Honda City - V CVT Petrol Automatic Comprehensive Review

 

INTRODUCTION

Honda City was Honda’s first car in India in the year 1998 and it has been Honda’s flagbearer ever since. We now have the 5^th generation Honda City and let’s get right onto the review. Welcome to Shift and Surge, a Channel intending to give you quality and authentic automobile content.

EXTERIORS

The Honda City 5^th generation car has now been widened and lengthened and is the widest sedan in the segment. It certainly does look like a big car. What we with us is the base V variant with CVT in white color. The car gets' a projector headlight setup along with halogen fog lights, all LEDs from the top end variant is missing here. The front fascia has daytime running lights which is good to look at and a chrome piece with Honda logo in its’ center.

From the side the car’s a katana blade design which for information means a traditional Japanese sword, is prevalent from its’ design creases. This adds character to the vehicle and adds to its’ appeal. The entirety of the window pillars are blacked out and is good to look at. Grab handles and OVRM’s are body colored. MRF tires are 15 inchers and look a tad bit small compared to the size of the car, the higher end variant gets' 16 inchers which look better. I personally like the alloy wheel’s design of this car and they are good to look at.

From the rear end, the car gets'  its’ tail lamps which I think resemble those in the BMW and are good to look at. You also get reflective stickers placed at either ends of the parking sensors. You get the Honda logo, City name as well as the i-vtec badging. Sharkfin antennae has also been provided which adds to the appeal of the car.

Keys are of good quality and has the remote start feature which is useful to have your car ready before you get go. Apart from this you have the boot release button and car doors open close button. The doors unlock when you bring your hand to the door handles on the driver and passenger side which is great.

On the whole the car is good to look at with well-placed creases and design elements all around. It looks like a big car for its’ segment and has an executive sedan vibe to it.

INTERIORS

Getting inside the car, the dashboard design looks conventional and organized. It is easy to get used to it. Interior quality is decent with mostly hard plastics with a fabric insert in the middle. A light beige theme is prevalent and is prone to getting dirty over time, it however makes the cabin feel airier. You get an 8 inch infotainment system with android auto and apple car-play below which we have manual knobs for the air conditioner which is much easier to use when driving. The air conditioner knob changes colour based in the temperature set which is a cool feature to have. You get a 12 V charging socket alongside 2 USB ports, one for charging and one for android auto or apple car-play connectivity.

Release levers for the Boot, Bonnet and Fuel Lids are present in the driver side, marked and feel solid to use. The driver side door has the control for the power windows, OVRM adjustment among the other buttons. Switchgears’ are of good quality and feel good to use.

Dashboard is decently sized and can house whatever genuinely needs to be. Other than this, there are several storage spaces in the centre, including a place holder for your phone, 2 cup holders, an adequately sized space below the armrest, and small spaces near the handbrake. Apart from this there is also a small storage space right of the steering wheel to hold coins and bills. All door pockets are large and can easily accommodate 1 litre water bottles and some more. There is no shortage of storage spaces which is a good thing. The doors also have fabric inserts in the middle.

Satin metallic finish is provided around the air con vents which are a neat touch. Vanity mirrors are provided on both sides but there are no lights on offer. Reading lights are provided at the front and at the middle and do a good job lighting up the cabin when required. Grab handles are also provided on 3 ends except for the driver’s side.

This variant gets fabric seats whilst the higher end variant get’s leather seats. The front seats are shaped well and are comfortable to be in. The driver side seat gets manual height adjust. An automatic one would have been a good addition. The rear seats get fixed headrests and are not split foldable which are features that could have been added. The rear seats however are comfortable and there is good amount of knee and leg room on offer, thigh support is good too. Two healthy adults can sit quite comfortably here however it would be a slight squeeze to accommodate a third one. You get an armrest with cupholders in the middle and also an iso-fix child mount. Apart from this you also get two 12V charging sockets at the back below the air con vents which is a neat addition. I am 5 10 and headroom was no issue at all.

Doors open wide and ingress/egress is no issue whatsoever.

All 5 seat belts are 3-point ELR seat belts which is a good addition in terms of safety.

Boot space is 506 litres and is shaped well. A boot light is also provided which is useful. Loading lip however is a bit high and loading the luggage will require a bit of that extra effort. Trunk lining cover is provided and is neat to look at. A steel spare wheel is provided which can get the job done. No complaints in this regard and boot space should be more than enough for most of our needs.

DRIVE

The car can be started with the push start button that has a red illumination and is good to look at. Once behind the wheel the refinement of the Earth Dreams petrol engine is imminent. The engine is mated to a 7 speed CVT gearbox. The characteristic rubber band effect is slightly present but has definitely been much bettered. You also get paddle shifters and these are very useful during quick overtaking. The paddle shifters also enable manual up & down shifting in case you feel the need for it and is a great addition.

The engine produces 121ps and 145 NM of torque and revs till around 7000 rpm there is adequate power for all purposes and it feels especially good at the higher rev ranges, a  characteristic of a Honda petrol engine. Power is delivered in a linear manner and you don’t get a wheelspin when launching the car unlike in the manual variant. The v-tec kicked in effect is also relatively linearised. As far as driving modes go, we have Drive & Sports  mode. You also get an eco-mode function. These modes change the power on tap offered by the vehicle thus bettering or lowering the fuel efficiency and performance accordingly.

Talking of fuel economy, the city has a ARAI rated mileage of 18.4 km/l. It provides around 15 km/l in mixed driving conditions and based on how you drive the car.

It is important to note that if you aren’t particular about an automatic transmission and are an enthusiast who likes to drive in a spirited manner you might feel that the 6-speed manual variant is a good choice. Do take a test drive of both these variants before coming to a conclusion about buying decision.

Noise insulation is decent at lower speeds but a slight bit of road noise does tend to creep in at higher speeds. The engine also gets noticeably audible at higher revs, which may be good or otherwise based on one’s automotive enthusiasm.

Brakes provide a good byte and are adequate. Suspension has now been softened relative to the 4^th gen and is neither too soft nor too hard. It strikes a good balance between the two worlds ride & comfort.

Steering wheel features a tilt reach and height adjustment and is light. This factor makes it very easy to handle in the city at lower speeds. It also weighs up well at higher speeds and feels confident at highways. I did also feel a tad bit of body roll but not to the point where it was concerning. Turning radius at 5.3 meters makes the city easy to maneuver in all conditions.

Stock Tyres offer decent grip but I feel a better set of tyres would definitely up the grip and ride as the car has more to offer.

The infotainment system has loads of features on offer include a wired android auto and apple car-play. A wireless one would have been a good addition. The 8-inch display is responsive and intuitive to use. It also shows the Honda logo on start-up which is good to look at. It is a combination of touchscreen and buttons for specific functionalities and is good to use. A manual knob for the volume controls would have been a good addition. The V variant gets 4 speakers on offer and are decent, however if you are an audiophile, you will have to consider upgrading and addition of  better speakers.

Apart from this the city offers the Honda connect feature and Alexa functionalities. This is a very useful feature as you can download the application on your phone and connect it with your car from which you can access a plethora of useful features. Some of the features include, checking the status of your car at a given time, opening the car, locking the car, opening the boot, checking the battery status, keeping track of your trips, fuel information, assistance functionalities and so on. This can also be accessed using your voice using Alexa which is a neat touch. Overall Honda connect will prove to be very useful for a lot of people.

Windows are decently sized and offers a good view all around. IRVM is manual and I personally felt it to be a bit small comparing to the size of the car. View from ORVM’s are good so no issues in this regard. Lane changing cameras are offered in higher variants and are a neat inclusion. 4 rear parking sensors are provided and are very useful, rear-view camera has 3 different views and is helpful. It however isn’t adaptive and a better resolution camera would have definitely been appreciated.

Wiper and light stalks are of good quality and are good to use. Wiper blades are decently sized and do a good job cleaning up the windshield.

Cruise control is available and its control is provided in the steering wheel and is very useful when riding on the highways. Steering mounted controls for the audio are provided on the other side thus making it easy to operate whilst driving.

Air Conditioner cools well in all conditions and also features a max cool function that sets the maximum setting to cool the car faster. The city also features a dust and pollen filter which is great.

Ground clearance at a 165mm has an extended portion at the front which may scrape at big potholes or speed breakers if not slowed down. Otherwise, it is decent and shouldn’t cause an issue in most places. 

The speedometer and tachometer are analogue units and are straightforward and legible at all speeds. You get an MID screen in the middle that showcases several useful information such as, gear indicator, 2 trip meters, fuel display with warning, average fuel indicator, instant fuel economy indicator, distance to empty, outside temperature indicator among others. All useful information are provided here.

The car also offers several other features such as a rear windshield defogger, follow me home headlamps which are good additions.

SAFETY

Talking of safety, the city has loads of safety features on offer and it seems no corners were cut here. The car features abs, ebd, vehicle stability assist, electronic stability and traction control, agile handling assist, hill start assist, emergency stop signal, tyre pressure monitoring system – deflation warning, seatbelt indicator – driver and front, door and trunk open indicator and reminder, battery sensor, automatic door lock and unlock, front and side airbags –curtain airbags are offered on higher variants. The Thailand spec of the Honda city also got a 5 star rating on the ASEAN NCAP which makes it a pretty safe car.

VARIANTS

The city comes in three variants the V, VX and ZX each of these having a manual and automatic petrol variants.

You also have the e-HEV (Hybrid) variant that is costlier but is greener for the environment.

COMPETITORS

Competition comes from the likes of Skoda Slavia, Volkswagen Virtus, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Hyundai Verna. The Honda City 4^th generation is still offered alongside the 5^th gen city with the manual option only and can be opted by those on a budget.

CONCLUSION

The car is priced between 11.5 to 15.5 lakhs ex-showroom and this particular variant the Honda City V with CVT costed 15.8 lakhs on-road Tamilnadu including an extended 4^th and 5^th year warranty that costs around Rs.14,000 and road side assistance for 4 years that costs around Rs.5000. The car comes with a standard 3 year/ 1 Lakh km warranty which is great.

After the initial free services, the city has a service interval of 10,000 kms or 1 year whichever comes earlier and should cost you around Rs.7000 for the general service which is decent.

The city comes in several colours including the radiant red metallic, golden brown metallic among others what we have here is the platinum white pearl.

Some improvements that would be appreciated is a better resolution rear camera, adaptive guidelines for parking, bigger sized IVRM’s, a better set of tyres, better noise insulation, adjustable rear seat headrests, split, foldable rear seats.

Overall, the car has a refined engine, a good suspension, is good to look at, offers good mileage, has Honda connect features, is spacious and comfortable to be in and has that Honda badging which ensures ease of servicing and reliability. The car also has everything covered in terms of safety. The car is sharp and has an executive vibe to it.

On the whole the Honda City 5^th generation is a sedan ticking almost all the right boxes and your decision to buy one cannot go wrong.

Make sure to comment your thoughts about the city 5^th generation and if this would be your pick.  I would like to thank you for checking out this post. Make sure to watch our YouTube video on the comprehensive review of the Honda City V CVT on the Shift and Surge YouTube Channel.

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