Honda City Review: Specifications, Price, Mileage and Safety Features

The latest generation car is equipped with 1.5 liter, four-cylinder (with four valves per cylinder) petrol engine with the displacement of 1497 cc with innovative i-VTEC technology that assures to give brilliant performance. Apart from that, it is Bharat Stage IV Emission Norms, Euro IV emission levels and E10 complaint. The engine is powerful and promises to give brilliant fuel efficiency, distinctive output. Due to the combination of torsion beam suspension in rear and McPherson strut suspension the car handling is smooth and provides a comfortable ride.

There are three variants of Honda City available in India. All the variants have same type of engine and displacement but the only difference is in the transmissions. The variants produce maximum power of 118 PS at the rate of 6600 rpm and maximum torque of 146 nm at the rate of 4600 rpm. The car also has the smooth and powerful acceleration reaching 170 kmph at high-speed and touches 0-100 kmph in just 10 seconds.

The automatic gearbox version comes with paddle shift that keeps the control handy, in turn ensures a smooth and stunning drive. The advanced i-VTEC with EFI technology offers best performance and increased fuel efficiency, which helps it to offer a mileage of 14 kmpl in city and on highway gives a mileage of 17 kmpl which makes it one of most fuel efficient cars in its segment.

The colors available in India are - urban titanium metallic, deep sapphire blue, tafoca white, alabaster silver metallic, crystal black pearl, bold beige metallic, polished metal metallic and habanaro red pearl. The Honda City price ranges between 8.61 lacs and 10.87 lacs rupees depending on the variant, its major competitors are Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Verna and Maruti SX4.

One of the distinctive safety features of this car is that it is loaded with innovative pedestrian safety, specially designed fenders, front grille and windshield support to prevent the impact of pedestrian collision. Honda City has other safety features like Anti Breaking System (ABS) with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), active headrests, dual SRS airbags, G-CON body with crush-resistant survival zone and pre-tensioner seatbelts.

Overall it is a stylish sedan for those seeking a combination of best mileage, comfort and space.

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Detailed information of Maruti Suzuki cars, new Honda City, Volkswagen Vento and get new car prices.

Suzuki Maruti SX4 and Honda City: Compared

Since the introduction of the Honda City in the market it has been very successful in keeping its competition with the likes of Ford, GM, Hyundai at bay attributed to the Civic's solid brand value which has made others at the trail playing catch up.

Suzuki would like to try to topple down Honda's City with its new Maruti SX4. How good is Maruti? Does it have what it takes to compete with Honda City?

Let's face it not everyone are attracted to the Honda City with its protruding Honda antenna and compared to the Maruti SX4, appearance wise it looks like Angelina Jolie while the City looks more like Dr. Spock but of course Suzuki will not agree with such comparison especially since the ad campaign tagline for the Maruti is "Men are Back". But in fairness to the Maruti, it is sporty and sexy plus it has successfully hidden its hatchback roots.

The SX4 has a nice flat integrated dashboard and sporty touches of chrome everywhere, which adds up to its good looks unfortunately it failed to surpass the hand feel and rich textures found on the City's interiors. But to make up for what it lacks, the SX4 has leather seats, steering remote control airbags, and pockets for bottle holders on all four-doors.

In terms of exterior, it is quite obvious that the SX4 is longer, taller, and bigger. But you know Honda it won't just sit around and wait for competition to stomp over it, the engineers at Honda has made sure that the size of the Civic will not become a disadvantage. Honda's engineers have developed a backseat that can comfortably seat three people despite its being narrower than the SX4.

The SX4 despite its larger size has some drawbacks like for instance the armrest in the back of protrudes into the third person's spine just imagine if sudden brakes are applied that would definitely hurt. And that's not all the tunnel in the flooring of the SX4 does not provide much legroom. It boot also loses out marginally. On the other hand the Civic despite its small size manages to pack in a lot of space with more headroom, legroom not to mention more space for the driver.

In terms of driving performance the City can provide you with the regular 77 bhp or V-Tec powerplant with 100 bhp, which is very much closer to the SX4. The Maruti SX4 is powered by a new M-16 engine, which has one twin overhead cams, a driveby-wire throttle and revs up a healthy 102 bhp compared to Cuty's 77 bhp. The Maruti has also an extra 2 kgm of torque which obviously makes it much faster on the road.

When it comes to accelerating from 0 to 100, the SX4 is the winner but in terms of gear now that is another story. This is because the SX4 seems to lose steam at around 5,000 rpm while the torque curve on the City is by far crispier and linear making it perfectly suitable for city driving. The Honda City has also a more refined engine.

But of course the comparison doesn't end just yet both the City's and SX4's gearbox are good although the SX4 would require for a much firmer hand. On the hand the City as expected is light and easy. Over bumps and undulations the SX4's steering gets jumpy while the Honda City's steering although light to handle feels unsettling at high speeds.

Driving through traffic, the SX4 and the City both scored well however the SX4 leads in terms of ground clearance where the City suffers caused by its low ground clearance. The SX4 with its 16-inch rims and 205 tires provide better grip but so does the City with its ABS. The City wins when it comes to fuel efficiency but in terms of styling and price the SX4 wins it by landslide. Now that we know the advantages of both cars it would be easier to choose which one to buy.

About the Author

Ally Wahlberg is a Computer Information Systems specialist. Ally leads an active lifestyle and he is a fan of extreme sports. He is also a car enthusiast and writing about his interests is one of his passions.