Goodwood 2021 - What if we tried to take an ordinary sedan to the test? feat. Hinata Celesta 1600GS Turbo
Carol Lee (@Carol_Lee), 10th July 2021
Disclaimer: The event is NOT sponsored by Hinata Motor Corp.
Ah. Goodwood. The yearly event for classic racecars, modern racecars, supercars, and everything in between. This is the event where they all gather together, and test out which is the fastest to finish the whole course.
To bring some fun to the usually serious event, we’re not going to bring a race car, a supercar or even something sporty. That’s right, we’re doing an “experiment” where we are going to test normal vehicles to check how fast it could go to the iconic hillclimb sprint. Obviously, it can’t beat any Tristella, Gyphon Gear, or all the high-performance legends on the track, but will this random sedan could take the challenge?
Picture taken while the car is still on Malaysia.
And, this time, what we are bringing? That’s right, the latest (as in model year 2020) Hinata Celeste sedan we bought as a test car this May. If anyone isn’t well versed with Hinata’s most popular midsize sedan, the Celeste has already existed since the early 1960s as a larger, more luxurious alternative to the Aurora compact. The current generation was released in 2018, and a facelifted model has just launched this year, although its not coming yet to Malaysia as of right now. So, the pre-facelift version will do, I guess. Hope Han Seng Hinata (distributor of Hinata vehicles in Malaysia) quickly launch the facelifted version as soon as possible.
Inside the bonnet, is an all-new 1.6 liter turbocharged engine which replaced the outgoing 2.5 liter inline-4 (from the last generation) as the top-of-the-line engine option (A 2 liter inline 4 N/A is still available for people on a smaller budget), paired with a 7-speed transmission and a load of kit, which means the car starts from RM 200K (which is like 48K in USD, cars here are very expensive anyway) for the small business owner who doesn’t want a crossover. Despite generating just 10 HP more than the old unit (190 HP), the new unit is more robust, responsive and economical than ever before.
Even with the new engine and a new chassis derived from Hinata’s latest platform, the Celeste has some pretty average performance. Top speed is limited to 180 km/h, and acceleration from standstill to 100 needs 8.82 seconds to achieve. But I’m not expecting much from the Celeste, since its not a track day killer for gods sake. But I will still say that the car feels the part. Despite being not as excellent as, say, a similar car from Kimura or a Seikatsu, but the Hinata Celeste feels the part. It’s beautiful, comfy, roomy, and pretty good for a D-segment, which is a big improvement from the Nagoya-based firm’s last offering.
Enough car talk, back to the track. So, the car obviously had to imported to the United Kingdom before it could join the race. With the help of a mover company, an airplane, and undisclosed amounts of cash, the car safely arrived to the Isles 2 week after the initial plan (of course, at the time of writing the car has yet to be returned). Besides that, some registrations, some files, more driving lessons later and I, alongside with some staff from Drivers.com as well as James Vaughn Jr., one of America’s best sports car drivers, have took a ticket to England.
And Goodwood, here we go. After a night’s stay on a nearby hotel, we went to the venue next day (which is the first day of the event), to watch some laps. The cars that day include classic F1 racers, some modern supercars, some race cars as well as some oddballs including a Dakar Rally racer and a 80s Swedish sedan that caught my eye. Of course, there’s always the sculpture, which in this year is courtesy of Lotus, looks pretty striking on my eye.
After that, we have taken a seat, in a designated area designed for the press, such as Motornation and The Exhaust Note. Besides that, we also checked out the gallery with loads of new vehicles, and some more activity on the other parts of the estate. In the evening Vaughn also took me for some training courses, as well as some talking. The rest of the day happened without any incident, other than the fact that we had a delicious fish and chip dinner on a nearby restaurant.
The next day came, and is the time for our run in the track. Obviously, despite the fact that I have some racing experience last year, I don’t think I ever had racing in a midsize sedan on a track like this. After some briefing, we head to the track, with the car on my hands.
On the track, the only “normal” vehicle in the lineup is ours, as everyone else, including car companies, racing teams, museums, etc. is on a fancier vehicle with better performance. Of course, we’re not expecting much, as I’m happy to finish the course without dying anyway.
And some moments later, its our turn for the sprint. The Celeste’s throttle response in the straights is indeed great, which reminds me of the more driver-oriented Reina than the larger, more comfortable Vista anyway. Sure, it’s not as good as the Reina, but the Celeste is probably good enough for some light track duty…
…if it have gotten a better suspension system. Even with McPherson fronts and a multi-link rear, its not a good car for runs like this. Since we’re getting the GS model sans the HP (Hinata Performance) pack, the ride is pretty soft, wallow, and a clear lack of sharpness. Corners are not it’s strong point, and some roll occurred on some instances of corners.
The steering didn’t really picked up any favors as well. Its way better than some of its competition, but that steering is certainly not sport-car like. Thanks to the tuning, the Celeste’s steering is surprisingly easy to manage, which is a good thing to hear after all those problems in the sprint.
Tyres on the car isn’t all that good, however. The use of economy-oriented hard tyres isn’t helping the car much while getting grip (we actually offered proper race tyres but we rejected it for sake of some experimenting) and in some instances, wheelspin and some slight understeer on out attempt. The car did broke 140 km/h on a straight, but we aren’t really expecting it could go over that either.
And poof, we got to the end of our lap, without anything serious. The car is still intact, and I am now writing the article on a laptop in a hotel room, instead in a hospital. Which means we got lucky anyway.
So, here’s the conclusion for the event. What do we learnt today? Honestly, not really much, other than the fact that I shouldn’t try to risk being shamed on the event. However, its still one hell of a race, and probably the only time we could do something like this in my lifetime. Will I return to Goodwood after this? Sure, but I don’t think with the Hinata Celeste that time.
Final Lap Result: 1:11.85
