The sleek and sporty profile of the first generation of the City fired up the imagination and the demand for reliable and rewarding on the hardware. A complete metamorphosis saw the City don a more practical role in its second generation. Despite that, the appeal and the value of the Honda only increased. The Third Generation City also changed drastically and it was Honda’s most well-rounded package yet. Although it remained Honda’s star performer, the lack of a diesel motor hit the company and the City hard.
As the third Generation City chugged towards the finishing line, Honda was readying their 1.5 L diesel engine car for India which had already debuted in the Amaze. The price tag of the new Honda City is between Rs. 7.19 and 10.99 lakhs.
Look wise the new Honda City is quite an attention grabber. The slim and delicate headlights and the arrowhead profile give the exterior a sleek look. The new City definitely looks bigger and the long slash on the side makes it distinctive. The rear with its slim lamps looks appealing.
The wheelbase is about 50 mm long, making the car longer, stiffer and lighter.
A lot of changes are made in the cabin as well. The piano black dashboard looks classy. The 5” LCD display, the touch screen control for the air conditioning system, and a big instrument display for the driver are some of the features. The steering wheel looks chunky and has inbuilt music and phone controls. The new Honda City has a plethora of gizmos and technological touches like electric ORVMs, keyless push-button start, rear parking camera and even a sunroof in the higher variants.
The cabin is way more spacious than the outgoing generation. The seat base extends all the way to the knee giving ample thigh support. There are air conditioning vents and two power sockets present for the rear passengers.
The new Honda City sports 1.5-liter units in both petrol and diesel. Honda has tweaked the petrol engine enough to ensure both performance and fuel efficiency. The diesel belts out 100 BHP, the same as in the Amaze. The CVT transmission is what the gearbox gets, a 5 speed for petrol and 6 speed for the diesel. The automatic variant will only be there in the petrol cars. But, as in most Honda cars and in the earlier editions of the City, the gear shift in the manual models is expected to be quite slick and a joy to the slot.
The new Honda City is a tough competitor for cars like the Hyundai Verna, Volkswagen Vento, Ford Fiesta, Skoda Rapid, Nissan Scala and the next generation of Maruti SX4.
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