2014 Honda City Review - City Diesel & Petrol Mileage, Specs & Feature

Detailed review of the 2014 Honda City diesel and petrol models.

Design

The fourth generation Honda City has not strayed a lot from its predecessor in terms of basic design, making it instantly recognizable as the City. However, Honda's designers have made several minor changes, which combined give a fresh and sporty character to the new City.

Critical to its new sporty image is the new ‘Exciting H-Design' front fascia that resembles the new Jazz hatchback. The three horizontal slats have made way for a single broad chrome band from headlamp to headlamp, housing the Honda logo in the center. Overall, the front looks a lot sharper, with a slight inclination towards the sporty. Also, notice the two downward moving depressions on the bonnet which add a little spunk to the otherwise plain looking lid.

Another important part of the new design are the sharp character lines running across the sides of the City, seamlessly meeting the wrap around taillamp clusters. This particular design feature makes the new City look a lot more crisp than its predecessor.

Dimension

The new City has remained unchanged for most of the part, with the same overall length, width and ground clearance. What's changed is the height and the wheelbase, which have now grown by 10mm and 50mm respectively. While width remains the same, shoulder room has improved by 40mm. But its the increased wheelbase that makes all the difference.

The City has always offered good interior space, especially at the rear, but that's been improved even more. So much so that the rear leg room is now comparable to cars from the D-segment. To be exact, the knee room and legroom have been increased by 70mm & 60mm respectively from the outgoing model. Boot space has been increased to 510 liters as well.

Interior

The new City continues to impress with its interior that looks modern and premium. The all black dashboard, matches well with the otherwise beige interior. Material quality is among the best in class and fit and finish are top notch. Top end variant gets plush leather interior.

The steering wheel is a three spoked unit, that's similar to the CR-V's. The silver and the mesh finish make further improve the look of the steering wheel. It also comes with several integrated quick access buttons, including volume, call receive buttons and cruise control.

Sitting at the center of the dashboard is a 5 inch capacitive touchscreen that acts both as the audio/FM system and reverse parking screen. The parking camera in the new City is particularly useful, with its three visual settings - normal, top down and wide angle.

A first in class feature is a touch screen automatic climate control system that sits right below the 5 inch display. The touch screen controls are intuitive and easy to use.

Features

There are several variants to choose from and standard features vary. However, the top end variant will spoil you with a host of features, which are once again the best in class. Apart from the touch screen 5 inch audio and information display, first in class touch screen auto climate, steering mounted controls and reverse parking camera, the top variant also offers eight speaker system, engine start/stop button, keyless entry, four standard power sockets, sunroof, electric folding mirrors and rear air con vents. The instrument also glows green and blue depending on how fast you are driving.

Safety

With Honda, safety has never been a concern and the new City is no exception. Standard on all variants are SRS airbags for the driver and front passengers, ABS and EBD.

Engine

At the center of the new City are its engines, refined to a level that's typical of Honda. This time around, there are two engines to choose from which are:
1.5 liter i-VTEC petrol, rated at 119 PS power at 6,600 rpm and 145 Nm of torque at 4,600 rpm; Mileage: 17.8 kmpl (manual), 18 kmpl (CVT)
1.5 liter i-DTEC diesel, rated at 100 PS power at 3,600 rpm and 200 Nm of torque at 1,750 rpm; Mileage: 26 kmpl

The petrol engine is naturally the most refined, with such low NVH levels that it almost feels as plush as a luxury car. The performance offered by the engine is not on par with the Verna or the Vento, but it's sufficient enough for a comfortable and easy city and highway ride. The 5 speed manual is easy to shift and the gear ratios are spaced well, balanced both for city traffic and highway cruising.

The automatic variant of the new City features a CVT gearbox. Unlike the CVT seen in Nissan sedans though, Honda has made sure there is no rubber band effect. This is, in part, thanks to the steering column mounted paddle shifters. Not only does this make for a sporty riding experience it gives the driver greater control. Another plus side of using CVT is that the it delivers better mileage than the manual transmission.

The diesel engine in the new City is the same unit that's found in the Amaze. However, its more refined than the one inside the Amaze. This has reduced noise, typically associated with diesel engines, to a great extent. It's much more tolerable than inside the Amaze diesel and reduces further as you shift up the gear. Another major difference between diesel engine in the Amaze and the new City is the top speed. While in the Amaze it's limited to 145 km/h, the new City can reach a top speed of 190 km/h.

Coupled to the diesel engine is a 6 speed manual (it's a 5 speed manual in the Amaze). An addition of just one extra gear has made it possible for Honda to achieve an incredible ARAI certified mileage of 26 kmpl, despite being heavier than the Amaze.

Ride and Handling

Ride quality has improved over the outgoing model. The suspensions are a little towards the stiffer side of things. This helps maintain stability at high speeds, while still absorbing minor bumps and potholes. However, corner the car too hard and the small 175/65 tyres will lose traction.

Handling is neutral for the most part and the electronic steering is light at low speeds and gradually gets heavier as speed increases. Overall, the new City is an improvement over its predecessor in the ride and handling department and that's not to say the old car was too bad itself.

Conclusion

Design: Has retained the much admired classic City design and improved upon it. But for me, the Verna's fluidic design still takes the crown in the looks department.

Dimension: Very spacious. Among the best in its class. Nothing negative to say here.

Interior & Features: Once again, among the best in class, if not the best. Comes with several first in class features.

Conclusion

Engine & Performance: Honda's refined engines never disappoint. Ride quality, handling and performance may not be the best, but they are above average. The convenient CVT transmission with paddle shifters will get many takers.

Mileage: Nothing beats the new City diesel in this regard and is alone capable of reinstating the new City as the king of C-Segment sedans.

Full specification sheet of the 2014 Honda City sedan diesel and petrol

Final Verdict

The 2014 Honda City is a well rounded car that not just ticks all the right boxes, but also ticks a few extra ones. The one and only thing that could spoil things for Honda is wrong pricing and we hope they get it right.