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

Hi fellow Honda Citians,

Took delivery of my VMT on 10th November. It was a cool process without any hitch. With garland and lime for the wheels, a short handing over of the keys ceremony and a surprise gift - a framed picture of the key handing over ceremony.

Today got the tyre upgraded to Michelin 195-60-R 15 P3ST onto the stock alloys as per our friend Mr. Pdma's suggestion. Also got the 3M sun films for the glasses and the maxsipder 3D floor mats.

My stock MRF tyres were taken for Rs 2750 and got the Michelin for Rs 5850 ( July'14 make ). The 3M sun films for 6K and the 3D mats for 6K.

My only concern is the mild tyre bulge on stock alloys. Is that OK guys? What is the right tyre pressure for all the wheels?

Few pictures for your reference.

Regards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drkannant (Post 3578215)

My only concern is the mild tyre bulge on stock alloys. Is that ok guys? What is the right tyre pressure for all the wheels?

Few pictures for your reference.

Regards.

Slight ballooning would be there since the stock rim is of 5J width.

195 section tyre would warrant a minimum of 5.5J width rim, ideal would be 6J.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SumitBahl (Post 3578219)

Slight ballooning would be there since the stock rim is of 5J width.

195 section tyre would warrant a minimum of 5.5J width rim, ideal would be 6J.

Hi Sumit,

Thanks for your reply. In that case should I go in for new alloy wheels with 6 or 6.5 width or retain the stock alloys? Is there any chances for Tyre punctures or Tyre damages with 195 on the stock alloys?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drkannant (Post 3578222)

Really no need to upgrade the Alloys, unless you hate the design of Alloys completely.

There are a lot of BHPians who are running 195/60s on stock alloys. I for one am doing the same. Its been over 5000+ Kms and no problem yet of any sort. But one thing is that I have not noticed any bulge as such on the alloys.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumitgovil2311 (Post 3577750)

I too have experienced the same. As you said, sound seems to be coming from somewhere in the center, as if some nut screw has come out and is constantly vibrating. Very annoying. :Frustrati
Service guys say that it is not worth opening the entire dash to fix this sound, as it takes lot of effort and may in process cause some other such issues. So, if you can, please bear.
But I just cannot live with it, and am currently clueless upon what to do about it.

Is this rattling occurring on smooth roads too? If yes, then you may tell the service center to fix it. Something has come loose most probably the ICE unit fitting. They just can check the ICE unit fitting first instead of opening the entire dash.

Quote:

Originally Posted by adarsh76 (Post 3578303)

Yes indeed, rattling with attentive ears can be heard on smooth roads as well. I like this idea of getting the ICE unit's fitting tested first.
Now a days, I prefer driving with volume on slightly higher side, to compensate for the rattling noise. Still 4 months left for my next service.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geo (Post 3578446)

I have been having a nagging issue with a stuffy smell within the car. The dealer isn't very cooperative. I am planning to escalate to Honda India. What is the best way to reach out to Honda India?

You could email Honda at
'Customer Relations'<customer_relations@hondacarindia.com>

I had an issue with my front door rubber beading coming off & the dealer not too keen to replace with a new beading. I wrote in to this mail id and got my issue resolved and a new beading put in by my dealer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geo (Post 3578446)

I have been having a nagging issue with a stuffy smell within the car. The dealer isn't very cooperative. I am planning to escalate to Honda India. What is the best way to reach out to Honda India?

If the smell is coming through AC vents, please check if you have something inside the glove box causing the smell. Cleaning the dust and pollen filter would also remove the smell. But have it done by the service center.

If your variant is VX, then the leather seat covers will cause a stuffy smell for a few days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drkannant (Post 3578215)

Hi fellow Honda Citians,

Today got the tyre upgraded to Michelin 195-60-R 15 P3ST onto the stock alloys as per our friend Mr. Pdma's suggestion. Also got the 3M sun films for the glasses and the maxsipder 3D floor mats.

My stock MRF tyres were taken for Rs 2750 and got the Michelin for Rs 5850 ( July'14 make ). The 3M sun films for 6K and the 3D mats for 6K.

My only concern is the mild tyre bulge on stock alloys. Is that OK guys? What is the right tyre pressure for all the wheels?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SumitBahl (Post 3578219)

Slight ballooning would be there since the stock rim is of 5J width.

195 section tyre would warrant a minimum of 5.5J width rim, ideal would be 6J.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tejas08 (Post 3578302)

On Honda website it is specified that the wheel size is 15x5.5J. Hence it is not 5" but 5.5". So there should not be a need to upgrade alloy wheel for 195/60R15. This is what I have read on number of forums.
Is the bulge due to under inflated tyres? What is the recommended tyre pressure for regular highway runs and for bad roads?
I am planning to upgrade to 3ST too, how is the performance?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drkannant (Post 3578222)

It wont cause any problem. You can run them on stock alloy.
On a wider rim, the sidewall would look much better and the contact area looks wider.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesrani (Post 3577782)

How do the stock Michelins behave on the highway. I have weekly runs on the highway. I was also thinking of changing the MRF's to Michelin in stock size rather than upgrade.

Stock Michelins work fine. Have used them for almost 20k km. Half of the tread has been worn out now. Decent amount of grip and not a lot of road noise. Perfectly adequate for a majority of users.

But as you are expecting a fair bit of highway running, I will suggest that you change to 195/60R15. My car is used almost exclusively on highways and there have been a couple of occasions when I had wished for slightly wider rubber. I will definitely buy 195/60 when my current set wears out.

Hi,

Thank you Sumit, Jesrani & Shreyan for your advice on the tyre upgrade. Now my next concern is the head light bulbs. Which brand and specification do you suggest for an upgrade? I would prefer a white light rather than those weird blue colored lights.

I had looked upon two brands, the Osram Night Brightness & the Philips Express vision. These are of the same specification as the stock bulbs. The Osram bulbs are pretty expensive but wouldn't mind if they are good.

How about the HID Conversion kit and the projector headlights? Anybody who have any knowledge on these please advice.

Thanks & regards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drkannant (Post 3579122)

Hi,

Now my next concern is the head light bulbs. Which brand and specification do you suggest for an upgrade? I would prefer a white light rather than those weird blue colored lights.

I had looked upon two brands, the Osram Night Brightness & the Philips Express vision. These are of the same specification as the stock bulbs. The Osram bulbs are pretty expensive but wouldn't mind if they are good.
How about the HID Conversion kit and the projector headlights? Anybody who have any knowledge on these please advice.
Thanks & regards.

Hi Drkannant,

Congratulations and welcome to Honda City Club :). HID conversion has lots of warranty issues involved if it requires altering existing wiring and another issue is excess power to be managed by the existing Head Light assembly. The experience by people in the forum indicates that ASS does not approve HID kits. Bulbs with Temperature Spec of 5000K will give White light and above that it turns bluish.

Any bulbs with same spec - no issues. All the best.