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-   -   4th-gen Honda City : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/145656-4th-gen-honda-city-official-review-272.html)

@Vasudev - I have heard that the 2013 Honda City has a 3 months service interval (not sure if it is only for Idtec), while the older ones (2008-2012) had an interval of 6 months. New buyers can confirm on the same.

The service executive called me when my service time was delayed. They said that I since mine is a new model, the service period is 3 months. Only after I corrected them that I have a 2012 model, they flipped it to 6 months. Do check.

Service interval is 6 months/10000km whichever comes first. It's the same for old and new models.

Yes it is 6/10000 for new models too. Dealer told me and also there in manual. What I wanted was the grace period delay usually allowed without fouling up on warranty.

I see that City's prices have been increased by around 2-3K recently. I bought a VX CVT metallic for 11,48,500 in end-June 2015 which was 6,000 more than non-metallic. Now non-metallic one is 11,45,500 or +3000.

Guys experienced a strange thing yesterday.

Was driving my city on the highway at about 80km/h and decided to try the sport mode so pushed it to S and as soon as i touched 100 the car became bouncy so i didn't go above and maintained that speed few minutes later i started noticing that my car was drifting to the left lane even when the steering was dead straight:Shockked:

So i applied correction to the right to get the car back in lane but in vain. I had to apply brakes immediately to avoid an accident. This was quiet shocking for me and i have not dared to go above 80 since then. I am scared of the car and don't know what could have caused this.

I could literally feel the car being pushed to the left from the right lane. Is this the problem that everyone refers to as car twitching direction at speeds? If yes then this is extremely dangerous according to me.

Any ideas on how to solve this issueplease:

I have upsized tyres as well 195/60 R15's

@mods: had to mention the speeds since the event occured at exactly the mentioned speeds. If it brakes the rules request to delete/ edit the post accordingly.

By any chance this was on a wet road OR on slippery road surface ( little oil spill or anything of that sort on road )

195 / 60 / R15 by itself cannot cause this . I do not even think sports mode can cause this . Sports mode ideally would only keep the engine in lower gear for longer duration .

First thing to do is a wheel alignment and balancing done . Even with steering not held the car should be dead straight at speed of 100 .

Do your tyres have uneven wear or side bulge or anything like that . You might actually have to take the car again at speeds close to 100 and see if it is re occuring on another road .

The car has just done 7000 kms and tyres are in excellent condition. The wheel alignment was done just 3k kms back in the second service. The car is sparsely used.

The road was dry but it was pretty windy that day don't know if that can cause the issue.

I would dare not do that again as it was extremely scary. Don't get me wrong i have done three digit speeds that i wouldn't mention here in other cars but this is the first time a car has done such a thing. The results could have been catastrophic had i not braked.

Tyre pressure: 32 psi all around

Grip is excellent at lower speeds but it suddenly got bumpy and started going out of control at 100 km/h.

Tyres are mostly the culprits for this kind of behavior. Have the tyres checked for any bulges which may not be visible to the naked eye.

I have switched to 'S' mode at speeds below 80 km/h mostly for overtaking. Never experienced this at these speeds. I have done triple digits a couple of times but on 'D' mode only.

Inform the service center immediately. They would do a test drive at the same speeds and find out the issue. They would also be able to find out something from the Diagnostic system as well.

This is indeed scary though..

Tyres were checked about 1000 kms back when i complained of humming noise to the tyre store. The tyres are perfectly alright and haven't had a single puncture. Will try those speeds once again when i am alone in the car and will update accordingly. The kind of bounciness is not from suspension being soft its like the whole car jumps. I don't know how to explain it. I have driven the i20 and verna and it isn't that type of feeling. This is a whole new level.

Since you say it was windy i would say that i have experienced this , but not on a honda city , i have experienced this in a minivan ( Dodge caravan which is like an Innova ). However that was extremely windy and in an open desert area in nevada ( US ).
That kind of wind is enough to kind of push you a bit if you are standing on the road.

I do not think its that windy in our country . And this also should not happen in low cars like the city .

7000 KMS is very new so its unlikely to be the shockers or any other suspention part . I am also assuming that you have not had any acccident so far that would have compromised structure , causing the behaviour .

I would put my bet on Tyres or the Alignment/Balancing being at fault here . Have this checked by honda ASC . Knowing those people at honda they might just blame the tyre upsize , but insist that its not the tyre size and tell them to not be lazy to troubleshoot this.

Do not wait. Go to the service center and let them check it with all their available systems.

Tyre up size won't cause this kind of issue as per my knowledge. I haven't done a tyre up size but had written a mail to Honda directly asking if tyre up size would cause any issue with ABS. They did not provide a clear answer. Below is the reply I got from them:

From: Customer Relations [mailto:customer_relations@hondacarindia.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 7, 2014 1:33 PM
To: Adarsh
Subject: Kind Attn: Mr. Adarsh

Dear Sir,

Reference to your communication, we would like to inform you that any alterations/ changes with respect to the standard specifications of the car may affect / damage the other car components. Since the testing of cars is based on standard specification, we would not be able to recommended/ clarify on the functioning of anti lock braking system in the car.

Kind regards,

Parampreet Singh
Customer Relationship Management
Honda Cars India Ltd., Greater Noida

Tried replicating the issue but this time it started bouncing at slightly higher speeds than 100. Couldn't maintain speed but it sure does bounce like hell. Have never taken the car to high speeds previously and i prefer driving economically but i want to know the reason for this issue. This time it didn't drift like before though.

Also noticed that at those speeds there is a very vague feedback from the brakes and slight vibration.

I am feeling the kizashi vibes and horror, going to show it to the ASC asap. Those guys did some calliper service without asking me can this be the reason?


No accidents whatsoever just minor dents and dings but nothing that can compromise structural integrity.

That is absolutely shocking, terrifying and scary. I have taken both City and Amaze at speeds ~100 to 120 (mentioning the speed as I think it is applicable in this particular scenario) in highways and Elevated Expressway in Bangalore (Silk Board to Electronic City) and never once felt the kind of behavior you have mentioned. Please get your car checked thoroughly by the A.S.S guys and get it rectified at the earliest. I am sure many other City owners in the forum and otherwise have taken City at these and higher speeds and hence I feel it is not a common problem. Please let us know if it is resolved and what was the cause of the issue.

Planning to send the car in by this week as i even have to sort out the alternator and some other small niggles.

Man! Your cars are plagued. None let you have a peaceful ownership!

Can you just check the tyre pressures and just do wheel rotation and see if you experience it again.