[selfdrive]

Now Honda has a car that comes with a diesel mill and auto climate control. Amazing that they finally managed this insurmountable task.
What if they come up with a diesel auto tranny too? Maybe they dont want people to be shocked that badly?!

I guess Honda would be the only car increasing production other than Ford?

The downside would be that all the sales staff would be back to full arrogant form in the Honda showrooms after having had their tails between their legs for the last couple of years

[SkyWalker]

Overall, I see this as a very positive announcement:

Pros:
a. City has gone from poorly spec'ed to very nicely spec'd now. City - being the market leader (ok, technically Verna is - now), its clear that all manufacturers will follow the lead and it puts pressure on all segments, especially C+ and D segments to provide more features.
b. If the increased space (they compared it to upper D segment cars) claims are to be believed (+50mm leg space and +40mm shoulder space), the car can encourage some cross shopping.
c. Diesel engine wold quickly enable Honda to gain upper hand in C segment now. Expect C segment to be Amazed now
d. They clearly know the USPs and sought to improve on them - looks, space, and power/efficiency equation. Now whether they have improved on the looks is subjective. I like the looks of Gen 3 better, but I am a Gen3 owner and could be biased.

Cons:
a. No engine specs -just some promises on 'improved'. The power outputs are not provided and the torque curves shown are left to interpretation without showing the rpm data. What are you afraid to show, Honda?

[zenren]

Originally Posted by amit

Aren't the interiors eerily similar to the new Toyota Corolla? Look at the air con vent's, then the big touch screen system under it and finally the air con control's. The entire design is so similar.

Isn't that the same way in most cars? The center console typically would have a couple of AC vents with the music system below it and the AC controls further below. Even the Swift dash would look similar if Maruti adds touch screens for HU and ACC.

The color, size and position of the knobs and buttons for the in-built music system and the AC controls differentiated an otherwise same scheme of things across different cars. With both of them going the touch route, its essentially a 2-DIN rectangular touch panel for music system and a 1-DIN panel for AC controls which doesn't give too many options for a different look since everything is black when Off.

It might look different when turned on though since each company might customize the skins and short keys in different ways.

[StarScream]

I'm a little underwhelmed. Although the car looks very similar to the 3rd gen, I'm neutral towards it. What's more of an issue is that the petrol engine hasn't been updated to a direct injection one and the car seems to retain the safety kit of the 3rd gen (two airbags, ABS and no ESP). Going by that it seems the AT transmission will continue to be the 5-speed torque converter one.

Honda has always been a pioneer in introducing new technology. Alas, that no longer seems to be the case. They've learnt from others in the industry that things like automatic climate control matter more than new transmission tech. Because of the general lack of new tech where it matters, I see the petrol City being priced more or less in line with the 3rd gen, with maybe a minor 50k increase. Another indication of this price warrior positioning is the lack of projectors.

In terms of latest tech, the Vento TSI is by far the superior product. If only VW was as reliable as Honda.

[penpavan]

No wonder no body caught the test vehicle.

To me this new City is very disappointing because :

1. The expectations on the new design were very high because the new Jazz design, a stunning piece of it, set it up, and the new design of the city isn't wow at all.

2. Remember, Honda is known to have at least something "wow" in their car if not everything. The outgoing city even if was bad on its interiors, the arrow shot design was a clear winner.

3. Dashboard, looks very dated, this from a brand that made interiors of Civic. At least I am not fathoming it.

The only positive thing I see that, it is more classy.

[kryogesh]

In my opinion Honda has come out with a great rear design. Front looks good, but I still prefer the outgoing model, which is much more aggressive than the newly launched HC. I somehow did not like the front grill of the new one.
The crease closer to door handles to me looks like Honda desperately tired to add some design cues to match the Verna. It would have been much cleaner design without this crease.
Alloys and the tyre size - no words to express
Welcome changes on the interiors / interior space and especially the ACC. But I somehow did not like the centre console design. Curious to know about the air bags
Will the increase in the wheel base not offset the increase of the ground clearance if any? Honda hasn't mentioned anything about the ground clearance, but I expect them to have worked on it as one of the presenters spoke about the road conditions in India.

I was very excited during the presentation after seeing the sketches. My expectations were high. The actual car is certainly disconnected from the sketches shown.

Overall, has neither made me run to the showrooms to make a booking nor a phone call to make some quires. Will wait to see the car in flesh and different colour options. Also, awaiting to see what is offered in each variant. Pricing? I hope Honda has learnt a lesson or two from Jazz and from the success of Amaze.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by zenren

Overall a great package. This should literally blow away the Verna and Elantra sales. I hope they price it properly on par with Verna instead of trying to pitch it in as a competitor to Elantra.

I don't think this car can give the Elantra a run for its money. The cars belong to different segments and its not just about features. The D segment cars are much more spacious and have generally better handling and ride coupled with the added better image factor.

Also the Verna provides all the features that the City has and has been doing so from last couple of years since its launch. So lets hold our horses and wait for the prices. The market has matured enough these days and Honda might not find it that easy to climb to the numero uno spot. Ofcourse right now the tide is in its favour with this new launch and hence most people will tend to feel that this is the best the segment has ever seen.

[Nilesh5417]

If it had not been for the addition of the I-Dtec mill, this "all-new-city" would have gone unnoticed. Honda basically has just filled in some glaring omissions from the 3rd Gen (needed to justify the higher price tag anyways) and made some sheet metal changes.

The whole discussion of the new City taking cue from the new Jazz & Vezel had me think for a while that Honda really was upping the game to next level.

Guess they are just happy with the fact that they now have a diesel mill to offer.

[Vid6639]

Compared to the Fluidic Verna, the earlier City was seriously short on features. No climate control, no reversing camera, no keyless entry and a lot of other stuff missing in city.

With this new City they have basically matched the Verna not really surpassed it. From the photos the interior is similar in terms of finish.

It will no doubt sell but considering the hype it is a bit of downer. It's clever to overlap with the old Civic by pushing it into a higher price band like killing 2 birds with one stone.

Let's see how the prices are come January.

The rear is way too similar to the Maruti's YL1. Maruti may even want to go back and change it cause right now they look identical.

[satyaanveshi]

No direct injection, it seems. Will wait for the full tech specs to be announced, but it is disappointing to see Honda fall behind in petrol engine tech. VW is already into its second generation of direct injection engines, with turbocharging to boot.

An unprecedented situation in the Indian market - Honda relying more on fancy features than on tech to sell their cars.

[Tats07]

Still need the following information:

- Power/Torque figures at RPMs, especially low-end torque
- Brakes - still disc/drum combination?
- GC
- Suspension - softly tuned or well balanced?
- Handling
- Interiors - only beige again??!!!

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by Nilesh5417

If it had not been for the addition of the I-Dtec mill, this "all-new-city" would have gone unnoticed. Honda basically has just filled in some glaring omissions from the 3rd Gen (needed to justify the higher price tag anyways) and made some sheet metal changes.

But the thing is, the current gen City is not being replaced as it wasn't being competitive! It really aint broken, but the time has come for it to hand the torch! The few things people have always cribbed about the City -

- No ACC
- No rear camera, auto fold mirrors, and other cosmetic features
- Silver finish on the centre console looked down-market
- No diesel option in a diesel driven market ( City had a cool 67% amongst the petrol cars in C segment though! )
-Tyres and wheel size are inadequate for the power on offer

So this new generation addresses the above flaws, while not deviating away from its strong points - Good looks, strong and efficient petrol motor, good space, etc..

Annoyingly though, the "i-dint-eat-for-a-month" skinny tyres are still continuing duty

[k_ajay]

Looks like Honda is catching up rather than define the segment. But not all is gloom. More passenger space is what everyone seems to be missing for want of gadetry, which Honda has addressed. Still, no projector headlamps [I did suppose Verna got it out just to counter Honda's new City?].

It isn't a new design but it's not bad either. I just wished they changed that chrome grill which is totally characterless (IMO). It also doesn't subscribe to what Honda now calls the exciting H design or whatever that is.

Couple of related points.

> This dashboard confirms Jazz is coming with the same. This dashboard design first featured in the Jazz that has just launched in Japan last month.
> Repeated mention of class leading diesel fuel efficiency makes me feel the engine isn't going to be very powerful. How much can Honda go from a 100bhp 1.5 i-DTEC? 115bhp, perhaps? I hope more, please.
> Jazz is probably going to be pretty spacious to.. Expect it to be easily the spacious hatchback when launched.
> Honda also has to think about the new Linea (1.6 MJD too) when pricing the Diesel city. I am assuming Fiat will be pretty aggressive for want of sales (and their new dashboard design is definitely exciting, IMO).

Can't wait to learn the engine and GC specifications and price. I wonder if this city will come with 6 airbags.

[ankan_g]

Lets get on thing clear - 'It is an all new car and not a refresh of the older car'. It is basically a stretched Jazz (new) and if we notice, the new Jazz itself is not very different from the outgoing one.

Having said that, it is a little disappointing to see very little exterior changes to the car. There was a time when one did not have any clue of what the next new Honda would look. They bold, Dynamic and had the guts to do something out of your imagination. To understand better, just have a look at the previous 3 generations of the City. Each a revolution over the previous one and them same was reiterated by Autocar when they said that the new Jazz is only an evolution and no revolution. One just feels that Honda has lost it's killer instinct that it once had.

Pricing will be important here as the competition, as aggressive as Hyundai, will not sit quite. If they price it significantly higher than the competition, then it would be the same case as with the pricing of the original Jazz. It made an expensive i20 made to look VFM.

Fingers Crossed X !

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by ankan_g

Pricing will be important here as the competition, as aggressive as Hyundai, will not sit quite. If they price it significantly higher than the competition, then it would be the same case as with the pricing of the original Jazz. It made an expensive i20 made to look VFM.!

Let us not forget the upcoming 'YL1' from Maruti. They will go all out to enter this segment again with features and pricing. So it will not be easy with Honda coming out with this 'evolutionary' design of the City!

Cheers!