel was light enough turn with ease. My first big impression of the Ertiga was that it was very comfortable to drive. We drove through asphalt and brick roads on different areas of the city and the suspension absorbed the bumps really well that I didn’t felt any bottoming-out of the suspensions. This is true for everyone in the car, from the driver to the second and third row passengers”, said Ak. Muhd. Haziqul Hafiy, the Creative Marketing Manager / Photo-Journalist of MotoringBN.

After a quick lunch at the hotel, we managed to pack all our luggage into one of the All-New Ertiga. It was impressive to see that a total of 19 travelling bags and luggage were able to be stored within one luggage compartment with the third row seats folded. We then proceed with a visit to Pandawa Beach, which is known for its breathtaking view of the ocean from its limestone cliff. With Hindu-ism as Bali’s most prominent religion in the island, statues symbolizing their gods can be seen along the side of the pavement carved into the limestone. It was said that the beach was newly refurbished with new facilities to cater the increasing number of tourists visiting the beach each year.

We took a de-tour at Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Cultural Park in Kuta. Standing proud at 121 meters tall, the statue is visible to the naked eyes on top of the hill from miles away. The road toward the park from the beach is not for the gentle hearts as it winds downhill at a steep angle with a number of curves every now and then, but the All-New Ertiga managed to conquer it with flying colors.
We had a barbeque dinner at Jimbaran Beach, which offers a mesmerizing vista of the southwestern shoreline with beautiful sunset for the eyes to feast on. On-stage traditional Bali dances and mobile performances by a quartet from a dining table to another were some of the many entertainments to enjoy at the beach. It was the perfect time to put our feet up after the half-day tour in Kuta, Bali.

We hit the road when the night was still young as it was told that the journey from Jimbaran Beach to Lovina Beach takes at least three hours by car. With Lovina Beach situated at the northern part of Bali, our journey was absolutely thrilling as it covered a travel through high altitude roadways for both uphill and downhill with dozens of sharp turns in every fifty to a hundred meters distance in between. The agility of the All-New Ertiga was proven spectacular at this point as it gave minimal rolling effect for every turn due to the design of the suspensions being incorporated into the new generation platform called HEARTECT. It is a platform which has a lightweight feature with a smooth curving form to disperse energy dispersal effectively during collision and to offer achieve higher driving performance.

Waking up in Adirama Beach Hotel in Lovina with the soothing sound of gentle waves was quite refreshing. At exactly six in the morning, we were already on a boat about one kilometer away from land for a dolphin watching tour and we were not disappointed. Dolphins emerged in pods creating excitement to everyone in the vicinity. Lovina Beach is the best place for this activity as wild dolphins can be sighted here at more frequent times and higher numbers than anywhere else in Bali.

The tour on the second day was more focus on a long-distance driving experience with the All-New Ertiga. The drive from Lovina Beach to the mountainous area of Kintamani took about three hours by continuously going uphill. The All-New Ertiga has excellent
power and torque to take the car uphill even when there were plenty of items loaded inside the vehicle. We stopped by at Kintamani to enjoy the majestic view of Mount. Batur with its huge caldera lake at its feet. Before reaching our final stop of the day at Padang Bay Beach, we took a de-tour at one of the traditional houses in Bali to learn more about the Balinese culture, and at the beautiful Tukad Cepung Waterfall to immerse our tired feet in the lukewarm water.

DJ Daffy from Kristal FM said, “This is my second visit to Bali and I was given the opportunity to drive the All-New Ertiga for the journey throughout. The new MPV boasts its fuel efficiency, its cabin space and comfort level to accommodate its passengers comprising of seven adults. We drove through challenging roadways with lots of sharp turns and steep slopes. With the 1.5 litres engine of the All-New Ertiga, we conquered the challenges effortlessly leaving us content with big smiles on our face. It has an infotainment system with a touchscreen feature to keep children entertained which then gives better driving experience for the parents. It is a complete package for a family.”

After another three hours of journey from Kintamani, the full-day tour was ended upon arrival at Bloo Lagoon Eco Village in Padang Bay Beach, which is situated on the east coast of Bali. “We were amazed with the fuel efficiency that this car has despite having a more powerful engine than its predecessor. It definitely excels at this category due to the fact that it has a new generation platform known as the HEARTECT. With the new platform, we can feel that it has better braking, cornering and stopping performance compared to other MPV’s. These were proven to be true and witnessed by everyone involved in the tour”, said Khairul Izzat, The Marketing Executive (Product) of Boustead Sdn Bhd.

Our final day of the tour was spent in the former royal palace of Tirta Gangga, which features tiered fountains, gardens and stone sculptures of mythical creatures spouting water into the pool, and the pebbles-covered Amed Beach, where we had a diving
experience in the underwater world filled with colorful sea life. The most interesting part of the day was when we cruised along a high and steep cliff of the eastern coast of Bali, overlooking the blue waves rolling in and breaking on the pristine beach. The road was much narrower than any other places with lots of hairpins and steep slopes. It was at this place that an experience driver and the capability of the vehicle were required in order to ensure everyone feels safe and comfortable.

During the certificate presentations to the media, Mr Domu Arisanto said, “I’d like to offer my sincere appreciation to Boustead Sdn Bhd in choosing Bali as the place for the media test drive of the All-New Ertiga. Suzuki IndoMobil Motors Indonesia collaborated with Sejahtera IndoBali Trada with the intention in supporting the success of the Bali Beach Tour. We are greatly honored to accompany the media from Brunei and it has been a great pleasure to have them taking part in this tour for an exclusive driving experience with the All-New Ertiga in Bali. I am impressed that everyone has managed to grasp the product features of the All-New Ertiga and all of its benefits within the three-day tour. Hopefully, this tour will generate more interest for the market in Brunei to own the All-New Ertiga as it did incredibly well in Indonesia.”

The Bali Beach Tour with the All-New Ertiga received supports and compassions from different group of people in order to make the tour a success. To name a few, we were provided an unexpected complimentary premium service by a generous local tour guide during our arrival in Bali to process our documentations and luggage’s claims, and from what should have been a standard dining table, we were offered an exclusive VIP dining table without any additional fees.

To sum up the experience during the tour, the All-New Ertiga is a perfect get-away car for leisure activities in both long and short distance travels. It was proven to have excellent fuel efficiency, impressive luggage capacity and offer exceptional comfort for all passengers in the All-New Ertiga.

The All-New Ertiga 1.5 GX in both Automatic and Manual Transmission are available in Brunei. Test drive of the vehicle can be done by visiting the Suzuki Showroom in Beribi, Gadong and Kuala Belait.