[roadie_swift]

Dear All,

Firstly, here's wishing you a Very Happy New Year!
May the roads be empty and the tanks full, always!

The Background:

Like it is said, sometimes fate will conspire to push you towards a path (or pull you away from one). In my case, KA Police acted as a major agent of fate, finally forcing me to see off my trusty Swift Vxi, which had been with me for almost seven years and more than a Lac kilometers, and we had a LOT of fun together. You can find the details here.

Also, my Dad, to celebrate his retirement, decided to buy a brand new i20, which also further worsened the seven-year itch I had begun to suffer from; And so started the search for a replacement for the Swift.

Here was the main issue. I couldn't find one!

I had bought the Swift when I couldn't even afford it - but went for it nonetheless, because it tugged at the heartstrings in a way no one else did. It was ahead of most of its contemporaries in terms of design, power, handling, performance, and of course the legendary reliability of MS.

And now, I was looking to scale up the same model, but no car seemed to fit the bill.

Apart from one. And it wasn't the Honda City.

I had my heart set on the Cedia. It was calling, beckoning, coaxing me - not unlike the mythical Sirens. And I knew, that giving in to the call would just as surely have me crashing into the rocky coast of unreliable company support, plummeting resale cost, and related issues. But the heart said - "Who The Cares!" and I was almost ready to acquire the car that I wanted with all my being, in spite of the warnings of "The Rational People".

The snag, as it had to, came from the Bank. Buying a C+/D segment car was always going to be a stretch for me, and I was relying on a biggish loan.

But the Bank outright refused to fund me more than the bare minimum loan amount - even if I was eligible for much more - if I was going for a Cedia. They even bluntly mentioned that the reason was "There is no demand for this car in the market, and there is no resale value!" They clarified that they would provide max finance only if I were to buy one of the more 'mainstream' cars.

Outrageous though it seemed to me at the time, the Credit Manager even solicitously suggested to me -

"Sir, market mein itni saari badhiya cars hain, woh kyon nahin lete? Verna le lo, City le lo, Dezire le lo - Yeh Cedia-wedia sub faltoo gadi hai sir, fail gadi hai!"

Somehow I did not see the merit of arguing with that guy about the virtues of independent suspension, rally heritage and two-litre engines. But equally true, there was no arguing with my empty wallet either.

So, like a guy returning from his college sweetheart's wedding reception, a despondent yours truly came home, asking some hard questions of oneself.


The Warning: Lengthy Post Ahead. If you would rather skip to dessert, please click here for the nutshell post.

The Search:

Again the test drives continued, but with far less passion. Fortunately, this dispassionate approach probably helped me weed out the competition quickly and easily.

We even toyed with the idea of buying a used car, and found a fabulous specimen at Carnation - a 2008 Corolla 1.8E, run 48k, available for 5.5 Lacs. The car was in mint condition, and I was tempted, but I have this irrational bent of mind which is skewed against used cars - no matter how sensible the economics involved actually is. So finally let go of that plan.

Following were the eliminations:
Linea: since all Tata Dealers mentioned that the T-Jet was no longer available, and the petrol one simply did not entice me, apart from the looks.
Vento: We had visited the VW dealerships (to look at a Polo) when my Dad was looking for his car, and their attitude simply put me off (Bhandari and Vidyut in Pune). The customers (not only us) were actually being treated like they were unwanted nuisances who had invaded the showroom to disturb the peaceful siesta of the sales staff. The sheer levels of apathy and arrogance were staggering, and would have been out of place even in a Merc/Beemer showroom. I had heard the feedback already, but the first-hand experience simply confirmed it. The product (Vento) may be superb, but I wrote it off there and then.
Rapid: Skoda. 'nuff said.
Fiesta (New/Classic): I didn't really like the looks of the new Fiesta, and felt it was a bit overpriced. As a practical deal, I loved the Classic, but it was just too old, and, to be honest - (please don't hit me, I know it is silly) - two of my colleagues had bought it in 2009, and I didn't want to look like "that loser guy".
Dezire, Etios and Caaaar (Sunny) and the others simply did not feel like 'upgrades' over my Swift, in terms of power/performance/handling/looks, anything. So did not consider them at all.

Finally we decided that there were three contenders in the fray -

• Fluidic Verna
• Honda City
• Suzuki SX4

- And proceeded to take comprehensive test drives of all three in Bangalore itself.

The Verna was fully loaded and unbeatable in terms of item-level / gearscore. I hadn't seen so many gadgets and bells and whistles in a car, apart from Dad's i20 Asta. But the ride was not very nice, somehow not quite trust-inspiring. Also the showroom representative seemed to have palpitations the moment I tried anything remotely resembling aggressive maneuvers. Contrast this to the Mitsu representative, who was constantly urging me to push the car to the limits, and reveling in it. Wife also reported from the rear, that the vague feeling inside her was rapidly threatening to become full-fledged motion-sickness. So gave up on the feature-packed Verna.

The SX4 was masculine as promised (Men Are Back), but then the stubble was, umm, a bit too rough. I frankly did not quite feel the 3-4 Lacs price difference between a Swift and an SX4 - Neither in terms of outright performance nor in terms of overall sophistication, build quality and trim. Also, that somewhat familiar hollow-ish 'thudduck' sound on closing the door seemed like a burr in the saddle, and prompted the question - "Do I want to buy a Maruti again?" Although the ride was better (more composed) than that of the Verna. We decided to let this one be on hold as a "Default Choice", inspired solely by the reliability and support offered by the unmatched Maruti network.

Next came the Honda City - and boy, was it a royal entrance! It was not that I was unfamiliar with the City - I had driven one earlier on a few occasions, and of course was aware of its reputation as The King.

Lekin maine kabhi usko iss nazar se dekha nahin tha!







A Honda City was always something that someone else bought - not me, surely!

But what's wrong with it? Well, lots. Most importantly, lot of people already own it. Nobody is going to give a second look to a stock City. In Bangalore, on a jam-packed MG Road, if you randomly throw a stone (please don't), chances are it will hit a Honda City.

But, fresh on the back of the test drives of SX4 and Verna, when I slipped into the driver's seat - I suddenly had an epiphany -

"Darn, there is a REASON why I see so many of them on the road!"

The sheer quality, the understated elegance, the muted 'thunk' of the well-weighted door closing, the (fortunate for me) removal of the earlier garish orange lighting scheme, and the overall refinement was all testimony to the quality of this product, and a screaming affirmation of the faith so many people have put in Honda.

Now here, please bear in mind that when I talk about these virtues of a Honda City, I am graduating from a 2006 Swift. Some of the more senior members here at TBHP, who are much used to driving much better and higher-segment cars, would no doubt be chuckling in amusement when I wax eloquent over the 'refinement' of a Honda City.

Gurus, please pardon me - everything is relative, after all!

I did a thorough test drive, and came out smiling. The look on the Wife's face confirmed the decision. And, what do you know, the Bank was happy, too, now that I was back to 'mainstream'.

It was actually like an arranged marriage, as opposed to a love marriage, when I booked my City. There was none of the torrid passion and the butterflies brimming your heart. Gone was the tempestuous impulse threatening to take - and lose - control, and the wild abandon of desire was nowhere in evidence.

It was, instead, replaced with the muted thrill of exploration, of re-discovering someone you thought you already knew. The turmoil of passion had given way to the calm of having made the right decision - nay, the only decision. I was ready to evolve into this new relationship - which was based on knowing one's limits, not on breaking them.

Perhaps some may call this an admission of defeat. So be it.
After all, one has to choose one's battles.


The Booking and Delivery Experience:

I do not have the usual stirring descriptions of the waiting period pre-delivery, and the ups and downs that go with it. However, Whitefield Honda ensured that it was a thoroughly satisfying experience.

I finalized the deal for OTR price of 9.75 Lacs, for a Carnelian Red S-MT, and paid a booking amount of Rs. 50,000 to Whitefield Honda on Dec 1, 2012. Full details of the deal were shared on TBHP here. The same day, I submitted the documents to SBI, through the dealer's representative, for the Auto Loan. Since I work for a bank myself, discussing the fine print was fairly easy. Their final offer was 10.5% for a 7-year loan tenure, with prepayment allowed without any charges. Processing fee charged was 0.25% of the loan amount, plus taxes.

The Loan experience with SBI was surprisingly pleasant, other than the fact that they made it mandatory for me to visit their branch in Whitefield. On the 6th working day, I had their sanction letter in my hands, and the final disbursement was pending only for the balance down payment of Rs 1 Lac from my end. I issued the cheque for that on the same day, though had to go out of town for a few days immediately after that. I ensured to obtain the VIN and decode it with the help of TBHP.

While I was coming back from Hyderabad, I got a call from the showroom saying that the car was being sent for registration, and would be ready for delivery by 14th. I asked them to hold for a couple of days, since I wanted to take the delivery on the 16th.

All through this process, the service rep Mr. Praseed, and the showroom manager Ms. Geetha were courtesy personified, right up to the delivery stage.

Team BHP PDI checklist stood me in good stead as always, as also the VIN decoding Guide by Distinguished BHP'ian Wildon. The car was delivered on December 16th, incidentally the birthday of my Better Half.

Due to my own issues, I have decided not to make ANY changes to the stock car, as much as possible. In fact, I switched from EMT to SMT option just to ensure that I would not have to upgrade the ICE and get alloys, too. So as of now, the car is fully stock, not even seat covers have been added. May be at a later date... who knows?

It is now a 1000 km since the delivery, including some in-city commuting, and a nice trip to Mudumalai-Ooty-Cbe and back.

After 1000 km:


The Looks:

The best part of having a Honda City, even though so many already have it, is the palpable aura of "Class" that it exudes. I have been a fan of the Arrowhead design since its launch, and think that it gives the City a character very much in line with the rest of its being.

The exterior paint quality and overall fit and finish leave nothing to be desired (not at this price point, anyway), and in my opinion the Carnelian Red looks absolutely smashing on this Car.

The Feel:

Now bend, twist, contort yourself (if you are new to Hondas) and get in the driver's seat. Although the steering is said to be Civic-inspired, the whole 'space-age' theme of Civic is missing. I would have dearly loved it if Honda had chosen to download the digital speedo here, too! Nonetheless, it is a nice, clear, no-nonsense layout - And once again thanks to the Honda folks, for removing the garish orange from the instrument cluster. The latest instrument cluster comes with a soft blue lighting that is always on, with a MID that can be toggled to show -

Odo -> Trip -> Range (DTE) -> FE since last reset

Long press on the toggle of course resets the Trip meter, of which there is only one.

The most eye-catching feature of the MID, though, is the constantly moving-fluctuating, live, fuel-economy bar graph, sometimes giving the feel of the old-time stereos that used to show the graphic equalizer sound levels. I tried to take a snap, but my mobile cam is not good enough to capture it in a moving car. Will try again and update soon. This graph has a range of zero(min) to a breathtaking forty (max) kmpl. Whenever you are driving so sensibly that the green ECO indicator has come on, you will find that this bar-graph is hovering around the 25-30 kmpl mark. It is a nice visual positive affirmation of sensible driving, which I am sure would be helping many folks regularly reduce their fuel bills.

However, what puzzles me is the behavior of this graph, when I remove all throttle input in any gear. Even though I am actually implementing engine-braking, which drives up the RPM on the tacho, Mr. Bar-graph happily climbs up to 40 kmpl. I cannot figure out how this can happen. I consistently tested this, from city flyovers to the sharp declines of Ooty-Coonoor ghats - it's always the same. Even on the highway, if I am trying to reduce my speed by downshifting, using the engine-braking, the RPM would rise considerably, and at the same time (displayed) FE rose to the max. Is this possible? Looking for Gurus' enlightenment on this behavior.

The Start:

The next surprise comes when you turn the key and crank the engine. I had expected that this engine would simply purr to life and then settle down to the silky silence of petrols - What I had NOT expected, was that there would be such a noticeable shudder when you start the engine. My Swift barely even vibrated with the starter-crank, but here there is a noticeable shudder. Recently I have observed that it dies down a little if the car has warmed up, so perhaps it has something to do with cold starts.

The Drive:

Once started and warmed up, though - it gives me the feeling of what the proverbial hot-knife must be feeling like, while slicing through the proverbial butter. It's that smooth. Clutch action is really nice - I have not stalled the car ever, even though I wasn't really used to driving anything else apart from my Swift.

Everything about the drive spells smoothness - Perhaps too much so. May be because it is still in the running-in stage, but the car seems strangely reluctant to execute a rocket-take-off maneuver in the city. Personally I feel that Honda has geared this a little tall, to dominate on the highways, and I am finding it odd because I am moving over from a sporty-city-hatch.

In my Swift, I distinctly remember doing an unintentional wheel-spin: I gently started off from a traffic signal in Pune, and was sort of coasting in the 1st gear, at about 15 kmph odd, thinking of shifting to 2nd, when I spotted this gap in traffic ahead of me. Without thinking, I just mashed the pedal, and whoa! there was wheelspin... Remembering this, I tried to execute this same trick on the City (after I had done 950-odd kms), but no dice. It shot off, but not like the Swift, and also no wheelspin. I will try again after the first servicing, and post results.

On the open highways, however, I rarely felt the need to downshift much while overtaking, too, which leads me to believe that the gearing on the City is indeed taller. Even with 4 adults and luggage on board, there was rarely any shortage of torque, even while going up from Gudalur to Ooty. And I hope this is only going to get better.

The breaking is fabulous, too, without - at all - being adrenaline-pumping. Just the way my family likes it! It is safe, assured, linear - I have not had an occasion (fortunately) to test the stopping distance yet. As a test, I will probably do it a bit later in the day considering the risk factors.

The seats at the front as well as the back are an absolute pleasure, although I can't help but feel that the rear seats could have been a bit better in terms of under-thigh support. But anyway, I'm not gonna sit there, and my daughter's too young to be bothered by it. The front seats are really nice and comfy, and I have the confidence that I will grow the same sense of womb-like comfort slipping into these seats, that I had with my Swift.

Steering is an absolute joy, as I am sure many on TBHP will testify to. However, the scary-EPS tendencies are still there, very much so. I have not really crossed 90 kmph in this car yet, but even at 90, the steering feels like those in the arcade games - it gets seriously scary at times. At higher speeds, I am going to have to be VERY alert. But at low-ish speeds and in the city, it is a literal 'point-and-shoot' steering. Having some serious fun currently.

What is also very pleasantly surprising to me, is that the "Dimensions" of the car, as such, haven't at all proved difficult to master - considering the fact that this is my first 3-box. Even if you are used to driving a hatch, you can quite easily latch on to this car - none of the awkward cumbersomeness that comes with a big car. And the reverse parking sensors are an immense help!

The (lack of) Features:

In terms of creature comforts, there aren't many - steering mounted audio controls (meh!) are touted as a 'feature', indeed! However, the AirCon is an absolute chiller, and does not at all seem to impact the engine performance, no matter what the terrain or the speed. I don't honestly think there will be a lot of impact on the FE either, but not sure. Though I can very much live with (as I have) this manual AirCon, the ACC (Automatic Climate Control) would have been really nice, purely as a quality-of-life feature, and also considering how many smaller cars have this as standard equipment. Seriously, if the sheer engine performance - with good economy - of the City had not been so astoundingly good, the lack of features and bells & whistles would a REALLY hurt this car.

One more important observation regarding the drive is this -

After a cold start, the 1st and 2nd gears are scary hard to slot in! I mean, I have had more resistance slotting a gear in our Tempo Trax (remember that one?) at times... After being driven for about 3-4 kms, the gearshift is butter smooth - but until then, it is really tough. And tough not because it can't be done - but tough because you don't expect it to be like that! I wonder if this, too, is one of the issues that will sort themselves out after the first servicing. Anyone else facing this?

Also, I feel that in spite my having decided to enjoy a stock car, I am going to have to replace at least two major components in this car - the speakers, and the headlights. Having driven with 90/100s in my Swift all this while, the sudden downgrade (!) to 55/60s of the stock Honda City lamps seems blinding (literally ;-)). This car definitely needs better headlamps.

The ICE, the less said about it the better - strictly average!
Purely to be used as an alternative to those stifling silences that can smother the car - especially after you have missed that turn your wife had asked to look out for!

I have been told that the electrical warranty will last for one year, post which I can freely upgrade the ICE without impacting the rest of the warranty terms - I will confirm this and then start a new savings account to pay for the new ICE one year down the line!

I will keep on posting further updates, after the first servicing, which is due on 4th of Jan. (Summary of points in the next post)


So that's it. Or most of it.


Me and The King are just about getting to know each other, and I am sure this relationship will get better and better as we go along. I will keep posting the updates as and when. Looking forward to the blessings and good wishes of fellow TBHP'ians.

Here's to the City!





Cheers,
R_S

[roadie_swift]

As promised, just the nutshell review follows:

The Good:

• Ride and Handling - Much more comfortable and relaxing ride over all sorts of roads. Especially the brakes are very confidence-inspiring, having quite a linear feel that allows me to easily drive like a chauffeur, when family is with me.

• Performance - Much has already been said, so I don't really have a lot to add. Typical Honda, happy to rev - though I haven't really let her go as yet. Will probably test some limits after the first servicing, which is now due. Although I feel the gearing - especially in 3rd and 4th gear - to be quite tall, slightly robbing the car of the punch which would have made it more enjoyable in-city, too. May be I'm mistaken, or this is something that will sort itself out after a bit of running-in - Perhaps the Gurus may want to shed some light on this behavior. On the open highway, though, it was a tough effort not to let the car run away with itself, so eager did it seem. I am really looking forward to my longish trips now to Karwar and Madurai.

• Gadgetry - Not much to speak of, not even Automatic Climate Control, in fact. But then I knew that features/gadgets were never meant to be the City's strengths. The stock ICE is strictly 'decent' in my opinion, especially compared to the much better setup I was running in my Swift. But presently I am learning to live with it, and gathering ideas (and money) to eventually replace it. The ECO indicator and the real-time-live fuel economy bar graph does help in keeping the right foot light.

• Economy - So far I have been averaging 11.2 in the city traffic, 12.5 on the ghat sections of Gudalur-Ooty-Coonoor, and 15.7 on the Cbe-Salem-Blr highway.

• Refinement - Overall, there is a very good "feel" to car, though I know this description is very subjective, especially so on a forum of knowledgeable folks. But that's the best I can do at the moment - may be it's just all that new-car-smell that's making me giddy!

• Space - Notwithstanding the fact that I am graduating from a hatchback, the space inside is really big. Even when the front passenger has the seat fully rolled-back, there isn't too much discomfort felt at the back. Nooks and crannies are aplenty to keep your stuff, although I am sure we have seen better. The glovebox is surprisingly shallow, though - I expected it to be a lot bigger than it is. The boot is humongous, to my eyes - more space than I'll need, until I finally upgrade my ICE and get the subs in place.

The Not-So-Good:

• Ingress and Egress - When I mentioned earlier that I "slipped in" for a test drive, I wasn't too far off the mark. I almost slipped in the effort to contort myself enough to enter the car, so low is the seating position. Coming out was an almost equally heroic effort the first time. This was even after I had adjusted the seat to its highest position. Me, my backbone, and the various parts involved are all gradually getting used to it - although I still feel taking up Yoga will be a good bet to counter this.

• ICE - See above. Strictly average, although, the speed-volume-adjustment is a nice feature! I have a sneaking suspicion that the HU may actually be better than it sounds, but is severely let down by the speakers and damping levels. Even a mildly bassy track and medium volume gets the speaker panels to start vibrating. But it's not impossible to live with.

• Door Locking - The manual states that the doors can be set to lock automatically after crossing the speed of 20 kph. However, I am still trying to figure out how to get it to work. Need to ask this during the service. Also, the physical locking mechanism itself is counter-intuitive. The notch has to be pulled outward to lock, and pushed inward to unlock. Very unusual.

• Front Center Armrest - Not at all useful, at least to me. I have to make a conscious effort to try and rest my elbow on that, which is absolutely not happening. The storage underneath that is probably the only redeeming feature about it. The armrest at rear is very nice in comparison.

• Dashboard Reflection - The dashboard is huge, which was expected; And it reflects hugely in the windshield, which was absolutely NOT expected, and is severely discomforting. It is distracting to the level of being dangerous. I have tried various solutions, from placing newspapers to matt-finish dupattaas on the dashboard to remove/reduce the reflection - but to no avail. Even in mild sunlight (like 10:00 am) there is a hint of reflection. At 12:00 noon it becomes almost unbearable, and God save you if you happen to be driving into the sun around late afternoon (4:00 pm). When I was trying to get out of the jam-prone Bangalore traffic at 4:30 pm on my way to Mysore, the dashboard reflection had me almost praying for sunset. And I am no fan of night-driving. I would be grateful if anyone on TBHP can provide a lasting solution to this issue. Is anyone else feeling this at all?

Will update further as and when things are revealed. Looking forward to your feedback.




Cheers,
R_S

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[Sommos]

Many congratulations for your new car.
Wish you loads of happy mile munching with the City.

The colour looks fantastic but might be difficult to maintain.

[F150]

Hey R_S,

Congratulations man !!

You didn't tell me about the bank manager's comments about CEDIA.

Nice color and Nice alloy wheel design. I like this design better.

Stock tyres are MRF ? Any plans to upsize and to go for MICHELIN or BS ?

You will enjoy the 120 horses better on the highway.

I think they may be applied dashboard polish. I would suggest you to rub it off with a cotton cloth.

Please post interior pics.

Drive Safe and Keep us posted !!

[RemingtonSteele]

Congratulations!!! I am sure you wouldn't be disappointed by this car and its reliability. The car is very revvy which is addictive.

BTW I must say your upgrade is quite an unusual one, I know some friends as well as some fellow bhpians upgrading from Swift to Vento. One never knows what one will like in what car



The "Likes" you have put forth are well commented till date; I will try to post my perspective on your dislikes:

Ingress and Egress - I am 6 ft. and I don't face any issues with the wide opening doors. Rather I love the under thigh support offered by its seats.

ICE - Default "V" series ICE with tweeters are one of the best I have seen comming with OEM's cars in this segment -I love it.

Front Center Armrest - I found it well positioned, I find it extremely useful and relaxing over long drives.

Dashboard Reflection - Yes, this reflecting dashboard is an issue. I would suggest you to polish it with matte finish dashboard cleaner from Meguiars or Sonax.

Happy crunching miles with this wonderful beauty.

[Sn1p3r]

Congratulations!

It's a keeper, no niggles, no asking questions, just pure delivery of whats asked for 'car'.

You may ask as many questions about the car, mine is now 2.5 years old so know mostly about its behavior.

Drive by wire keeps the engine running when you take your foot off the accelerator thus making use of minimum fuel required, as the real time fuel indicator is only indicative it shows the amount of fuel used w.r.t the km you have covered. The engine does give 15 kmpl in city (driven sedately with low traffic) and 10kmpl if you get stuck in a jam. Over all it goes beyond the ARAI figure and astonish you with 22kmpl and if driven fast and furious you can expect 16kmpl on highways.

W.r.t the headlamps yes many owners have upgraded or waiting for the warranty to get over with. Horns are another weak link.

Slotting the car in initial km from cold start is also an issue as the gears aren't warm, in Delhi it is even worst. However, I will insist you change gears at right rpm speed to avoid this issue.

[charthom]

Hi Roadie_swift,

Congrats on the new buy mate!Good decision.The car oozes class-no one can deny it. Nice colour too.

Your opinion about front arm rest is spot on.But frankly,I did not feel the reflection that much! May be because I found it far better than the reflection of the beige dash of my i10.

I have upgraded the head lamps-visibility is much better now.

Wish you many happy years of hassle free driving and after sales experience.

charthom

[acurafan]

Originally Posted by roadie_swift

I would be grateful if anyone on TBHP can provide a lasting solution to this issue. Is anyone else feeling this at all?
Will update further as and when things are revealed. Looking forward to your feedback.
R_S

Wearing sunglass with Polarizer lens should be able to care of the reflection.

[9thsphinx]

Congratulations on the City! It's a wonderful car that almost always comes with a no-nonsense policy. Anyway, before you know you'll start loving Honda's now that you own one.

That hard gear shift that you're talking about immediately after cold starts, I had something like that in my Honda Jazz as well. Only problem on my end is, it lasted during my entire drive. I got it fixed at the Service Centre with some clutch spray and bleeding, but the problem isn't entirely over. I can still feel that the gear slotting is not as smooth as it should be - more so because it just doesn't feel right with what the super smooth engine characteristics.

Anyway, happy mile munching! Drive safe.

[sandeepmohan]

Excellent choice for your new car though I really wish the Fiat Linea T Jet was available. It does not have the overall quality and space of the Honda but the drive, in my opinion, is the best.

The Honda City is the safest choice in the segment. It is actually bomb proof.

The Mitsubishi might be the best drive in the segment but it is a really old model now and it does not come cheap even after the discounted price. If only Mitsubishi updated their line up in India, things would have been very different for this brand.

Same for the Ford Classic, I liked this car some time ago and in "S" trim, boy did it look good and was a true drivers car. Once again, too old to consider now and with Ford doing a lot of part sharing with the Figo, even the fully pimped out Classic looks sad. The engine is the only thing going for it now. I bet the dynamics are no longer as good. It is also quite expensive for a model that has been on sale for over 7 years.

Give the gearbox some time and it will be easy to use. It took some time for the shift quality to improve when I bought my car too.

Enjoyed reading your report.

[arup.misra]

Congratulation roadie!!! Interesting arranged marriage but one that will definitely last you a decade.

Buying an "H" is akin to saying, "Fill it shut it forget it". As long as you adhere to the 6 monthly service intervals, you'd hardly be needed to be bothered about it.

Some owners perspective

What I had NOT expected, was that there would be such a noticeable shudder when you start the engine

That's new to me too. Its been 15 months into my ownership I haven't noticed anything akin. May be should highlight this on your first free service

the 1st and 2nd gears are scary hard to slot in

This is a known achilles hills but it smoothens out as you pile on the kms.

This car definitely needs better headlamps.

You use use Phillips Extreme Vision or Osram Night Breakers to compensate. They are direct fit and don't require relays

And it reflects hugely in the windshield, which was absolutely NOT expected, and is severely discomforting.

The dealers use some sort of a shiny dashboard polish that compounds this problem. Get yourself a Megs or Sonax dashboard polish and clean it back to matte black.

Enjoy your ride and do keep updating your thread. Drive safe!!!

[S.MJet]

Hey roadie,
Congratulations.
This is the best, no-nonsense executive sedan.

Wish you many happy & safe miles ahead.

Originally Posted by roadie_swift

However, what puzzles me is the behavior of this graph, when I remove all throttle input in any gear. Even though I am actually implementing engine-braking, which drives up the RPM on the tacho, Mr. Bar-graph happily climbs up to 40 kmpl.

This is same behavior with my Punto. As soon throttle is released, instant FE climbs to 50kmpl & I guess this should be true due to the fact that fuel supply is significantly reduced even though RPM is high. But yes, expert views are required here.

[dre@ms]

First off, congrats pal. Welcome to the honda city brigade.

Following are my thoughts on your negatives.

Door Locking

I haven't seen anything as such in the manual. he locking is manual.

Front Center Armrest

I disagree. I position myself to get a good elbow rest on it. In my hatchback, my hands would rest on the gears though. Its a pure bliss to fly the city with one hand

Dashboard Reflection

Haven't encountered it yet, or was it kind of a distraction to me.

[MetalBuff]

Congratulations brother!

The City looks smoking hot in this color. A worthy sucessor to the Hannabero Red shade. You were lucky enough to have landed up with Michelins

Needless to say, more pictures needed, please! The last shot is wallpaper material.

Any freebies with this purchase?