[ad3952n]

MY HONDA CITY Ivtec 1.5 Petrol

Dear All, Everyone has some or the other proud moment in his/her life but rarely do we realize how difficult the task becomes when you sit to pen it down. "Easier said then done" situation. For me, there have been various occasions, which can be classified as proud moments but the one that is associated with automobiles comes at the top. So here, I present a review which is first in all respects. It is my first review on the forum, for my first car.

The car that I will discuss here is my 2.3 year old Honda City Ivtec Petrol 1.5 Base model in Urban Titanium color which was purchased by me in October 2011. This is the 2nd petrol-run car that we own in our family as the earlier one is exclusively for my Paa and he uses it presently.



One morning when my Paa floated an idea of buying a second car for my mom and me, I was quick to jump with volley of questions to him. Paa "Are you really serious about buying? Which car a SUV or a Sedan? Which make, which variant? Paa never realized that his idea would turn into a complete questionnaire for him. To get rid of this volley of questions, he left the entire job on to me to search and research. Then, like any other automotive enthusiast started visiting various showrooms, collected brochures, took quotes, searched through this forum but by the time I had all the available information, I realized that confusion has completely gripped me and I will need someone to guide me through the entire decision making process and debate on the pros and cons of various choices that I have narrowed down upon.

This suggestion further left me more confused on what to do now. I prayed to Almighty to give me enough wisdom and courage to take a calculated decision on the purchase of car. In the meantime, Paa started pestering me and was keen to know the result of my search. He mentioned that since Diwali is round the corner he intends to take a car on Dhanteras. Pressure on me was mounting by each passing day.

Finally, after a search of about a month, I gathered courage and told Paa that my choice would be a Skoda Laura L&K in Black colour. Paa took no time to trash my idea and further asked me to do a research on the pathetic after sales service issues associated with buying a Skoda. I was shattered since my reason to buy a Skoda was because of its brand image and built quality. Then to complicate the matter further, Paa asked my maa her choice for the new car and I was sure what her answer would be more aligned with my choice. We narrowed down on the Honda or the Verna but my paa's next choice further added to already existing confusion as he wanted a Maruti Sx4 because he is comfortable with a petrol engine car and secondly he is a Maruti loyalist who till date owns an Esteem Vxi which was then 5 years old and is still serving us very efficiently by Almighty's grace.



As my maa too wanted to see the cars so decided to take her to the showrooms in Noida. Taking her along provided a official "YES" for me because she instantly gave the verdict to buy a Honda City "Honda City lele aur Color meri pasand ka he lena". So I took her to the Honda showroom and asked her to select the color and the variant. She chose the Urban Titanium but was not so sure of the variants.
I could analyze and realize that my maa was very fond of Honda City and always wished to own one. Finally, both of us conveyed our final decision to Paa and during the Diwali season of 2011 Paa decided to book one more car for our family.

Since, childhood I always had liking for cars and loved them and I was nearing a moment where I could live my dream of having a nice and elegant sedan. Hence, I took the plunge and got involved in the new car purchase exercise. Now, Having made the decision the next thing was how the purchase should be made. At that time i.e 2011 Noida had only one Honda Showroom which was located in Sector-8 by the name of "ACE HONDA". Our purchase experience was fairly easy as the sales person Mr. Sandeep explained me and Paa about the features of the car and worked out the quotation. Hence, I asked my dad to choose the basic variant i.e "E" as I had all the more an important reason to buy a no-frill variant. I was more keen to lay my hands on the base version as this gave me enough room to apply my thoughts and ideas and make it into a customized car. Giving in to my demand of base variant, Paa immediately paid the token money because the sales person tried the age old trick of forcing to confirm a sale by giving odd reasons like "We are just left with 1 car in this color" "Sir, I am sorry I cant wait for 48 hours because its the festive season" etc.

Since Diwali was round the corner so Ace Honda gave me sort of Diwali gift in the form of some car accessories like Cushions, Floor mats and body cover. But my hunger of car accessories did not die and I went on to give a list to Sandeep which included Gear lock, V Kool film, Central Locking, Kenwood music system, Rear parking sensors with body-colored door handles and ORVMs. The next thing that I got in hand was the bill of accessories which was INR 37000/- and increased the On Road price of the car to INR 8 Lacs+ (sorry I don't remember the exact price now but the ex-showroom price was 7 Lac 24 thousand). Therefore, the decided day for purchase of the car was Dhanteras (before Diwali). Finally, On Dhanteras, in the morning I and Paa reached to the showroom and after checking out the car we handed over the DD and now I officially got the car I was looking for to live my dream. We took the delivery of the car after a small Puja ceremony at the showroom itself and drove this JDM product home. For my mom it was a big day; something which she could not express in words but her eyes said it all but for me more important was the fact that my car should be fuel efficient with good after sales network and comfortable.



Coming to the driving feel of my Honda City. The car runs on the OEM MRF ZVTV 175/65 R15. The drive and the road grip it has got is superb. It never feels you let down on street and ride quality with the stock tyres. So no immediate thought of upgrading them came to my mind and I decided to retain them as it is.



I can vouch for the fact that since the day I have purchased this car it has been a blissful experience for me in terms of it's performance.The acceleration is very nice and smooth and I do feel the punch of power on pressing the accelerator. On the highways it is very comfortable and in the city also it can be driven with sheer ease but I am not very pleased with the braking of this car at speeds of 80-100 kmph because it has happened once in November 2013 with Paa when he and my driver were on the DND Flyway and to avoid a frontal collision the brakes were applied at 90 kmph and instead of halting in a straight direction the car turned slightly to the left which I think is not normal.



In this span of 2.3 years apart from changing the Engine oil from OEM to Castrol Magnatec and periodic service with an expense of roughly INR 2000/-nothing else has been done. For me the best part of this car has been that the suspension is very strong and holds the car well on the roads which have potholes and the Engine is also noiseless; all thanks to the cladding in the hood which makes every drive a beautiful and relaxed experience every time.



Going by the build quality aspect; for me Honda City is sub-standard as the metal sheet used in it is very thin which can not even take a hit from a motor bike. I find my Esteem far far better in terms of structural strength. If it would not have been for my modification mania I would have never gone in for it. I agree; to increase the fuel efficiency the structural weight of the car needs to be reduced to some extent but what Honda gives is just thin aluminium sheet coated with fillers and paint. Earlier, I also had an Optra 1.6 Base version and I was so impressed with its build quality that I did not even consider the fact that it was not fuel efficient. If anyone asks me to rate it then as a owner I will give it a 4 on 10.

This car is basically used for local Delhi-NCR driving of approx 50kms on a daily basis and I am still not very convinced of its fuel economy. The car has run approx 23500 kilometres approximately till date including highway trips at a average of 12.9kmpl. Many false things/claims in the car. For example 118 bhp (claimed) engine never feels as powerful as that of a Scorpio mhawk engine which is also of 118 bhp and pulls a heavier body. Digital fuel efficiency meter also tells you an enhanced reading. More than 2 km/l than actual. Distance to travel reading is also not trustworthy. Now, Let me provide you with all the trips done by me on this car on highways with the above mentioned average.

1) On NH 24 from Noida to Bareilly which is 520 kms round-trip.

2) On NH 58 from Noida to Meerut which is 150 kms round trip.

3) On NH 8 from Noida to Neemrana which is 300 kms round trip.

4) On NH 1 from Noida to Panipat which is 220 kms round trip.



Another good feature of this car is it's steering wheel which is incorporated with an airbag and is very comfortable to hold and the best part is it's adjustable so driver does not feel any sort of pressure while using it on high speeds and the car can be turned very easily with this OEM power steering.

To add further to the goodness of this car I really like the interiors and the rear seating of this particular model with beige fabric and the plastic quality used in this base model is way better than the Corporate edition launched after this one. The fit and finish of the interiors is very nicely done with an integrated front passenger airbag which further secures the passengers.

Moving on to the air conditioning of the car; I find it very impressive and easy to operate but I wish it had rear cooling vents as well just like the present Honda City model.



Lastly, The boot space in this model of Honda City is very good. I have placed 2 big suitcases and 2 medium sized bags inside it and they all easily got accommodated.



Apart from enjoying a respectable market position the Honda City 2011 model which I own came with some serious drawbacks like:

1) Low Ground Clearance: It was a pain in the heart every time when the car rubbed a speed breaker hence I sliced off the front mud flaps by 2 inches and it has been smooth since then.

As on date, I have given up with changing of mud flaps, with such a poor ground clearance they are the first victims who bear the maximum brunt.







2) Driver side seat height adjustment: Base model did not have it so for my drivers it's a real pain. Thankfully, with 6" it has no bearing on me. The bottle holder at the center cannot accommodate bottles properly and they continue to sway in either directions in a moving car.



Note: The new gear knob by mugen.



3) Ideally, the car of this size should have two roof lamps, I managed to have another fitted from the market.



4) Another major miss is the lack of engine protection cover. This is a major design flaw of a car with such a low ground clearance. It makes it prone to scratches underneath, it gets rubbed against speed breakers and more importantly is a danger during rainy season as the water may seep inside the engine bay and spoil its components. Poor quality wipers further adds to the pain.






5) There is no cladding inside the boot which gives a very wacky feel to the user who certainly expects something better in such a good sedan.


6) Lastly, I wish the manual transmission could have been better because the gear shifting is slightly hard and the clutch also at times feels hard when the car is taken for a ride in the morning specially in this winter season.

Dealership & Associated Experience

Speaking about the A.S.C of Honda i.e ACE Honda is not up to the mark. They were adamant on using their OEM oil while I stood for Castrol Magnatec. Since they did not comply to my request so I changed the service outlet. The workman-ship in Ace Honda is also not as per my expectations. A link on this can give a better insight to the whole episode.

Link:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...bad-worse.html

Overall if I see my car in the bigger picture then I can say that this car is fairly less expensive to maintain if it is driven and kept in the right way. Unlike other car brands whose spares are very costly I find the Honda spares reasonably priced and availability is also not an issue because now there are 2 Honda Showrooms in Noida itself but thankfully my car did not require any mechanical/electrical spare part till date.

I now would like to share the modifications done to the car after 1 year of ownership:

Accessories and After market Job:

1) Matte Black, Brush Titanium and Carbon Vinyl used on Hood, roof, wheel caps (now painted), door handles, ORVMs, spoiler and bumpers.









2) Got the Dashboard in Wood finish (Purely Aftermarket Job).



3) Meal Plate installed for the benefit of the rear passenger.

[swiftnfurious]

Thanks for the report. You need to add more pics of the car with the external mods done. Though I can make out some of them, the picture in totality is NOT there.

Wish you many more miles of happy & safe motoring!

[ad3952n]

Continuing my details on the modification: To begin with, I must tell you all that most of the accessories placed in this car have been purchased from Mumbai and followed by New Delhi. Not being a professional modifier, it took me a long time to pick up good accessories which I saw on internet. Also, Please be informed that this car is getting converted into a PACE CAR for the Delhi-NCR team of bhpians which shall prove that this car is not just about Vinyls. At present following modifications have been done;

1) Power Antenna, Roof light console with bottle holder in rear arm rest inspired by Honda City VIP Club (Thailand) and a separate front arm rest.








2) Door moldings, Window Visors, Sill Plates all fixed at home by me.



3) Smoked Headlamps and Tail lamps with LED lights in front and inside the boot and a pair of extra LEDs in tail lamps(inspired by Honda City VIP Club Thailand) with Blue side markers.






Finally to showcase my car I joined Team Bhp in June 2013 and since then it has been a enlightening experience. I thank GTO sir and all fellow bhpians to have guided me in regards to the modification of this car and otherwise also.

I think now I must take time to give some credits before moving on to my next post.

Credits:

1) Paa and Maa for making me live my dream and fulfill my passion

2) GTO sir for making me a part of this forum and guiding me.

3) All fellow bhpians for helping me and supporting me.

4) A Fellow Bhpian for giving me his time and taking such nice pics of my car with his Canon camera.

[ad3952n]

Now coming to my summarised view and aspects pertaining to the ownership experience, I would rate this car 4/10 overall.

Suspension: The primary area of concern to me is the soft suspension of this Honda City. The front is mcpherson whereas the rear one is consisting of Torsion beam axle and Coil Spring. But the poor quality ruins the comfort of the passenger at the rear seat. It just cant handle the pot holes unlike its German siblings all thanks to the sub-standard shockers. It is a serious issue with this particular model. Though Honda may have improved the suspension in the present model; However, The question of this weak suspension remains unsolved for the owners who own this model. This suspension spoils all the fun of having a 8 Lakhs sedan. While driving this car I feel the suspension's poor quality will soon result in worn out shock absorbers.

Build Quality: Metal sheet used in the body is shamefully thin and can easily be pressed by a single thumb (Maybe this is helpful in good fuel effeciency). It becomes an eyesore when you see dents originating from street pebbles. I mean is it worth to spend so much money and get this crap of a car? Honestly, I would be 1 owner who does not approve of his own vehicle in number of aspects.

Designing: The exterior design is good, and the use of plastic parts in the interior is far better if compared to the 2012 model of Honda City (The one with a full Chrome grill). I feel Hyundai beats Honda hands down when it comes to features and interiors but still I have to compare the models of Honda City then this one has the best quality interiors and the rest is upto the owner to keep them in best shape.

Seating: The space both at the front and back is adequate and you don't feel squeezed. Overall sitting experience is a delight and you do not get the claustrophobic effect. I find the cabin very spacious and it provides me the feeling of comfort and ease with ample options of storage.

Braking: The braking is linear however, I feel could have been better. Car runs smoothly and on a good road you can do 140km/hr easily (but body doesn’t complement the engine at this speed). Hence, A good breaking system at 80 doesn’t assure you control at 130 km/h. But, the steering is responsive and not light unlike many other cars.

Gears: The gear shift quality is smooth and the gears fit into their respective slots with ease but in the morning when engine is cold the slotting becomes slightly difficult. The winter season makes this issue even worse and I fail to find a solution to this.

Likes:

Comfortable seating position.

Noiseless Engine

Ample scope of after-market modification. The best shape produced in recent times by Honda.

Ample legroom both at the rear and front.

Good fuel efficiency as in Noida, we have good wide roads, nominal traffic, no red lights and thus good average speed with
normal petrol.

Easy ingress and egress

Dislikes:

Average Audio System. Music system is although good but some heavy bass tracks (observed while listening title track of ’Boss’ in Dhol Version). It made the door fittings rattle. This irritates me when I think of having spent almost 8 lac+ for this kind of pleasure.

Average Gear Shift. When the car is cold, second gear is difficult to engage and engine also show some hesitation for quite some time even after the temperature indicator show a warm position of engine.

Soft suspension

Low quality thin metal sheet is prone to dents.

Stock horn is barely audible

Wiper rubbers are poor (were reported peeling during the third service)

Low ground clearance

No engine guard

No cladding at rear boot lid

Honda's sales and service is swiftly turning to be a gamble.

Some Parting shorts and continuing with the trend of changing and shuffling my Team-Bhp stickers from time to time.

[GTO]

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

[avisidhu]

Congrats on owning the beauty AD.

Completely agree with you on the suspension part, even I feel it's the biggest grouse with this car.
Very surprised to see your FE figures though. I routinely manage 15 in the city, and close to 18 on highway drives. In NCR though I think around 12-13 is fairly respectable, doubt any other vehicle of it's class can give similar FE. For GC issues, try 185/65 during your next tyre upgrade, it definitely helps.

Hope you have a wonderful ownership experience, keep us posted.

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by avisidhu

Congrats on owning the beauty AD.

Completely agree with you on the suspension part, even I feel it's the biggest grouse with this car.
Very surprised to see your FE figures though. For GC issues, try 185/65 during your next tyre upgrade, it definitely helps.

Hope you have a wonderful ownership experience, keep us posted.

Thanks a lot mate, I shall surely keep it in mind. The suspension is very poor and specially the rear one. As far as FE goes, I am very surprised as to why this car is giving so low average. Tomorrow, I will be going on 520km round-trip so will see if it may improve.

Thanks

AD

[ad3952n]

Dear all, Today, Servicing my car was carried out. As most of you know that I don't like to go to A.S.C of Honda i.e Ace Honda, hence, did the servicing by purchasing the required stuff from the market in Noida itself. And also got interior cleaning done from a good service station in Sector 8 Noida by the name of Fucon Technology with total expense of INR-2272/= only. Following below is the list of every activity and the brands used.

1) Kilometer reading before the start of service.



2) Products used

a) Engine Oil Top up done with Castrol Magnatec 10W 40 as oil was changed at 17000 kms.



b) Tyre Cleaner/Foam from Valvoline



c) Dot 4 Brake Fluid used to top up the brake oil (INR-85 for 250ml)



d) Waxpol Dashboard Cleaner (INR-95)



e) Hella Dyna Wiper Blades (INR-1100/set)



f) Servo Kool Coolant 1 Ltr (INR-287)

* The next post includes the servicing-in-progess pictures and detail

Thanks

AD

[ad3952n]

The Servicing in progress;

1) Vacuuming being done for the interiors of the car and floor mats getting cleaned.





2) Tyre foaming in progress

a) Tyre before being foamed



b) Foam being applied



c) Tyre after getting foamed nicely



3) AC Filter getting cleaned.



4) Wiper Blades being changed as Honda provides 3rd class wipers as OEM. Now the car has Hella Dyna Wipers.

a) OEM wiper which does not even have a brand name.



b) The new Hella Dyna Wiper



Finally, The Expense Invoice of the outlet.





Thanks

AD

[SolidSnake]

Cool Mods , you have got there on your ANHC.
For suspension , why don't you consider TIENS ? It will improve the ride and handling very much. It will cost you around 60k and is available at Red Rooster Performance.

Any performance mods yet ?

[aravind.anand]

Wow, the car looks to be really well maintained and has neat mods - inside and out. Adding additional cup holders for the rear, additional lamps for the cabin, the faux wood inserts for the dashboard are all really nice. The bumper protectors protect your bumpers in peak hour traffic for sure! All the mods are really tastefully done. Kudos !
But I do not see why you need an additional antenna on top of the existing OEM one?

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by SolidSnake

Cool Mods , you have got there on your ANHC.
For suspension , why don't you consider TIENS ? It will improve the ride and handling very much. It will cost you around 60k and is available at Red Rooster Performance.

Any performance mods yet ?

Thanks a lot mate, I am planning to get a remus exhaust for the car along with a K&N filter as this car will be a PACE CAR for NCR Team Bhpians. But, in case of suspension I am just holding back because no-one till now has given me a proper suggestion for it. Hence, I am afraid of doing it. Money is not a issue when it comes to doing a quality mod for my car.

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

Wow, the car looks to be really well maintained and has neat mods - inside and out. Adding additional cup holders for the rear, additional lamps for the cabin, the faux wood inserts for the dashboard are all really nice. The bumper protectors protect your bumpers in peak hour traffic for sure! All the mods are really tastefully done. Kudos !
But I do not see why you need an additional antenna on top of the existing OEM one?

Thanks mate, It took a lot a effort to make it look like this. I am not a professional modifier and all the stuff done to this car is purely by the suggestions of my bhpians and the internet. Antenna is just a small add-on because I saw it on a Honda City on internet.

Thanks

AD

[mints21]

A very nice and exhaustive review. But I am surprised at your rating of 4 out of 10. The car is not this low for a rating. You have maintained the car very well. The car is serving you well. Except for the soft suspension which damages your mudflaps, I do not see any other point which is negative for this car.

I believe this is an Executive variant of Honda City, which has given you ample opportunity to modify it.

Anyway, wish you happy and blissful years of drive with this car. Do consider rating this car as 8 out of 10. I think this will be a fair and reasonable judgement.

[Akshay1234]

Congrats on the car, that is a very detailed and nice review.

Though I have to ask, did you go to your neighbourhood accessories shop and buy all the fake grilles, scoops, bumper protectors and DRLS that they had?

The colour is beautiful, my suggestion is remove all the fake vents, scoops, one pair of DRLS, and revert the spoiler and area around the number plate back to body colour. Also buy silver wheel caps again, and the car will look elegant.

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by mints21

A very nice and exhaustive review. But I am surprised at your rating of 4 out of 10. The car is not this low for a rating. You have maintained the car very well. The car is serving you well. Except for the soft suspension which damages your mudflaps, I do not see any other point which is negative for this car. Do consider rating this car as 8 out of 10. I think this will be a fair and reasonable judgement.

Thank you sir, Really kind of you to appreciate my efforts. As far as the ratings go; It's not just because of the suspension rather it is about the horn, wipers, the total build quality and many more factors. Honda's worst car in terms of ground clearance. I know that Honda has improved the ground clearance in other new models of Honda City but I would like to know what should an owner of this model do to solve this problem in the car ?

This is a OEM defect so why are the customers not given a solution about this from Honda's side? Why should the owners figure out the alternatives to deal with the ground clearance issue?

Therefore, The day I get a proper solution on this; I will surely increase the ratings sir.

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Congrats on the car, that is a very detailed and nice review.

Though I have to ask, did you go to your neighbourhood accessories shop and buy all the fake grilles, scoops, bumper protectors and DRLS that they had?

The colour is beautiful, my suggestion is remove all the fake vents, scoops, one pair of DRLS, and revert the spoiler and area around the number plate back to body colour. Also buy silver wheel caps again, and the car will look elegant.

Dear Akshay, Thanks for a honest view. Actually, as I have told earlier that I am not a professional in modification so there are a few things which might not look good on this car. I have noted your points and will do the needful in the near future for sure.

Thanks

AD