Honda City

Expert Review by Maxabout

Main

Honda Cars India Ltd. was established as a joint venture with Usha International of Siddharth Shriram Group in December 1995 and was formerly named Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. This joint venture was ended in August 2012 when Honda took over the company and changed its name to Honda Cars India Ltd. to make it a 100% subsidiary of Honda. It has its headquarters in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh where also located their manufacturing facility. They also have a manufacturing plant in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.

Honda Cars India has finally launched the much-awaited 4th generation City sedan with a price tag of INR 7.42 lakh for the base variant of petrol and INR 8.62 lakh for the base diesel variant. Honda City diesel is now officially the most fuel efficient car in India with ARAI certified mileage of 26.0 kmpl under standard test conditions while the petrol model with CVT automatic transmission returns 18.0 kmpl and the manual Honda City return mileage of 17.8 kmpl.

The 2nd and 3rd generation were launched in November 2003 and September 2008 respectively, but City was losing its initial charm due to an increasing competition from other brands, hiking of petrol prices which marked an extraordinary need for a diesel variant which was missing in City and growing old features of this sedan as compared to the other new machines. Thus, it is a great move by Honda to retain their dominion over a segment that they hold so preciously for a decade.

Exterior

2014 new Honda City is based on the same platform of Jazz and Vezel and follows Honda's H Design Concept (Human Centric Design Element). It has got the sleek cross-motion exterior styling which includes a familiar arrow-head shape of the front sill, chrome accentuated prominent front grille, a low front face, stylish front bonnet, a sharply extended body colored front bumper with an aggressive air scoop surrounded by sporty trapezoidal housings for round fog lamps, sharp twin-barrel headlamps, a solid wing face and 15-inch alloy wheels with tubeless radial tires.

New Honda City features body colored ORVMs with integrated turn signals, chromed outside door handles, shark fin antenna at rear, a stylish sunroof, both sides having the strong character lines, rear tail lamps extending into the boot lid and dynamic rear fenders showing a much wider stance. This beautiful sedan has a length of 4440mm, a width of 1695mm and a height of 1495mm as its dimensions along with a large wheelbase of 2600mm for a comfortable and stable ride.

Interior

The interior of 2014 new Honda City follows Honda's man maximum machine minimum concept which aims to maximize the space available for passengers while minimizing the space available for machine parts. It has also included a lot of praiseworthy features to turn the driving experience into a dream come true. This includes a high-quality usage of plastics, flat floor, Piano Black finished instrument panel, dashboard with sturdy air vents, a large and high-tech multifunctional 5.0-inch LCD touchscreen with in-built hands-free telephony and air-con controls, one push smart entry system, Honda smart key with proximity sensing, a chunky steering wheel with audio and Bluetooth controls and mesh finishing on one of the spokes, a leather-clad gear lever and a high dashboard cowl.

New Honda City comes equipped with an 8-speaker sound system with CD, MP3, USB, Aux-in, Bluetooth, iPod, AM/FM radio and a total of four power outlets on front and rear seats, cruise control, a rear view camera with 3 modes which includes wide, normal and top down, a 3-pod instrument panel with digital analogue combination meter having tachometer with gear shift indicator at left, an analogue speedometer at center and a multi-information display featuring a clock, fuel gauge, temperature and cruising range at right with illumination light adjustment dial and an instrumentation display switch above it, HVAC with Automatic Climate Control, adjustable seats, added shoulder, leg and knee space by 40mm, 60mm and 70mm respectively as compared to the previous model, keyless start, power windows and many more features.

Dimensions and Fuel Tank Capacity

The car comes with a length of 4440 mm, width of 1695 mm and a height of 1495 mm as its dimensions along with a fuel tank capacity of 40 litres.

Engine and Gearbox

The 2014 Honda City is powered by a 1.5L iDTEC diesel engine with a displacing capacity of 1498cc. It pumps out a maximum power of 98.6 bhp at 3600 rpm and a maximum torque of 200 Nm at 1750 rpm. The engine is mated with a six-speed manual transmission which gives it an amazing power. The car is also available in petrol, it is powered by a 1497cc, i-VTEC engine, which develops maximum power of 117.3 Bhp @ 6600 rpm and max torque of 145 Nm @ 4600 rpm.

Mileage

The diesel engine delivers an average mileage 26 kmpl on highways which comes back to 16 kmpl in the city. On the other hand, petrol variant offers a mileage of 17.40 kmpl on highways and 11 kmpl in the city.

Brakes and Suspension

The 2014 City has wonderful braking characteristics with disc brakes at the front and drum brakes at the rear. The suspension system comprises of McPherson Strut at the front and Torsion Beam Axle suspension at the rear side.

Safety Features

Honda has given an equal importance to the safety of passengers with two airbags, parking sensors, fog lamps, ABS, EBD and three rear seat belts.

Variants

The sedan is available in petrol and diesel variants: E, S, V, SV and VX where E serves as the base model and VX as the top. There is an option for automatic transmission available for the two petrol variants: SV and  VX.

Shades

The 2014 Honda City is available in six attractive shades with both metallic and non-metallic options: Black, Brown, Metallic Titanium, Red, Silver Metallic and White.

Price

The classy sedan has been priced in the range of INR 7.42 – 11.10 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) may vary.

Verdict

All in all new Honda city has added comfort, luxury and safety to our lives. But, it is facing the tough competition by Hyundai Verna Fluidic.

Honda City Diesel vs. Maruti Ciaz Diesel