[arup.misra]

Congrats on your city mate!!!!

You can never go wrong with the "H" badge. Nice looking art covers there. Gels pretty well with the beige interiors. As you mentioned the only sore point is the the lifeless steering but the vTec compensates for it. Drive it on Eco mode and you'll put more than a few petrol hatches to shame.

Have a wonderful ownership period. Cheers!!!

[Tats07]

Originally Posted by balenopower

The Art leather is sourced by New Motor Hood itself.

I quite like the art-leather shade chosen by you, I feel it's gonna look great on a white car!

You have driven both Vento/Rapid Diesels, and City. Can you post a brief comparison in terms of 'fun to drive' quotient? Well, needless to say, please include all points starting with engine, low-end torque, handling (which you have mentioned is bad), ride quality, high speed ride etc. Thanks.

[asitkde]

Congratulations on your new car. I too got a new City at the end of the last year and just went through 2nd service. I agree with nearly all your observations. The fuel economy you reported, I suppose, it is mostly on the highway, but with or without AC? I drive in bumper-to-bumper Kolkata city traffic, and with 90% to 100% AC I am getting only around 11.5 km/l using the tank-full to tank-full method. Overall I am a moderate driver (meaning not too light-footed, not too heavy footed either).

[balenopower]

Originally Posted by Loud

@balenopower, Your city looks beautiful, gorgeous, mindblowing, mouthwatering, elegant, simple, headturner! And what more can I say!
Heartiest congratulations! Wish you a trouble free ownership with her (I know it comes standard with every Honda)!
And yes, the key ring looks awesome: Honda android like!
Sorry, but I don't like the seat covers. Beige ones would have been better, maybe because brown/red looks too flashy. Nice anyways!
More interior pics would be appreciated!

Looks and colour are always subjective anyways. Thanks for the kind words.

Originally Posted by arup.misra

Congrats on your city mate!!!!

You can never go wrong with the "H" badge. Nice looking art covers there. Gels pretty well with the beige interiors. As you mentioned the only sore point is the the lifeless steering but the vTec compensates for it. Drive it on Eco mode and you'll put more than a few petrol hatches to shame.

Have a wonderful ownership period. Cheers!!!

yes, the Eco mode does churn out some surprising figures.

Originally Posted by Tats07

I quite like the art-leather shade chosen by you, I feel it's gonna look great on a white car!

You have driven both Vento/Rapid Diesels, and City. Can you post a brief comparison in terms of 'fun to drive' quotient? Well, needless to say, please include all points starting with engine, low-end torque, handling (which you have mentioned is bad), ride quality, high speed ride etc. Thanks.

Fun to drive between a diesel and a petrol gets a little complicated. Now the steering might be a bummer on the City, but that very capable engine and well set up suspension makes sure you have a lot of fun darting into gaps and low speed corners. In comparison, the Vento has slightly better steering but the damping is a little off and as a result keeps bouncing a little more than you need it to. The Skoda Rapid on the other hand has the best balance. Very good steering complimented by an equally well set up suspension. Its the stiffest of the lot but not really harsh. so the Rapid might have the best handling but then the diesel motor means you have to work for it. Basically turbo lag on both the diesels means both the cars aren't the best in bumper to bumper traffic. But with a turbo and a lot more torque means very strong drivability if you drive it in the powerband. The City in comparison is very linear. Clean accleration throughout the rev range and especially impressive in the upper range.

Originally Posted by asitkde

Congratulations on your new car. I too got a new City at the end of the last year and just went through 2nd service. I agree with nearly all your observations. The fuel economy you reported, I suppose, it is mostly on the highway, but with or without AC? I drive in bumper-to-bumper Kolkata city traffic, and with 90% to 100% AC I am getting only around 11.5 km/l using the tank-full to tank-full method. Overall I am a moderate driver (meaning not too light-footed, not too heavy footed either).

The fuel economy is with the AC on with 40% city and 60% highway driving. I have yet to experience bumper to bumper traffic yet though and i guess 11.5 in those conditions is pretty good.

[sawnilrules]

@ Balenopower, congratulations on the car mate. Even I own the 2012 version of the City, and in White Color too. Trust me, its quite a head turner, as compared to the other colors available on the car.

Furthermore when driven sedately, the car gives me 13 kmpl in city driving conditions, with an auto tranny to make me comfortable, when other drivers around are sweating around playing with their clutches.

How much did you pay for those set of Pirelli tires, and are they officially available in India, my car came with Michelin Sets, and I was very very particular about it, I had informed my SA, that come what may, I want my car with Michelins and not MRF's. I was planning to upgrade to Pirelli sets though, but many tire dealers in and around Mumbai told me,

1. they are not officially available in India yet, and need to be imported
2. The road grip of Pirelli is not as good as say Michelin or Bridgestone, coz Michelin and Bridgestone tires are made for Indian driving conditions where we have a mx of Kutccha-Pucca roads.

Kindly advise on your experience with Pirellis.

Thanks

[balenopower]

Originally Posted by sawnilrules

@ Balenopower, congratulations on the car mate. Even I own the 2012 version of the City, and in White Color too. Trust me, its quite a head turner, as compared to the other colors available on the car.

Furthermore when driven sedately, the car gives me 13 kmpl in city driving conditions, with an auto tranny to make me comfortable, when other drivers around are sweating around playing with their clutches.

How much did you pay for those set of Pirelli tires, and are they officially available in India, my car came with Michelin Sets, and I was very very particular about it, I had informed my SA, that come what may, I want my car with Michelins and not MRF's. I was planning to upgrade to Pirelli sets though, but many tire dealers in and around Mumbai told me,

1. they are not officially available in India yet, and need to be imported
2. The road grip of Pirelli is not as good as say Michelin or Bridgestone, coz Michelin and Bridgestone tires are made for Indian driving conditions where we have a mx of Kutccha-Pucca roads.

Kindly advise on your experience with Pirellis.

Thanks

Hey Sawnil, sorry for the late reply. Now Pirellis haven't been officially been launched here, but then even the Yoko's and the Michelins (the PP2 and the others) are still imported. I got mine from Anand tyres at Milan Subway and he has a ready stock for the same. I found them to be pretty good. However i just put Contienntal CPC2 on my Getz and they feel quite good too. Infact the Continentals are more silent. But grip wise both are pretty much similar. You can check the tyres out in the flesh at the shop.

[sawnilrules]

Originally Posted by balenopower

Hey Sawnil, sorry for the late reply. Now Pirellis haven't been officially been launched here, but then even the Yoko's and the Michelins (the PP2 and the others) are still imported. I got mine from Anand tyres at Milan Subway and he has a ready stock for the same. I found them to be pretty good. However i just put Contienntal CPC2 on my Getz and they feel quite good too. Infact the Continentals are more silent. But grip wise both are pretty much similar. You can check the tyres out in the flesh at the shop.

@ Balenopower: Thanks for the update mate. I have covered 15k on my Michelin's now and planning to add more 20K at least before changing them. As it doesn't make sense for me to change the Tyre mid way.

Meanwhile, how is your car doing... Have you done with free services, how has been your experience at Linkway Honda.. Do keep me posted.

[WhiteKnight]

@balenopower, Congrats on the Buy. You got me hooked, since I am contemplating a similar move from my Baleno.

My family rejected Rapid, due to the interiors. It neither felt more spacious nor upmarket, compared to Baleno.

I am listing few points I felt about Honda City. I would like to hear your view.

1) I agree with you on the seats. They are really good.
2) There is a certain level of initial body roll.
3) The car does not have the instant take off compared to Baleno. Does it cause concern in highway overtaking? I am too old to change gears.
4) The car is not silent, even compared to an 80,000 Kms run Baleno. Or am I expecting too much?

Appreciate your inputs

[balenopower]

Hello there WhiteKnight..quite a dilemma your in considering us Baleno owners are pretty spoilt. Frankly the perfect upgrade for the Baleno is the Skoda Laura TSI/Vrs. While a new one was out of budget, i did consider a used one, but towards the latter half of my Baleno ownership, i was finding the Baleno's maintenance expensive, so Skoda would be out of the question considering the horror stories we have read on the forum. Let me see if can tend to all your queries.

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

@balenopower, Congrats on the Buy. You got me hooked, since I am contemplating a similar move from my Baleno.

My family rejected Rapid, due to the interiors. It neither felt more spacious nor upmarket, compared to Baleno.

I totally agree with them here. While i won't say they are bad, but it doesen't feel like a significant upgrade from the now dated Baleno interiors.

I am listing few points I felt about Honda City. I would like to hear your view.

1) I agree with you on the seats. They are really good.

Yes the seats are indeed very comfortable. Very good support all round which means comfortable tireless long drives. However, you do sit a lot higher than in the Baleno, even with the City's seats in the lowest setting and that does take some time to get used to.

2) There is a certain level of initial body roll.

Parked side by side, you will notice that the City is significantly taller than the Baleno and now with increased ground clearance, its even taller . So yes there is some bodyroll but not enough to upset you from having fun in the twisty's.

3) The car does not have the instant take off compared to Baleno. Does it cause concern in highway overtaking? I am too old to change gears.

Welcome to the world of i-VTEC. The Baleno's smart torque is missed and even more so considering I had a FFE and a lot more stuff done to the car. But once you cross 4k rpm, the City pulls like an invisible turbo has just kicked in. Very good midrange and fantastic top end performance so dont be bothered about overtaking at all. That said, the low end isn't bad but we are just used to the instant kick the baleno provided.

4) The car is not silent, even compared to an 80,000 Kms run Baleno. Or am I expecting too much?

I don't know if you are saying this based on a test drive or not, but the City is as refined and silent as it can be. In fact i have cranked a running car just because i did not realise it was running. Do not judge the car based on the showrooms test car, try getting behind the wheel of someones personal car, that might help you to gauge the parameters better.

Appreciate your inputs

Hope this helped and all the best with your purchase.

[00nuts001]

Originally Posted by balenopower

Hello there WhiteKnight..quite a dilemma your in considering us Baleno owners are pretty spoilt. Frankly the perfect upgrade for the Baleno is the Skoda Laura TSI/Vrs. While a new one was out of budget, i did consider a used one, but towards the latter half of my Baleno ownership, i was finding the Baleno's maintenance expensive, so Skoda would be out of the question considering the horror stories we have read on the forum. Let me see if can tend to all your queries.



Hope this helped and all the best with your purchase.

Hi BP - your comparison of the torques of Baleno and City is cajoling me to take a ride on the Baleno. Is it really that good? Perhaps we can compare Baleno to the Yamaha RX100 of the car world.

[balenopower]

Originally Posted by 00nuts001

Hi BP - your comparison of the torques of Baleno and City is cajoling me to take a ride on the Baleno. Is it really that good? Perhaps we can compare Baleno to the Yamaha RX100 of the car world.

You need to drive it to know it. Lets say the Baleno is like a Duke 200 while the City is the Ninja 250 .

[WhiteKnight]

Thank you very much for the reply.

Originally Posted by balenopower

Frankly the perfect upgrade for the Baleno is the Skoda Laura TSI/Vrs.

My next purchase is highly influenced by my family. We did check Laura, but ruled out due to the backseat, which is too upright. It doesn't give you the "seated" feeling. There are certain rear seats on which you just sit in and feel supremely comfortable- Laura's is not one.

Originally Posted by balenopower

Welcome to the world of i-VTEC. The Baleno's smart torque is missed and even more so considering I had a FFE and a lot more stuff done to the car. But once you cross 4k rpm, the City pulls like an invisible turbo has just kicked in. Very good midrange and fantastic top end performance so dont be bothered about overtaking at all. That said, the low end isn't bad but we are just used to the instant kick the baleno provided.

Thank you. May be I shouldn't be too much worried, as I may go for the automatic.

Originally Posted by balenopower

I don't know if you are saying this based on a test drive or not, but the City is as refined and silent as it can be. In fact i have cranked a running car just because i did not realise it was running.

I was driving my uncle's car. No question about the refinement at all. The noise I am refering is mostly road noise. May me I was expecting too much from the new car.

Originally Posted by 00nuts001

Hi BP - your comparison of the torques of Baleno and City is cajoling me to take a ride on the Baleno. Is it really that good? Perhaps we can compare Baleno to the Yamaha RX100 of the car world.

You can give it a try. I'd rather go with balenopower's comparison of Duke Vs Ninja

Btw, do you own a City?

[balenopower]

My next purchase is highly influenced by my family. We did check Laura, but ruled out due to the backseat, which is too upright. It doesn't give you the "seated" feeling. There are certain rear seats on which you just sit in and feel supremely comfortable- Laura's is not one.

As a family vehicle, you are right, you do feel aloft in the Laura's seats. You just dont sink into the seats. But i was talking on the performance front.



Thank you. May be I shouldn't be too much worried, as I may go for the automatic.



I was driving my uncle's car. No question about the refinement at all. The noise I am refering is mostly road noise. May me I was expecting too much from the new car.

Well if he was running the pathetic stock tyres, they make considerable road noise which goes away once you give the City some good rubber.


You can give it a try. I'd rather go with balenopower's comparison of Duke Vs Ninja

Btw, do you own a City?

Yes he does.

[Baddychat]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

My family rejected Rapid, due to the interiors. It neither felt more spacious nor upmarket, compared to Baleno.

So true. Once you sit inside a Rapid it truly feels like the Vento's poorer cousin.

1) I agree with you on the seats. They are really good.

I have been driving one for nearly 2 years now but after have driven a swift before the city, it felt a little narrow. But yeah they are good !!

3) The car does not have the instant take off compared to Baleno. Does it cause concern in highway overtaking? I am too old to change gears.

I have driven it extensively on the highway and IMO there is not much concern wrt overtaking. Yes there is that lag when you feel that a couple of seconds separate your pressure on the pedal and the acceleration. Certainly not drive by wire like your Baleno. At speeds greater than 50 you can use it like an automatic in the 5th.

4) The car is not silent, even compared to an 80,000 Kms run Baleno. Or am I expecting too much?

Baleno power has put it nicely. You might end up cranking it when the engine is on. I have observed my city is absolutely silent mostly other than when I fill up BP. I have no clue to this date as to why.

Just my 2 cents

Cheers

[balenopower]

Third service done with as well and this time i got antirust treatment done as well. Did it at Honda and it cost me about 3.5k. Again service at Linkway Honda, Chandivili was top notch. Car is barely run any km since i just picked up a Getz diesel recently as well.

A few things added though. The roof is white no more. A visit at 3M meant the roof got a carbon fibre wrap. The wheels are next and i am planning to make it the same grey shade that you get in the Jazz X. Here are some pics.