Team-BHP - 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by mxh (Post 4048504)

Maruti Ciaz is not in the same segment in performance or price. It's for those who want a lesser car by compromising and paying less. The City is a superior product in every respect and that's why people are still buying it. You get what you pay for.:)

Could you pls point out how the city is superior and how Ciaz is a lesser car with compromise? What a City does that the Ciaz cannot? Just want to understand whether it is solely because you own one.

I agree with iVtec though

Quote:

Originally Posted by mxh (Post 4048504)

+1 to that. I would swap the word 'segment' with 'league' though.

I think there are two major differences in any car:
1) It's great to drive and experience as an immaculate motoring machine to experience everytime you drive it(read Honda, Skoda, VW, Ford, BMW, etc)

2) Its good to own. For me, that means one word. CHEAPER. In most aspects like cost, ASS, cng etc (read Hyundai, Maruti, etc).

The first example appeals to drivers who get a kick from the sheer driving experience and the feel, sound, feedback, performance nuances. These people have a priority for that foremost when they think about a car. These machines want you to go back and have another go after you've reached your destination. Its more of a close to the heart thing. Ironically the ASS for most of these machines is another story here.

In the second example, everything more or less boils down to one thing. How much is it going to cost me, to own, buy, service, per km, for spares, etc etc. These drivers have only one basic priority at the back of their minds at all times. No offence, everyone has the right to spend their own money in any way they deem fit. So its like a statistic. And no, these type of owners never want to go and have another drive just for the heck of it. It would negate the whole idea of owning an "efficient" car, no? Besides it's not a fun thing to do in this case anyway. That's not what you buy cars for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shashankjk (Post 4048544)

I agree. Compare it to phones as far features and build quality goes:

Ciaz: Xiaomi(wannabes- loaded with features, excellent sales)
Verna: Samsung(loaded with features, good build but can be better)
Linea: Nokia(excellent build butbno sale)
Vento:Sony(some sale, good build but isn't the best)
City: iPhone of the C segment.

;):banghead:

I like the classification :)

Most liked one - Linea to Nokia phones. Just perfect. I like both of them and neither of them sells !

City - iPhone of C segment - I dont agree. Reason - I own both the new 2015 City and an iPhone SE. iPhone is ahead of every phone brands/models in every way.
One thing common b/w City and iPhone - both are costly, but iPhone is worth the 90% of the cost, but City probably to 80% of the cost.

Overall, I liked your comparison. Highly debatable and I hope, we dont deviate this thread to a phone review.

Prem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartcat (Post 4048723)

Just discovered that the new Honda City (2014) is faster than the older model by a full 4 seconds on the Sriperumbudur Race Track - both cars driven by Narain Karthikeyan.

Source: Autocar India

This is an interesting bite. It was cropping up here and there that the earlier i-vtec was a tad slower, but a whole 4 seconds! That seems too hard to believe. I'm sure there is an explanation here. So many seconds just can't be true. Mostly, the difference between variants/models turn out to be fraction of a second to about 1-2 seconds at the most. So much is too much I must say. :confused: . One explanation can be the feather build of the newer City.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartcat (Post 4048723)

Just discovered that the new Honda City (2014) is faster than the older model by a full 4 seconds on the Sriperumbudur Race Track - both cars driven by Narain Karthikeyan.

The new Honda City is the cheapest (since base model costs Rs. 10 Lacs) fast car for the track. Beats all the Rs. 10 lacs hot hatches by a significant margin.

Source: Autocar India

I checked the video and I think its faster by 2 seconds and not 4...
Autocar Trackday 2014 With Narain Karthikeyan

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaviprem (Post 4048703)

Overall, I liked your comparison. Highly debatable and I hope, we dont deviate this thread to a phone review.

Prem.

:) Thanks, no intention to get this to phone review. However I do agree with your 80% argument. It's still 80% like iPhone which is good.
However Honda has to pull up its socks on quality front where they have dropped it to keep up its reputation.
:mad:
That reminds me: I was fortunate to have the seen the 3 models of the new Honda city side by side when I had taken my car recently to the service center - one was old, possibly purchased immediately after new city was launched. The other was probably 1.5 to 2 years old and latest was more recent one.
I quickly checked the exterior of all 3 and I could see a definitive improvement in the way panels were fitted in the newer version. The middle one was the worst and the early version was somewhere in middle. Definitely shows that they have heard customer feedback and working on atleast the cosmetic quality if not other. I just hope that this isn't wishful thinking! :confused:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shashankjk (Post 4048805)

:) shows that they have heard customer feedback and working on atleast the cosmetic quality.

Can't edit the earlier comment so adding a new one.

To add, I don't think the engine and other factors were ever degraded in quality. The performance of the car, pick up etc is the best among others in the class barrring Verna which comes close in petrol and probably ezceeds in diesels.

BTW, my comparisons to the phone models versus all the cars in this segment have become quite famous across other threads:sly: I am happy that I have made others smile.
Do note that this is just my opinion and with due respect to the Ciaz. I did test drive both cars before buying one (I owned a Maruti before that so I really hoped I would like Ciaz). However Ciaz was too underpowered for my liking and didn't have the appeal of Honda. Quality in Honda had gone down but only cosmetically in some parts which weren't that important but the ride the handling and performance was still top notch!

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Shashankjk (Post 4048805)

:)
That reminds me: I was fortunate to have the seen the 3 models of the new Honda city side by side when I had taken my car recently to the service center - one was old, possibly purchased immediately after new city was launched. The other was probably 1.5 to 2 years old and latest was more recent one.
I quickly checked the exterior of all 3 and I could see a definitive improvement in the way panels were fitted in the newer version. The middle one was the worst and the early version was somewhere in middle. Definitely shows that they have heard customer feedback and working on atleast the cosmetic quality if not other. I just hope that this isn't wishful thinking! :confused:

I was going to post about the same!
One of my friend had the CVT version of the City, bought as soon as it was launched.
I took the delivery last month of my VMT.
When I closed the door of my friends' car, there was a 'clank' sound, hollow and not at all muffled, and the door felt very light!
Whereas our model has a much better and heavier feel. From 2014 to 2016, Honda have heed to the customers voice and a lot has changed.
And I can also say about the panel gaps, as my friends' car had many inconsistencies, whereas my car had just a few!

Quote:

Originally Posted by iss1307 (Post 4048840)

Honda have heed to the customers voice and a lot has changed.

Thanks for agreeing. I had read tons of reviews and ownerships reports of Ciaz and city before deciding on a car last year and I was skeptical to go for city even though I liked performance aspects. But when I looked at the car and realised that lot of complaints were resolved, I had no hesitation buying it. I think that the only reason Ciaz sells more is because you get a comparable car for less money. It's not all that bad but doesn't match up with the city. The damage done to Honda's brand with the niggles will hopefully get repaired with the improvement in quality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixantz (Post 4048747)

.... that the earlier i-vtec was a tad slower...... I'm sure there is an explanation here. ...One explanation can be the feather build of the newer City.

The newer (2014) City is lighter by 40 Kg compared to the previous model but thats not a significant difference in weight.

Both models have vtec engines, but the new city has its pistons coated with friction reducing material, this factor would have contributed to the improved lap time to a certain extent.

The main contributing factor is the improved ability to sustain higher speeds while cornering brought about by the following aspects:

1. The body structure in the new City is a whopping 24% stronger/stiffer due to the use of lighter but stronger steel/alloy compared to the previous model. This will definitely have a significant positive impact on handling.

2. Stiffer suspension setup and better designed anti-rollbars in the newer City.