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Old 18th December 2013, 09:33   #61
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Thanks for the detailed review.

It seems odd that with the City, Honda have skimped on certain things offered in the Amaze, such as the gearshift knob design or the driver side vanity mirror. Also some others such as the covering for the rear boot lid. I wonder how much money they would save by such small things. On the other hand is there a possibility that the actual cars that will be delivered will be corrected based on the feedback received by reviews such as this one?

For me, Honda could never do 3 things in all these years.
- A diesel mill. now checked
- Auto climate control. now checked
- Spare key was always an ordinary one. The jury is still out on this one. Perhaps someone can confirm this.

If so, Honda has ticked all the boxes they left empty all these years.

I am more keen to see what they do with the new Jazz!
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Old 18th December 2013, 09:34   #62
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Great review GTO

Reading the online reviews of the various magazines, it was a sense of deja-vu. You read the whole review and there is absolutely nothing to differentiate each review, all blindly sticking to the middle path with nothing of merit being mentioned.

Then comes the mother of all reviews, our very own Team-BHP, and then it strikes you as to how far behind we have left all other reviews, be it in the technical details, in the salient features, in the positives & negatives, in the photographs and of course in the very nature of the description. The added inputs of many forum members add an icing to the cake. Accolades to all who have been part of this and also the other reviews.

The manufacturers just need to read these reviews to see what is right or wrong with their products and rectify them. No other study is required. Great going guys.
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Old 18th December 2013, 09:50   #63
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Thanks for the wonderful review, GTO. This might be the fastest 5-star I've given to any thread! The level of detailing is unmatched.

I used to miss many of these details even when I check a car in real! Trust me, for the same reason, after reading the review, I dropped the plan to check out the car in showroom. And I'll suggest the link to all those who ask me how's the new Honda City.

About the car, I still can't believe why the inside of the boot lid is left uncovered! Maybe they'll add it before selling it in showrooms - otherwise all the luggage in the boot will mess up the cables and the boot opening mechanism.

Liked the dashboard's piano-black finish. But the scratches on the same finish on the key fob raises concern.

Overall, nice work by Honda, even though there are a few areas which have scope for improvement. Qualified to be segment leader? Very much so!
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Old 18th December 2013, 10:09   #64
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Excellent review as always. I don't know but something is underwhelming about this car. Yes it has a lot of equipments but plain jane gear knob and lack of adjustable seat belts take away some brownie points. The side profile is pretty okay and the rear is good, its the front which is trying a little to hard to look good.

I am pretty sure the top end variant with sunroof et all will be pricey. Any info on pricing yet?
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Old 18th December 2013, 10:33   #65
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Great review, GTO
The lack of a AT version in diesel is quite glaring, may put off some, including yours truly. Hopefully they'll reconsider down the road. The CVT being offered is the way to go. Now waiting for the pricing details for the various variants. Overall a nice car, will do wonders for their bottom-line.
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Old 18th December 2013, 10:49   #66
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Like a few others , I too pre booked the car in November the same week the car was launched and was desperately waiting for a detailed review.
A big thank you to GTO for such an exhaustive write up covering every small detail.
For me power is never a concern as Iam a very sedate driver and yes like most of the Indian's I too am more bothered about the fuel efficiency and maintenance costs.Having owned a pre loved 1st gen Honda city'02 earlier I know how good the petrol engine is and I have been apprehensive about the new IDTEC.
Well as expected however not shocking the diesel is not refined when compared to the national engine.
The NVH is also high as mentioned in the review , would this be a deal breaker for me , Iam not sure yet. I had a chance to closely observe and ride along in a Vento and Figo numerous times and yes the noise in both these cars is audible to a large extent when the ICE is put to rest.I definitely did not find it unacceptable though.
So I need to see & hear this clatter in person to make my decision on finalizing the City.
Another major concern is the 165mm ground clearance with the increased wheel base I guess it might have just turned worse.I have already
pre-decided the path of my Test drive (which has sufficient speed breakers) when the car is available to check this in person and I will make sure we have 5 occupants to get an accurate feedback.
The exterior and interior looks are to my taste so no issues here. The alloys are not a concern for me as I guess these would be only in the V & Vx variants and from what I guess they should be above my budget , so I may be getting the steel wheels and I can happily swap the plastic covers without any issues.

I will take the plunge only if the results of the 2 major concerns (strictly in my view) are satisfactory post the test drive.

Off-course not to forget the price , lets see what Honda comes up with and If it falls in my budget.

Cheers,

pdma
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Old 18th December 2013, 10:53   #67
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Thats a great review. The attention that GTO has paid to detail is great. The Diesel variant will surely help Honda City reclaim the no 1 in segment spot.
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Old 18th December 2013, 10:54   #68
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

GTO, did you get any information on how the key-fob interacts with this particular car? I assume the door will open only when the fob is very near to it and the car will start only if the fob is in the driving seat area, or at least, inside the car. I'd be interested in knowing if
  1. The driver parks the car and gets out to pop into a store, with the fob in his pocket, leaving the engine running. Would the engine stop or continue running?
  2. Will the MID give a warning when the cell in the fob starts running low?
  3. If you do have to use the hidden key in the fob to enter the car, that would imply that its battery is dead. In that case how would you start the car? is there a spot where you can place the fob to 'induce a connection' with the engine?
Did you get any info on these points or were you able to test out these scenarios during your tests?
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Old 18th December 2013, 11:12   #69
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Thanks for the review GTO

A couple of questions

1) Does the driver's armrest slide back and forth (like the octavia). can it be adjusted for height?

2) Did Honda mention anything about providing additional airbags atleast as a option pack?

3) Is there lumbar adjustment for the driver seat?

4) Does the passenger seat get height adjustment?

5) Does the windows have anti-pinch?

6) Any details about the crashworthiness of the car?


Overall on the safety front it is a big let down. They should have moved the game forward
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Old 18th December 2013, 11:25   #70
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Wonderful Review GTO as usual and this time it was just in time for a booking

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
.
What you won't:
...NVH levels are lower than the Verna, Vento & Rapid.
If NVH levels are lower, isn't it a good thing? who doesn't like lower Noise, Vibration and Harshness levels? I'm confused!
Did you mean that NVH levels are actually higher? if not, then this point should go to "what you like" section IMO
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Old 18th December 2013, 11:44   #71
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

A superb review as usual GTO, a 5 star rating for the thread.

The feature list has been updated to match the current segment offerings. The sore point of skinny tyres still remains. With the power on offer, the car does deserves 195 section tyres. A diesel automatic would have upped the ante in the segment. Need to see how the new generation city fares on the GC issue more so in Bangalore, thanks to Bangalore roads.
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Old 18th December 2013, 11:49   #72
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Thanks GTO, This is a very nice and detailed review. I am sure if you continue posting similar reviews, the car manufacturers will have a tough time to come up with a flaw less product. If Hyundai has raised bars with features, we BHPians will raise the bar with expectations to the minutest details. Sun visors roof molding mistake by product planning department will be noticed by Honda as well after reading this review. The only reason they can give is" we did it to give a symmetrical look to the roof cladding".

However, I have liked the sharp bumpers of the new city. They come straight with the entire body line and are curved only from the front. The earlier generation bumpers were having curves from the ends. In this case they are straight and don't bend to give it a curve like look. The front and rear look nice.

Honda will certainly replace the front garish grill and will redesign the alloy rims, when they will do some upgrades in next two to three years. They should give a serious look to clad the rear boot. This was something missing in the previous generation as well.
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Old 18th December 2013, 11:50   #73
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Fantastic review, great attention to detail.

Finally the City gets a diesel mill, though the lack of outright performance on highways is disappointing, it lives up to the expectations of being the best city drifter.

Personally the design fails to impress me, the side profile is more inclined towards the fluidic design & it feels more of a refresh than a next gen from the exterior. Interiors ticks most check boxes but glaring omission of height adjustable seat belts & shoddy gear knob. The beige floor mats will be a turn off once they get soiled.

Overall a solid package & looking forward to see it set the sales charts on fire.
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Old 18th December 2013, 11:50   #74
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

The new City looks great and seems to have covered all bases. Its good that most of the short comings of the 3rd generation has been improved upon.

Looks wise, I still prefer the 3rd generations mature look but that opinion could change once I get a feel of the new car.

One thing I really love is the integration of ORVM blinkers. They are a bit recessed. In the unfortunate event of a taking a hit on the ORVM a small scratch will be the only casuality unlike those protruding blinkers which break on impact. Notice the Verna and Fiesta blinkers.
Attached Thumbnails
4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-newhondacity15.jpg  

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-fordfiestaat13.jpg  

4th-gen Honda City : Official Review-hyundaiverna10.jpg  

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Old 18th December 2013, 11:52   #75
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re: 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Excellent review GTO. I am sure that this is going to be king of the hill in C2 segment.
Lack of a diesel AT is a missed opportunity. (or is it, i have a feeling that Honda will launch this variant in the mid-life upgrade of the car)

Quote:
Originally Posted by hemanth.anand View Post
Wonderful Review GTO as usual and this time it was just in time for a booking


If NVH levels are lower, isn't it a good thing? who doesn't like lower Noise, Vibration and Harshness levels? I'm confused!
Did you mean that NVH levels are actually higher? if not, then this point should go to "what you like" section IMO
I think what he meant was the NVH refinement levels are lower than that of the others.

The garish chrome at front can simply be converted to a slick looking CF replica for a matter of 200 INR and some free time.I got it done for my brio, and it totally changed the character of the car(IMO)
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