Honda City Review: Best C-Segment sedan in India? Settling the Elegance vs Value for Money debate
Honda City Long Term Review: In the Indian automobile market, C-Segment sedan or the mid-size sedan segment features some of the most popular cars. Hyundai Verna, Maruti Ciaz, Volkswagen Vento, Skoda Rapid and Toyota Yaris all have their fair share of customer base. India TV Auto brings to you the detailed review of Honda City - where we also discuss the elegance vs value for money debate.
Honda City Review: In the Indian automobile market, C-Segment sedan or the mid-size sedan segment features some of the most popular cars. Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Maruti Ciaz, Volkswagen Vento, Skoda Rapid and Toyota Yaris all have their fair share of the customer base.
However, today we are talking about — Honda City, one of the segment leaders, not just today, but for the last two decades.
Japanese carmaker Honda commands a certain respect in the Indian market and in turn, there is a certain degree of trust that the people of India have on the Honda cars, most of all, Honda City.
Honda City has been in the Indian market for the last two decades. It has ruled this segment when the cars like Hyundai Verna and Maruti Ciaz were years from conception.
Honda launched the sixth generation Honda City in the Indian market in 2014. This was also the first Honda City ever to boast a diesel engine in India.
The diesel experiment had little traction from the Indian audience but the same cannot be said about the Honda City. The car was loved by the Indian audience just like its predecessors.
The legendary petrol i-Vtec engine has been as refined as ever.
LONG TERM REVIEW
If you buy the Honda City (petrol variant), you are not going to be disappointed by what you get in return for your money. I have been driving the Honda City for the last 6 months and not for once have I thought that I could have bought another car in the same budget which would be as good as the Honda City. But that's my feeling. So let us dig deep. Here, we are talking about Honda City iVtec (Petrol Variant).
PERFORMANCE: Honda City iVtec is a pleasure to drive. It is not the fastest car in the segment, that would be the Hyundai Verna but the Verna comes with a 1.6-litre engine which gives out 121 PS of power. The Honda City comes with a 1.5-litre engine which gives out 117 PS of power. But leave the raw power part aside and Honda City triumphs in almost all departments as far as performance goes.
Turning Radius: Driving Honda City iVtec on the roads of Delhi, I have noticed that Honda City is a great city car. It has a turning radius of 5.3 metre which is considerably low as far as sedans go.
Fuel Economy: Honda City iVtec will give you a mileage of 12 to 14 kmpl on the city roads depending on the way you drive. This is more than what the Hyundai Verna offers in its petrol variant. If you drive the cars on highways the car can give you a mileage as high as 20 kmpl. I took the car to Shimla soon after buying it and the response was great on the Hills. On the plains the car gave me an average of around 20 kmpl while on the hills it decreased to about 15 kmpl.
Hill Climb: The Honda City effortlessly climbed the hills and no out of the ordinary downshifts were required by the car while on the upward slope.
Transmission: The Honda City iVtec comes with a 5-speed manual gearbox and an automatic CVT gearbox in the petrol variants. The CVT gearbox is one of the smoothest gearboxes you will find in the Indian auto market. It is however, not the sportiest of the gearboxes. Which is why I opted for the manual transmission. The car also comes with a 6-speed gearbox in the diesel variant.
Colours: Honda launched its new color ‘Radiant Red’ with the launch of the 2019 Civic. The color was passed on to all the cars in Honda’s fleet in the Indian market including the Honda City. Radiant Red is a soothing color and it caught my eye instantly. After 6 months, the colour is still appealing to the eye.
Exterior: The Honda City has a classy look on the outside. The VX model which I have comes with the 16-inch alloy wheels and the rear LED tail lamps. The models below the VX however come with a 15-inch alloys and no LED tail lamps. The VX model also comes with a Sunroof which is not available in the models below it. Apart from that the car is very appealing on the outside and gives a look of a long sedan.
Interiors: There is an ample amount of space when you talk about the interiors of the Honda City iVtec. The rear city has increased legroom, the headroom is sufficient for someone who is as tall as 6 feet, or even slightly over 6 feet. The car provides you with plenty of storage space. The rear seat has an armrest with 2 cup holders. The bottle bins in the doors are big enough to accommodate a 1-litre bottle. Front seats are spacious too. The steering wheel is very light and easy on the hands.
Features: The Honda City iVtec has a lot of features but this is one area where the Hyundai Verna trumps over the Honda City. The Verna top model has features like front ventilated seats and wireless charging which are unheard of in the cars of this segment. The Honda City though has a touch screen panel for climate control. The entire panel around the infotainment system has a piano black finish. While this looks very beautiful and classy, the piano black finish is very fingerprint sensitive and attracts a lot of fingerprints on daily use.
Air-Conditioner: The Honda City iVtec has the best AC in all the cars in its segment. Even in the scorching Delhi heat, the Honda City AC has the potential to keep you cool.
Disclaimer: The views and analyses in this review is of the author's and not of the company