High on the highway: The new City is very responsive and scoots away with a mere touch of the throttle that makes it a great car for tackling traffic Photographs by Ashley Baxter

Honda’s fortunes in India rest on its popular City saloon, which in a span of 10 years has seen three full model changes. This frenetic pace of development is an indication of how important this car is for Honda. This time around, with the third-generation City, Honda has once again outdone itself to produce a car that combines the best of its predecessors while leaving out their weaknesses.

STYLE FILE

The styling of the new City is absolutely stunning. The nose is the focal point of the design in which the slatted grille with its warped effect, straddled by tapering headlamps, forms an arrowhead of sorts. Honda has likened the design to the tautness of an archer’s bow and dubbed it ‘arrowshot’ design, referring to the manner in which the pillars, beltline and arrowhead nose represent a drawn bow and arrow, and the tail-lights the feathered rear of the arrow.

The new chassis is much more rigid and the suspension towers have been beefed up too. Drum brakes at the rear may raise eyebrows given the power of the car but Honda has enlarged the drum size and has moved to a larger 14-inch disc in front as well. All new Citys have ABS as standard too, but strangely, alloys are not available, even as an option.

INSIDE STORY

The City’s shapely design is carried over to the interiors as well. The door pads are well sculpted and so is the multi-layered dash, replete with ridges and curves, which flows into the centre console. The steering wheel, which is similar to the Civic’s, looks and feels great though the instrumentation seems overly lit. A serious letdown, however, is the quality of plastics and fabrics that feel a peg down from the previous City. For practicality, there’s lots of storage space with generous door pockets, cubbyholes and cupholders.

The sense of space you get in the new City is terrific. The windscreen feels like it’s a mile away and the front seats are quite generous with cushions slightly softer than the old car. Forward visibility is much better than before but the sloping parcel shelf impedes rear vision a bit.

Move to the rear and the feeling of space continues. Width and legroom are better than before but you sit a touch lower now. Still, the new model is better than its rivals for comfort and at the rear it has a natural footrest, created by the upward slope under the front seat to accommodate the fuel tank.

UNDER THE HOOD

In line with the car’s more aggressive stance and character is the uprated 116bhp 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine. With a better power-to-weight ratio, the new City was expected to be quicker than the previous VTEC but the widely-spaced ratios, selected in the interests of fuel economy have blunted the performance a bit. Still, the new car sprints to 100kph in a rapid 10.2 seconds, around half a second faster than the previous car.

In-gear acceleration is pretty good but the tall third gear doesn’t make it significantly quicker than before. However, the new City is very responsive and scoots away with a mere touch of the throttle that makes it a great car for tackling traffic. The mid-range, however, feels flat which calls for extra gearshifts when overtaking slow-moving traffic. For most of its rev range, the i-VTEC feels similar to the previous City’s motor and it’s only once you pass 4000rpm that you can feel the extra horses distinctly kick in to take you briskly to the 7000rpm redline. The gearbox is terrific with a light and snappy throw and the wide gearing takes advantage of the flexible nature of the engine.

DRIVER’S DEAL

There is suppleness in the suspension that was never present in the earlier car and this makes riding over rough patches and really bad roads much easier. Also much improved is the handling and specifically the steering feel. The City’s steering still feels a bit inert and is nowhere near as communicative as the Fiesta’s helm, which is the class best but there is a new-found responsiveness and accuracy that the previous model’s Playstation-like steering simply never had.

The City feels very stable at high speeds and is eager to dart into corners as well. While the car does roll as you corner it harder and harder, this is a car that you can enjoy driving. However, the skinny 175/65 R15 tyres are insufficient for the pace of this car and it’s easy to break traction, the front wheels scrabbling for grip when you pile on the power.

With our test drive confined to Jaipur, we couldn’t carry conduct a fuel efficiency test to our standards. However, a quick back-to-back check with a standard City revealed that the new model is equally efficient, even marginally better. This is a phenomenal achievement from a car that is heavier and more powerful than the previous City and a tribute to Honda’s engineering wizardry. We expect the City to give 10-11kpl in our gruelling city cycle and 16-17kpl on the highway.

FINAL VERDICT

Superb comfort and space, impressive fuel economy and a huge boot make the new City every bit as practical as the previous model. And now it’s much more desirable too. The design looks pretty stunning, it steers and rides better than ever and with 116bhp from a refined engine, it’s unlikely to be short of power. Okay, the interiors should have been better made and Honda has stinted on some essential features and options. However, what you can’t take away from Honda’s new saloon is how well it blends practicality with driving pleasure. Though it’s more expensive than the previous car, the overall package is so captivating that it’s likely to sweep customers off their feet.

spec check

HONDA CITY i-VTEC (Petrol)

Price: Rs 9.66 lakh (est) On-road (Mumbai)
Installation: Front, transverse
Type: 4cyls in-line, 1497cc,
Power: 116bhp at 6600rpm
Torque: 14.9kgm at 4600rpm
Gearbox: 5-speed manual
Weight: 1100kg
Tyres: 175/65 R15, tubeless
Suspension: (F) Independent, MacPherson strut, stabiliser bar; (R) Non-independent, torsion beam, stabiliser bar
Brakes: (F)Ventilated discs; (R)- Drums