re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review Quote:
Originally Posted by loving_alaap A big thank you to all for indirectly helping me in my decision. It was a close fight between City and Duster (25% of daily office commute is off roading) but finally City wins on account of family members.
Geotracks: indeed it was tough choice between Duster and City. I was preferring Duster as 20-25% of my daily commute is literaly off roading. I dropped Duster because,
1. Heavy clutch on 5 month old TD 85 PS Vehicle. My leg was paining at the end of 1 hour TD. Not at all suitable for Bangalore b2b traffic.
2. Famous door rattles and maintenance/ASS issues with Renault. Having own Honda (City) and Hyundai (Santro), I know what reliability is.
3. Family was liking Honda's comfort and premium feel over Duster's poor quality interiors. They simply felt that Honda is a premium / Royal car. In case Duster would have been offering AT, I might have been convinced them for Duster.
ShailK: I have to negotiate bad and uneven roads on daily basis. Honda City's stiff suspensions only added more worries. I needed higher profile tyres to have better cushioning on those roads. I have read couple of team bhpians who installed 195/65/15 in earlier city and they are pretty happy with them. I wanted to try in this City.
| Quote:
Originally Posted by geotracks
I agree, Duster & Honda City are 2 different classes of automobiles. Duster will have a 'less premium' feel than a Honda City, but then that is by design, given that at almost a similar cost (INR 10L to 12L +-) one is getting a 'SUV'. You are also correct about the rattles & ASS.
The clutch for the 85 you TD, may be older. Reason I say this, I got a chance to TD a 2014 85PS Duster and Renault has improved on the clutch. It no more feels 'hard' as much as what was the earlier versions may have had. Actually I was told only the 110PS earlier versions had hard clutch issues which is now fixed by Renault. The 85 PS never had this problem I was told. Of course all said and done, it still is nowhere close to Honda City's manual clutch. After the 85PS TD, I drove my Honda back and the clutch on my Honda after that really felt 'wow'. You of course are miles ahead now and sitting a lap of comfort  with your Honda City automatic.....ultimate feel of comfort & elegance! |
I was sold on to Honda City and was super happy booking it. That's until Sunday. I test drove the Duster 110PS (85PS TD vehicle was not available) and i am confused now.
The way duster performed on the broken portions of the road and potholes is simply too good. Lots of reviews mentioned about the ride quality of duster and there is a definite reason to it. Even while going over smaller bumps without stop, passengers were quite comfortable. Turning radius was good and doing a U-turn on the ring road was quite easy. The commanding view of the road made me feel like a king.
Handling the clutch and gear was not all smooth. Stepping on the right pedal, the surge was felt from 1st to 2nd gear. That was quite a pull! Quite excited.
Interiors are not comparable at all with the city. Most of my driving would be in city with weekend getaways. 85PS is going to be more drivable in city than 110PS. Duster is luring me with the prospect of taking the paths least traveled by  . Bangalore city roads offer half(OK, at least quarter) off roading capabilities
Duster may not have the premium feel of city. Oh! i love those sunroofs and cruise controls and ACC. But Duster offers one a premium feel  when facing broken or bad roads. I don't have to feel shy, worried about scraping under body. I can approach it with a smile. Or may be i don't have to treat it differently at all  GTO mentioned in the review how arrogantly duster shrugs off the bad roads like a <35L car would do.
RavenAvi mentioned that Honda city could be driven in 2 or 3 gear for some speed breakers without having to use clutch services  . Duster ownership reviews mentioned that sometimes one have to downshift to 1st gear. Those the 2 statements are not directly comparable, i am wondering if faced with the same speed breaker , will Honda City give me that extra comfort of not having to use clutch services?
Inputs are most welcome.
Mods : I looked for direct comparison threads and could not find any. If not appropriate, please move the post to the right thread |