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Old 19th December 2016, 14:33   #5296
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Re: Honda City CVT engine review and modification?

Quote:
Originally Posted by aakarshsharma10 View Post
I have recently bought the Honda City CVT VX model in New Delhi. I will start with a brief about the car and the fittings that I have got done.

Engine:
Honestly, not so happy with the engine power and pick up. Although the CVT does not let you feel the gear shifts but the pick up just feels like you are putting your foot on the acceleration a lot and it is not at all accompanied by the relative pick up on road.
This is a standard problem of the CVT engine, though, with the brilliant engine at City's disposal the problem is masked to quite an extent.
Frank with his Crio has mentioned about his Crio being fitted by PedalTune which is nothing but a accelerator throttle input modifier. I did speak to them some time back and they do have a franchise in Delhi.

I spoke to the owner, and he told me that they have specific solutions for the City CVT improving the gearbox and acceleration performance. Haven't tried either of them, but willing to get it done, maybe we can join together

If you do wish to know more about him, drop me a line and ill be happy to help.
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Old 19th December 2016, 15:47   #5297
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by for_cars1 View Post
While driving in traffic, something unusual happened.
Not in my 2014 Model, but please keep us updated with the behavior of the car over next couple of months or so.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prodigyy View Post
The parking per se calls for cars to move around and the parking staff will always be running behind me and giving calls to me if they have to move the car around.
So you have to leave the key in the car with car in neutral? Isn't that risky, i.e. rolling off if someone leans on it (I have assumed key has to be left because otherwise the steering will get locked)? If they have the key, can't they themselves put cars in neutral? You could put a note in front of the gear lever on how they can do it if required.

Quote:
Originally Posted by a4anurag View Post
Check the link:
Thanks. Does seem to be a basic software issue.

Quote:
Originally Posted by iss1307 View Post
Has anybody been using a mobile phone holder on their City 4th Gen? If yes, please suggest some good ones!
Thank you.
I use this: LINK
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Old 19th December 2016, 16:03   #5298
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

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Originally Posted by avdhesh15 View Post
So you have to leave the key in the car with car in neutral? Isn't that risky, i.e. rolling off if someone leans on it (I have assumed key has to be left because otherwise the steering will get locked)? If they have the key, can't they themselves put cars in neutral? You could put a note in front of the gear lever on how they can do it if required.
Nop, its like a double parking, where multiple rows of cars are parked, one row parks the cars vertically the second row horizontally. So, i do not have to leave the keys, just park the car in neutral and forget about what scratches those guys are putting on the bumpers (they were aplenty in my previous cars )
In case i do not park on neutral, ill have two options:
1. Land up at work early each day so that i can park whatever way i can with the handbrakes on.
2. If i show up at usual time, park in "P" mode and run down to the parking each time someone from the vertical row has to move out.
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Old 19th December 2016, 17:22   #5299
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Booked a City VX MT. I want to know what's the running in procedure? For how many kms should I do it for?

Any other tips on the car? Thanks in advance!
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Old 19th December 2016, 17:28   #5300
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by for_cars1 View Post
While driving in traffic, something unusual happened.

While shifting the gears, there was a raise in the RPM needle momentarily (by the ECU), nothing out of the ordinary here.
After this, the check engine orange light started glowing. The engine was running but the revs wouldn't rise beyond about 1K RPM on pressing the accelerator. It was driveable a little higher idle RPM.
I even tried switched off the ignition and restarting to see if the light went away, but the light and problem persisted after starting it.

Luckily it happened very close to the service center and I left my car there.
They checked and diagnosed it as a "software glitch" that is very "rare" and updated the software to the latest version and the Check Engine light went away. There was no service charge/cost involved.

Have anyone else faced the same?
I had the same issue on my vehicle 2014 IDTECH on the first week itself. I think it happens in a very typical scenario where the clutch is depressed and the vehicle is at high rpm or so. I believe a software glitch. Took it to the service center and by then the check engine light had gone. There was some ecu update i believe which was done.
Has not repeated since then thought. Nothing alarming i would say and may be limited only to the earlier models.
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Old 19th December 2016, 20:44   #5301
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

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Originally Posted by vista_qjd View Post
.....I think it happens in a very typical scenario where the clutch is depressed and the vehicle is at high rpm or so. I believe a software glitch. ..... Nothing alarming i would say and may be limited only to the earlier models.
Thanks, very comforting to hear that you didn't face the same issue again after the update.

You are spot on about the scenario, exactly happened the same way.
When the clutch is depressed, the ECU sometimes raises the RPM automatically, this is normal and observed in many cars.
In this particular scenario, the RPM had shot up momentarily quite a bit and then the Check Engine light appeared which got resolved after the ECU software update. It sure seems like a software bug.


Quote:
Originally Posted by The Brutailer View Post
Booked a City VX MT. I want to know what's the running in procedure? For how many kms should I do it for?

Any other tips on the car? Thanks in advance!
Just ensure the following for the first 1000 KMs to run in the car well.
- Avoid revving up the engine unnecessarily.
- Keep the max speed preferably below 80 to 90 kmph
- Don't drive maintaining a constant speed, rather drive at varying speeds.

Last edited by for_cars1 : 19th December 2016 at 20:59.
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Old 20th December 2016, 13:32   #5302
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Hi Guys,

My friend is looking for a Honda city 4th gen(Diesel) 40k km service in Bangalore. Could you please suggest centers with good After Sales Service in East Bangalore. He is really worried with some horrified experiences with Dakshin Honda posted here.
Does he need to take up any major replacements apart from normal service? It would be also helpful if there is an approximate cost for this 40k km service.

Thanks in Advance!!
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Old 20th December 2016, 14:30   #5303
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by vista_qjd View Post
I had the same issue on my vehicle 2014 IDTECH on the first week itself. I think it happens in a very typical scenario where the clutch is depressed and the vehicle is at high rpm or so. I believe a software glitch. Took it to the service center and by then the check engine light had gone. There was some ecu update i believe which was done.
Has not repeated since then thought. Nothing alarming i would say and may be limited only to the earlier models.
These kind of issues make you wonder if a cruise control is a thing to avoid (also see the recent Skoda Octavia accident involving cruise control in the UK. There's a separate thread about that)!
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Old 20th December 2016, 14:34   #5304
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Brutailer View Post
Booked a City VX MT. I want to know what's the running in procedure? For how many kms should I do it for?
For running in, check out the Team-BHP guide HERE
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Brutailer View Post
Any other tips on the car? Thanks in advance!
You should check out the niggles thread on our forum such that you can be forewarned for the possible issues that might crop up in your car and solutions which members have gone for.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vista_qjd View Post
I had the same issue on my vehicle 2014 IDTECH on the first week itself.
Thinking about it, in the initial 3-4 months, there were couple of instances where the steering would suddenly stiffen up for a second or so. This I believe has been rectified in the ECU update (I never complained and it hasn't happened since "touch-wood").
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Old 20th December 2016, 17:26   #5305
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I own a 2014 Honda City SV MT i-VTec. The car is 31 months old and has run 24000 km. This post is about my experience buying and maintaining the City.

What car?

I live in a rural area. My driving is restricted to 60 km 2-3 times a week and a 1000 km trip every 3 months, all primarily in 4 lane roads. Urban driving is less than 10% of my total driving. I use my bike/scooter for going anywhere under 30 km. Ground clearance is not an issue for me because the place I live now has the best roads in Kerala.

Buying experience

I have always loved the City and it was a dream car. In April 2014, I was relocating back to Kerala after 6 years. I wanted a car and Honda had released the new City only a few months back. I had the money ready and wanted a car as soon as possible. I went to Vision Honda, Thrissur, which was then the Honda showroom nearest to my home, and they said the waiting period was 6 months. I checked and rejected other cars in the segment.

I called other Honda showrooms in Kerala and was lucky to find the newly opened Honda showroom at Kochi – Vivaan Honda. They opened a week before I called them (and shut shop one year after I purchased the car). They said they had few Citys in stock that are not allotted to anyone. I went there and they had E, S and SV variants. I wanted VX but was not willing to wait for 6 months, and my mother wanted the red color, which they had. I saw the car, finalized SV and paid. They promised to deliver the car on the morning of 26th May, 2014.

I reached the showroom on the decided date and they asked me to wait while they washed the car and got it ready. The waiting started at 10 AM and it continued for 6 long hours. What happened was that the guy who took it to the washing bay scraped the front fender. They did not have that part in stock and finally had to remove it from another new car. The overall sales experience was great until they did this. But since they promptly rectified it, rather than waiting for the new part to arrive from Honda, I still rate the overall experience as excellent.

The SV had many things lacking that I wanted, reverse camera and leatherette seats being the most important. I got them fitted from the Honda ASC itself. Looking back, I think it was a good decision that I got SV rather than VX. VX would have been good, but not as good to cost almost 2 lakhs more than SV.

Other than the city, I drive my father’s petrol Polo and a friend’s petrol Ciaz. I have extensively driven the diesel Rapid too. So these are my benchmarks.

Things I like

1. Engine: It is probably the best engine I can get, for the money I paid, that fulfill my needs. It is well refined and smooth. It is silent till about 2500 rpm (around 100 kph in 5th gear) and even above 2500 rpm, the note is not bad. It gives amazing mileage if you are light footed and impressive performance if you are a spirited driver.

2. Space: It has so much space that 5 people can travel in it all day. When I checked out the car, space was the first thing that impressed me. Till the introduction of Ciaz, City was the undisputed king in this regard.

3. Comfort: Seats are supremely comfortable. It is better, in my opinion, than anything else in the same segment. It is definitely better than my father’s Polo and my friend’s Ciaz. A/C is excellent, cools well and fast. Rear A/C vents are really helpful.

4. Ride at cruising speeds: Since most of my driving is in highways, this is important for me. City shines well in this. At speeds above 80, the ride is flat and stable. It is as stable as my father’s Polo at higher speeds, but not as composed as the Rapid. Even though both Polo and Rapid are based on the same platform, I felt that the Rapid has better high speed stability.

5. Looks: I love the way it looks. It has a very cohesive design language and it grows on you.

6. Safety: I know that India-made City has not been crash tested. But since Honda has been advertising its ACE structure in each and every brochure they have released so far, and none of the so far tested India-made Hondas had weak structures, I believe my City to be safe. Fixed headrest at the back is a gripe.

Things I don’t hate, but could have been better:

1. Interior quality: Dash is full of hard, scratchy plastics. But the plastics feel durable and built to last.

2. Horn: It is weak and sometimes changes its tone, but since my driving is mostly in the highways, I don’t get to use it much.

3. Tyres: I have seen complaints about the lack of grip from the skinny tyres. But that is not the case with me. I feel that for this car the grip level provided by the tyre (Michelin in my car) is more than adequate. I indulge in spirited driving some times, even then the grip is adequate. It is only when I push it in tight corners that it squeals a bit, but still well within my control. My dislike is for purely cosmetic reasons. It would have looked better if it was wider, otherwise it is adequate for the car.

4. Sheet metal thickness: Again this would have been better if it was like my father’s Polo. But given the pedestrian safety norms and weight reduction these days, we are going to see more cars with thinner sheet metal.

5. Steering and handling: The steering is accurate, and the car goes where it is pointed to. But it is devoid of any feel. Even though it weighs up well with increasing speeds, it feels artificial. But overall the car handles well, mainly because the chassis is well balanced and steering is accurate, but could have been better with a little bit more steering feedback.

Things I don’t like:

1. Rattling: It comes and goes and comes again. It will be there for a couple of days and then disappear for a month, and it will return again. It is present only when the road is not smooth and that too not all the time. Since most of my driving is in the highways, it is not much of an issue for me. But when it is present, it is really irritating. The ASC has not been able to find the root cause.

2. Alternator belt grinding noise: It is present from day 1. It is present for about 3 minutes after starting the car and then disappears. It has not affected my driving or car reliability till now. Since I have extended warranty till the end of 4th year, I have not asked for a replacement. Also I plan to take the extended warranty till 7th year after my 4 year warranty is over. I want to see if this grinding noise is really a reliability issue.

3. Low speed ride: It is really bad. You can feel each and every pebble on the road. I don’t know how they managed to design a car with a good high speed ride and horrible low speed ride. Again my regular driving route does not have any slow speed stretch, so it is not a big issue for me. But if your area has many potholes, forget the City. Ciaz has great low speed ride.

4. Lack of attention to detail: Inconsistent panel gaps around the boot and the hood. The boot lid has about an 8mm gap on one side and 3 mm on the other. Also interior floor carpet has inconsistent cuts.

5. Cost cutting: No inside cladding for boot lid, no cladding for wheel wells, dead pedal is just a rubber strip stuck with a glue.

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-dsc_0042.jpg

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-dsc_0039.jpg

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-dsc_0041.jpg

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-dsc_0036.jpg

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-dsc_0220.jpg

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-dsc_0048.jpg

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-screenshot-110_edited.jpg

Service experience is a mixed bag. It really depends on which ASC you are dealing with. I have serviced my car at 3 Honda ASCs.

1. Vivaan Honda, Kochi – Great service and clean work. But sadly they had shut shop.
2. Vision Honda, Thrissur – Average, never great. They always add unnecessary items and are always late in delivering cars back after service. Shoddy cleaning too.
3. Indel Honda, Palakkad – Had only one service from there, that was great.

Service costs are reasonable. My running is around 10000 km every year, so oil change is only once every year. With the recent price cut in synthetic oils used at Honda ASC, the overall service cost has come down. I have completed seven services till now, all according to the schedule. The car has been very reliable. Never had any major issues and never had to visit ASC for anything other than routine services.

Accessories:
1. Reverse camera and parking sensors.
2. Leatherette seat cover.
3. Transcend drive pro 200 dash cam.

There was some speculation, due to decrease in perceived quality of Honda products, that the car was not going to age well. Even though mine has run only 25000 km, the car looks and works great. I keep it covered all the time and, wash and wax it at least once every month. There is no paint fade or rusting anywhere.

Honda’s Indian products are, in general, very reliable. What Honda lacks is perceived quality, where the Europeans shine. Honda’s drive train and space utilization efficiency are second to none. By putting a little more effort, Honda can greatly improve the perceived quality and thus the customer satisfaction.

I am posting the invoices of 1st to 7th services in that order.

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-1st.jpg

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-2nd.jpg

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-3rd.jpg

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-4th.jpg

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-5th.jpg

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-6th.jpg

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-7th.jpg

Last edited by Aditya : 21st December 2016 at 07:04. Reason: Merging back to back posts
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Old 21st December 2016, 00:08   #5306
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RapidRavi View Post
Hi Guys,



My friend is looking for a Honda city 4th gen(Diesel) 40k km service in Bangalore. Could you please suggest centers with good After Sales Service in East Bangalore. He is really worried with some horrified experiences with Dakshin Honda posted here.


There's a new agency and service centre that has come up in East Bangalore-Sapphire Honda. I am planning on going to them when my service becomes due in Feb-17. I too had a bad experience with Dakshin Honda and am not going back to them again.
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Old 21st December 2016, 15:09   #5307
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Re: Honda City CVT engine review and modification?

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Originally Posted by Prodigyy View Post
This is a standard problem of the CVT engine, though, with the brilliant engine at City's disposal the problem is masked to quite an extent.
Frank with his Crio has mentioned about his Crio being fitted by PedalTune which is nothing but a accelerator throttle input modifier. I did speak to them some time back and they do have a franchise in Delhi.

I spoke to the owner, and he told me that they have specific solutions for the City CVT improving the gearbox and acceleration performance. Haven't tried either of them, but willing to get it done, maybe we can join together

If you do wish to know more about him, drop me a line and ill be happy to help.
Thank you!
I did check with someone I know here in Delhi and he mentioned that Pedal tune won't help much. He did advise me with getting a DIA (cold air intake) filter and an engine tuning chip that might improve the power by about 15%. It will be great if you can get some more information on these and then we can take it forward..
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Old 21st December 2016, 17:00   #5308
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Re: Honda City CVT engine review and modification?

Quote:
Originally Posted by aakarshsharma10 View Post
He did advise me with getting a DIA (cold air intake) filter and an engine tuning chip that might improve the power by about 15%.
Sure that is definitely one option that is available, however, this option is sure to void the warranty and with a CVT, i would personally not be willing to try it out.
I did speak to the Pedaltune guy, he said he had one plugin device (just like Racedynamics) for the CVT to behave differently, and was willing to give me a trial of the same.
Will find time some weekend and maybe head over to his outlet to actually see what exactly this thing is.
As you are newbie, I am unable to send messages to you. Feel free to get in touch with me on 9910078089
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Old 21st December 2016, 23:04   #5309
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Just booked the SV Manual version.

Despite the problems / niggles listed in our forum, I bought it for my sheer love for this model.

Had already booked the Ciaz a few days back, rationalizing all aspects (cheaper, more spacious, more VFM etc etc), but whenever I saw any City on the road I kept feeling I should have bought this. Ultimately I cancelled the Ciaz booking and booked a Pearl White beauty.
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Old 22nd December 2016, 04:59   #5310
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

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Originally Posted by The Great View Post
Just booked the SV Manual version.
Congrats and a great choice. i-VTec or i-DTec? I own an SV too.

Even with all the niggles, I believe that City petrol has the most reliable mechanicals in that segment. City diesel engine, with all its NVH issues, is still as reliable as Fiat's 1.3, if not more. You will never regret this decision.
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