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Old 27th July 2018, 19:09   #1
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The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic

Teaser
The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-teaser.jpg

The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-teaser-2.jpg

Now that i have got your attention Let's Begin

Last edited by hotspot : 28th July 2018 at 12:00. Reason: A few bullets were showing as text
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Old 28th July 2018, 12:02   #2
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The Legacy Continues: Orchid Pearl White Honda City ZX IVtec 2018

Disclaimer
*This is my first post on the forum.
*It is a long post. Please keep some time in spare if you are planning to read it.
*Opinions in the post are my observations solely based on my limited experience. As BHPian I am open to healthy discussion on anything I have penned down.
*Some points in the review might seem repeated (You might have read them in Official and other ownership reviews). Please bear with it.
*Photo quality is not of great standard. All Photos taken with my Iphone 6s. I am not good at taking or editing photos.


The Legacy

The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-leagcy.jpg


What I Like

* Elegant Styling. Gorgeous LED head lamps.
* Lots and Lots of space. Rivalling cars of segments above.
* Time tested, Rev friendly IVtec Engine.
* Smooth CVT.
* Safety Equipment with 6 airbags.
* Feature rich in ZX Variant with Auto Headlamps + Wipers, Frameless Auto Dimming IRVM.
* 510 Litres of Boot Space.
* Acceptable NVH Levels. (In comparison to previous generations)
* Ground clearance.
* Fuel Efficiency.
* Driver Focussed Console.

What I Don’t Like

* Build quality still not up to the mark.
* Premium pricing. Especially ZX Model.
* Dash is dust and fingerprint magnet.
* Still not accustomed to feather touch controls for HVAC.
* Beige interiors.
* Lack of parking sensors even in Top Model.
* After market looking Digipad AVN without Android Auto or Apple Car Play.
* Apparent cost cutting in spite of premium pricing.



Background

I am a Marine Engineer by profession. So, engines provide me with bread and butter as well as feed my heart and soul. I was introduced to the forum by my brother almost five years back, since then Team-Bhp has been my morning newspaper. These honest reviews and passionate discussions about the one thing we all like (Machines On Wheels) made me decide to attempt to be member of this forum. Long story short after a couple of rejections my persistence paid off and I became part of Esteemed group.
.
A quick view on All Time Garage of Four Wheels(From the Very Beginning)
  • I remember my life on wheels started when I was small kid Scooter Priya, which you believe or not was bought in Black market because of high demand and non availability. Yes I couldn’t ride that scooter but have many fond memories of standing in front while my father was driving. Scooter was sold when we shifted between cities.
  • As a normal middle class family we gradually updated to bigger and better vehicles. First four wheels meant for us was a Golden Metallic Maruti 800 AC. My first taste of steering wheel, clutch, brake and yes the accelerator ( It actually accelerated the car as well my heart beat ). I loved this car. Small in dimension, nice engine and most of all peaceful ownership with only recommended visits to workshop. Car got sold when we decided to have a car with a Boot.
  • Next came a False Boot car, modest Silver Tata Indigo GLX. A car which only impressed us with acres and acres of space it had. Other than that it was scrap on wheels. Lots and lots of problem starting from mechanical to build quality. In a few years in spite of being in Dry environment (Read Desert) throughout its small life panels started rusting. A big let down for us and we decided never to buy a Tata again in spite of having great respect for The Man. Car was sold for obvious reasons.
  • Then came our family tryst with Honda. When we decided to upgrade from Indigo friends and people who knew about cars more than us suggested to go for Honda. And in came Honda CityZX EXI( The Dolphin Model). A gem of a car which stayed with us for about 12 years. That was the car which made us fall in love with Honda for its reliability and quality.
  • The next upgrade was a no brainer and in came another Honda City IVtec V(ANHC) with automatic transmission. Another fuss free car which served us well for 7 years and opened our eyes towards automatic convenience.
  • In the meanwhile we also got a car a for my mother, from another reliable source i.e. Maruti Suzuki. Car was Ritz VXI. A car rarely used because my mother rarely drove. Car was sold due the reason mentioned before and lack of safety net.
  • After selling Ritz we were looking for a highway tourer (Read 7 Seater SUV) within a budget of 20 Lacs. Addicted to Team-Bhp by now I researched a lot. After considering all the options we went for the Butch XUV 500 W8 AT. Mind you the decision was thought upon a lot, but considering a few cars only fulfilling our criteria and kind words of GTO towards this machine we could conclude decision quite easily. Inspite of few rattling niggles this car is performing well and has been a happy highway mile-muncher of the family.
If you have not got bored till now we finally proceed to the real section.
From now on its all about The New One.

Last edited by hotspot : 30th July 2018 at 15:12.
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Old 28th July 2018, 12:07   #3
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The Legacy Continues: Orchid Pearl White Honda City ZX IVtec 2018

Plan To Upgrade
Now that our Honda City V AT had already entered its 8th year of ownership, an itch to upgrade (Rather get a New Car) started taking rounds in the family. The car had performed flawlessly over the years and as with all our cars, was well maintained. Only major overhaul the car had other than routine servicing was suspension bushes which had got hardened over the period of time.There was no apparent reason to change the car other than its age.

When i came back from my long tiring sail, first task I was given was to find a replacement for the car. Criteria being:
  • Within a budget of 15 Lacs On Road.
  • Minimum of 2 airbags and ABS. Safety equipment has become a priority in our family and I am proud to say my mother who doesn’t know what ABS is the first one to point out that any car which comes in family should have ABS and Airbags.
  • An Automatic Gearbox. Convenience over anything else and car will be driven in city mostly where AT makes most sense.
  • Petrol. Low Mileage Per year of ownership.
  • Reliability and low cost of ownership. We had been spoiled by earlier Hondas. BTW my brother also has Honda City 2016 as well as Honda Jazz 2011.
  • Preferably a sedan as we already have XUV.
  • Rear seat comfort as this car will mostly be chauffer driven.
Now one thing I have always found very interesting is that whenever I am suggesting a car to anyone (Yes, people do ask my advice sometimes, mostly because they see me pouring over some website with car photos i.e. Team-Bhp) there are lots of options and confusion in any segment of cars in India. But when I have to decide for my own family I see very few options. More so my family is quick and firm in making decisions be it clothes, cars, phones or even places to eat.

So as per my notes from the forum I jotted down three cars.
  • Toyota Yaris
New Kid on the Block. Comes from a manufacturer whose Tag Line might as well be we don’t build cars we build tanks. Pun Intended for adding 7 airbags as standard which is highly appreciated. We could test drive manual car only. Car had a lot going for it and fulfilled most of criteria except a few. Rear seat space and comfort was not all that great. Engine although sufficient was not as good as the other two cars we were looking into. And each and everyone in the family didn’t like the looks of the car. Front is overly done. Wheels and car do not match overall i felt it looks a bit odd. Even inside you neither feel special as verna nor feel focused and suave as city.On the top of all, family rejected the car on weird name.
  • Hyundai Verna
Verna in its Elantra style avatar looked very pleasing to the eye. Personally i don't like its too big headlamps which are slowly inching towards the A pillar. Build quality of the car as has been discussed time and again was the best. It is truly a feature rich car and those cooled seats itself are one of the best features i have seen for Indian conditions. Petrol engine is competent and mated well with the gearbox which is now 6-speed.But again rear seat disappointed us. It was too cramped, both on legroom and headroom. More so at rear it feels a bit claustrophobic. But I must say if it was not the Honda city legacy we were after, this was the car to get. And i would recommend this car to anyone who is not looking for rear seat space.
  • Honda City
Same car with new clothes. But as you might have guessed, we were almost already biased towards buying a Honda again. It seemed as if the criteria were made keeping this car in mind. It ticked all the boxes. After a short test drive it was decided Honda City will be the car which will replace Honda City.

Cars Not considered
  • Volkswagen Vento
Car had already been rejected once before when we were looking for previous Honda City. We were apprehensive about the expensive maintenance costs and also had general bad perception of DSG reliability.
  • Maruti Suzuki Ciaz
4 speed AT along with bland engine kept us away from this vehicle. Interiors though well built remind too much of Ritz we had. Refresh was around the corner and we didn’t want to wait that long.

Car being decided in simplest of the ways, the confusion started for colour and variant. Honda has spread out variants of Honda City in a very even manner and people can look for features versus the budget, and easily go for the one which suits them the most. I feel variant distribution of Honda City is best among most of the cars in the market, especially when comparing it to Hyundai Verna. Our priority being AT had three variants in picture V, VX and ZX. I must emphasize here that variant V Is most value for money and logical variant to go for in the Honda City. But as we could stretch our budget till 15 Lacs we decided to go for all bells and whistles Top Model ZX. Pointing here, apart from 6 Airbags IMHO the variant has non useful gimmicky features and is overpriced. The colour of the car was also a swift decision. It would Pearl White mainly because it is easy colour to live with.

Finally, Honda City ZX AT Orchid Pearl White was decided.

Last edited by hotspot : 30th July 2018 at 15:20.
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Old 28th July 2018, 12:50   #4
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The Legacy Continues: Orchid Pearl White Honda City ZX IVtec 2018

Delivery Experience

Meh!
We have only one dealer of Honda in our city. So there is monopoly of that dealer and we don't have a luxury of rejecting one dealer. The only option we have is to either to change the brand or buy car from another city. Anyway, when I wanted to have a test ride I went the website way. Got a call from Honda Care within 5 minutes asking me my requirement and convenient time for test drive. The lady on the phone told she would pass on all details to nearest dealer and they will contact me now on. As expected I did not receive call from anyone. Still I went ahead and visited showroom to see the car in person with my mother. Showroom was non air conditioned and boiling. Sales man came promptly and showed me the car offering a test drive. We were impressed with car on most parts. I have driven pre-facelift car belonging to my brother a lot. So i was quite comfortable with the car. A few new features in the car were welcome addition and made me feel as if Honda heard my wish list and added them in facelift model. Everything else as expected, even the “poor build quality”. On asking the sales man about offer, I was told about free insurance, exchange bonus and corporate discount was being offered by Honda. As decision was to be made by father we left the place with quotes asking the sales guy to come home that evening. Sales guy came right on time in evening with car for another test drive. Struck a deal for exchanging our car. In a hurry to make a sale or may be to deceive us sales guy promised a good deal with additional discount of 15k along with free accessories like mats, fast tag, body cover etc. But the very next day he backed out on exchange bonus saying by mistake he had spoken and asked us to check website or any other dealer elsewhere. We checked with another dealer in another city and on Honda website only to find indeed there was no exchange bonus.
More so he tried convince us the Honda is going to increase price of all cars starting from next month. Trust worthy as we all Indians are we agreed to what he said and told him to process the formalities of selling the old car and getting a new car before next month.
Next day a person came home to check car we wanted to exchange and offered a price which was less than our expectancy. I sent the guy back and called our sales person that offer put in for old car is less than expected and ill find individual buyer so keep buying a new car on hold till I find the right buyer.
Next day sales person came with another second hand dealer who proposed a price which was less than our expectation but still decent. All done we agreed on exchanging old car with Honda and book a new Honda City.

Promised delivery date: Within three days. The coming Saturday.

As we didn’t want to get new car on Saturday we purposely told sales person that we will take it Monday anytime car arrives. He agreed for the same.
Monday comes and there is no call from the sales person as yet. Late evening when I call I am told some crappy story of trailer get stuck in traffic. We didn’t have any hurry, so not a bother for us. On Wednesday finally got a call from sales guy that car has arrived and is ready to be delivered. I asked for VIN and was shared that immediately. I checked with that model is indeed June 18 built.
Now come the twist and turns.
On random checking on Hondas Website I found that Honda is not increasing any price. But has introduced additional discount of 20k for exchange.
Me and my father went to the showroom to collect the car knowing we had been fooled a bit into going for car a bit too soon. Car was shining in all its glory at the showroom entrance. The sight of car actually pacified me a bit. I went for the PDI of the car. Everything looked fine except I couldn’t see accessories promised on the car.
When I talked to the sales person reply came mats will take week to come and other accessories are not put as I had said no for them. These kind of lies to face aggravated me I gave a mouthful to sales person. My father pulled me back that the car is good and these are the people we have to deal with so its better to keep cordial relationship.
With a bitter taste we took delivery of the car with two pillows as freebie. Still we gave a small token of gift to sales person to atleast bring a smile on his face after my long rant. Then we proceeded straight to petrol bunk to top her up and then to temple to get blessings of Al Mighty.

Lessen Learnt
All discussed plenty over the forum!
Quote
Get everything in writing form sales person.
Unquote

Discount and Freebies
Insurance (Bumper to Bumper, Zero Depreciation along with engine water flooding cover).
15k cash discount (Given after lots of argument) and 5k corporate bonus.
Mats and pillows(Mats will be put in first service, cheap rubber mats provided for temporary purpose).

Accessories added:
Window Blinds (Magnetic ones ordered via amazon)
Remote key cover (ordered via amazon)


Behold!
The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-first-day.jpg

Last edited by hotspot : 30th July 2018 at 15:30.
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Old 28th July 2018, 12:56   #5
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The Legacy Continues: Orchid Pearl White Honda City ZX IVtec 2018

Living with another Honda City

Exterior

The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-exterior-1.jpg
The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-rear-2.jpg

We have owned all past generations of Honda City in the family (except OHC). I would rate the current model at number two in terms of exterior styling. I still feel the Arrow Shot design of Honda City 2009 is the best, ugliest being the dolphin model. Saying that, I would also say current Honda City is elegant and mature in its own way. Minimal and stylish use of chrome, curves/ cuts on the right places makes it please all sedan IMHO. There are some clever touches like shark fin antenna which enhance the look of the car.

The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-front-1.jpg
Starting from the front, what catches you is thin moustache chrome grill which blends into the headlamps is quite a pleasing sight. Excessive chrome being hated by most on the forum I feel thin moustache replacing the thick one of the previous generation has been an excellent idea making chrome look great again. At the bottom of the grill also there is subtle chrome lip. Both top and bottom chrome lips look in parallel and give an illussion of extending into headlights. Front bumper is lots of cuts and creases which is bit too much but is not an eye sore and gels well with overall design. The bonnet has two muscular cuts extending all the way back.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-front.jpg
But the highlight of the front are those LED headlamps. They look awesome and work awesome. The LED DRLs don’t look out of place, are sufficiently bright and add quite a lot to the character of the car.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-all-lights-action.jpg
All lights in action.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-led-fog-lamps.jpg
LED Fog Lamps are neatly concealed in honey comb plastic assembly.

The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-tail-light.jpg
Going at the back big tail lamps catch your eye. Being the Top ZX model these are also LED but I have not been a fan of tail lamp design from the beginning. Too many shapes in one assembly. Even LED don’t take the level any further up.

The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-rear-.jpg
Another striking thing is boot Lip with integrated LED Brake lamps. From far this addition looks sweet but on closer observation it definitely looks aftermarket and doesn’t gel with the boot. I prefer subtle Lip integrated in design. Redesigned rear bumper is simple with honey comb design added to the bottom just to break the bulk. The use of chrome is tasteful. The exhaust pipe is not visible, a trend I have started seen now a days common with car manufacturers. I prefer visible tail lamps with chunk of chrome of exhaust tip.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-side.jpg
Side of the car is focused on slopping roof line and curvaceous cut going from forward to aft. The car looks long from this angle.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-wheels.jpg
16 Inch diamond cut alloys do look great but are not the best looking alloys on the market. More so rubber on them is Bridgstone Ecopia with pretty odd size of 185/55 R 16. I have always believed in comfort before size. One point down on Hondas part for increasing the rim size and decreasing the size of sidewall. Moreover in my city there are not many dealers who stock this odd size. I would have preferred setup of previous generation cars(and lower variants without diamond cut alloy) i.e. 175/65 R 15 which could have been easily upgraded to 195 at the time of delivery. As of Tyre performance, it is pretty average. Decent grip and Tyre noise levels. I have had much better experience with Yoko Earth 1 and Michelin P3S.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-no-cladding.jpgThe Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-partial-cladding.jpg
Glaring cost cutting by Honda with no cladding inside rear wheel well and also partial cladding in front wheel well. This results in lot road noise filtering through cabin when you through a gravel rough patch.

The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-sunroof.jpg
On the top, it’s the crowd pleasing but absolutely useless sunroof. Sunroof has got tilt, Full open and Full close as options. If the car is parked in sun for long i use the tilt function to vent out the hot air inside. Other than that for me, its just a pleasure add on not useful in Indian weather conditions.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-shark-fin.jpg
A sexy looking Shark Fin antenna.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-rvm.jpg
Closer look on Rear View Mirror and Turn Indicator. The black portion of ORVM is protruding out slightly, where as in last generation car this black portion is recessed inside. The previous statement is just an observation and i could not figure out if it is just design or has some practical purpose. ORVMs are Bike friendly.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-front-bumper.jpgThe Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-rear-bumper.jpg
The bumpers, as usual with today generation cars is just an accessory rather than being useful. These are the front and rear extensions.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-boot.jpg
The gigantic boot. One additional brownie point for the Honda City. The boot is well designed with space to keep large suitcases. Nit picking, but i would prefer manufacturers to reduce height of boot step. It gets difficult to pull out a heavy and large size baggage from the trunk. More so Honda should provide some additional hooks or accessories like nets to tie luggage in boot.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-no-insulation.jpg
No cladding or insulation on bonnet. Although NVH are acceptable at low rpm but engine noise does get into cabin at higher rpm.

Last edited by hotspot : 31st July 2018 at 22:31.
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Old 28th July 2018, 14:29   #6
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The Legacy Continues: Orchid Pearl White Honda City ZX IVtec 2018

Interiors
This is where Honda City shines over the others. As you must have guessed from most of the cars we have had over the years, we have been inclining on cars with great interior space. And this is the trump card of Honda. Acres of space in front and rear. Overall its a very practical cabin which is ergonomically sorted.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-dash.jpg
The dashboard view. I personally like the driver oriented cockpit as well as the all black theme. Quality of interiors is not as good as the Hyundai’s but is acceptable. I feel soft touch integrated only on one panel should have been covering the whole dashboard. Its here you feel a bit let down by cost cutting of Honda.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-console-1.jpg
The console does look great in both on and off position but full touch screen is a lot of distraction. More so it’s a fingerprint and dust magnet. Now I keep a microfiber cloth in dashboard cubby, just to give the console a wipe after the drive.



The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-start-stop.jpg
Stast/Stop Button.Contrary to opinion i have read, i personally like white illuminated button much better than pre-facelift car. The button illuminates with white glow till the engine is not switched on. After switching on the engine it turns red. The button starts the car if pressed along with brake lever pressed down. Without the brake lever, first press of the button takes car to accessories mode and second press takes car to start mode.



The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-infotaiment.jpg
The Digipad is "Okaish" music system in terms of interface and functionality. It does have a lot of functions but doesn’t have the most important Apple Carplay or Android Auto. Inbuilt maps were installed by sales advisor through SD Card while delivering the car with no further info how they are updated. Maps as such are good with 3D detailing, but GPS lock takes time. As such most of you will agree there is still not alternative to Google Maps.
Sound of the system comes through 4 speakers and 4 twitters situated in the four doors. A non audiophile like me is amply satisfied with the sound. System's Bluetooth connectivity with the phone is seamless and reception quality is very good.

EDIT: There is mirror link option in the system through which Android auto can be used on the AVN.



The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-gear.jpg
The gear lever is leather wrapped and looks good. It is a usual automatic console for all Hondas. There is no lighting on the positions of gear lever. It is not much of a concern for me as we have been using same setup for last 7 years, but for people who are first on Honda automatic will be constantly watching the instrument cluster to know which gear they are actually in.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-steering.jpg
Steering wheel is leather wrapped and nice to hold. Its size is perfect with easy approach to horn pad. Wheel mounted buttons are not as cluttered as Hyundai Verna and soft to press. Left side is for media and right for Cruise Control (which I have not used as yet). Paddle shifter is another usual addition in Honda Automatics, but just like sunroof I have seen myself using them for first few months of getting the car. After that I rarely use them. They are good for high revving enthusiasts though, not a priority for me. Wiper and indicator stalks are chunky and have good soft tactile feel to them.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-console.jpg
The three pod instrument cluster is clean and simple. The white rings light up when you enter the car along with white heart beeps of Engine Start/Stop button. It looks super cool at night. The dials are well laid out and give decent amount of information. One thing I miss here is Door ajar warning not being door specific. In an expensive car there is just red indicator and you have to search all around which door is open.
Fuse box located in dashboard.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-closer-look-stitch.jpg
Closer look at stitching.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-phone-buttons.jpg
Great position for phone buttons. I took some time to get used to this setup of telephony but now I feel they are the best position to place buttons. They are easily accessible and have nice recesses at back.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-front-cabin.jpg
Front seats are very supportive and are wrapped with perforated leather seat covers. Driver side seat has height adjustment with healthy range. There is no lumbar support adjustment though. With Tilt and telescopic arrangement of steering wheel, it is easy to find right driving position in Honda City.



The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-seat-leather.jpg
Closer look at leather seats.



The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-hand-rest.jpg
The hand rest is at right height but is not adjustable. Inside storage space is deep and carry only small items. Two cubby holes in front of hand rest do not serve much of purpose as they cannot hold bigger phones we carry nowadays.

The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-irvm.jpg
Frame less Interior Rear view mirror is sufficiently wide and is auto dimming, a feature which has been on my wish list and has been missing in all other cars we owned.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-front-led.jpg
Cheap quality buttons for sunroof and interior light selector. Lights themselves are LEDs and illuminate the cabin well.
Sunroof is a pleasure add on. Luckily buying car near monsoon we had plenty opportunity to enjoy the feature. But i feel as the novelty factor goes, we will not be using this sunroof at all. There is quite a large amount of wind noise with sunroof open.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-rear-cabin.jpg
Rear seats are The Best. They are enormous and comfortable, starting from right amount of firmness, to perfect back incline and adjustable headrest. Armrest are a bit low though. As has been pointed out in official review, middle seat of the car is not very welcoming because of the raised floor hump as well as raised seat and protruding back of armrest. But on asking middle row passengers about seat comfort on an hour long trip, none of them gave a thumbs down which is a thumbs up for the city.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-rear-led.jpg
Rear has got two led lights.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-front-door-cabin.jpg
Front doors open wide in three stages and enough storage space. Soft touch leather is pleasing. Driver door console has windows up/down switches along with car lock/ unlock button. Only driver side window button offers One Touch Up/Down and illumination.


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-rear-door.jpg
Rear door open wide enough and ingress/egress is satisfactory.

Last edited by hotspot : 31st July 2018 at 22:30.
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Old 29th July 2018, 10:00   #7
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The Legacy Continues: Orchid Pearl White Honda City ZX IVtec 2018

Engine and Gearbox

The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-engine.jpg
The Famous Quote : IVtec is among the best petrol engines out there.

2018 Honda City is powered by Inline, 4 cylinder,16 Valves, SOHC 1497cc IVTEC engine which produces power figures of 119PS @ 6600RPM and torque figures of 145NM @ 4600RPM. This engine has been a pride of Honda for quite long and for all the right reasons. This engine is best explored in manual transmission. But as our priority was an automatic we had to settle for the CVT. When you press the Start/Stop button engine purrs to life and then settles down at around 700 rpm. At this rpm engine noise is Zero and you don't feel that the engine is running. When you slot car in D and lift your leg from brake pedal car lurches forward gently and creeps on a leisurely pace. On pressing the accelerate car is eager to move forward and and with light foot rpm rise in linear fashion. In city driving conditions i have not seen the car crossing 2k rpm. On closer monitoring, with light right foot car tries to keep around 1.8k before up shifting. In our case, where the car will be in urban jungle 90 percent of its life, car performs flawlessly. Engine is refined, smooth and has necessary power to carry 5 people and luggage city speeds all day long. As cvt is managing things well, there is no problem of lack of power at low rpm normally seen on manual transmission IVtec. NVH during the city drives are very good as compared to previous generation car with torque converter gearbox. In torque converter gear box gearbox up shifts from first to second are loud and vocal. I didn't notice any such engine revving in CVT gearbox.But the things change when you take the car on highways. On open stretches of road CVT gearbox is no match for DSG and other dual clutch transmission. Ivtec engine in Honda city is great but is let down very much by gear box. On flooring the accelerator there is rubber band effect where engine rpm increases and it becomes loud, but you don't see the car moving forward. As very rightly said by GTO in the official review, one has to learn the characteristic of gearbox to gain maximum out of it. If you press the accelerator with light foot things remain predictable and delightful. I feel this engine and manual transmission is the best bet for driving enthusiasts. Closest to manual for CVT transmission is paddle shifters. Paddle shifters work in both D and S modes. i didn't find paddle shifter useful in D mode for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because there is apparent lag between shifts and my pressing the paddle. It seems as if auto box is thinking whether my input to paddles is valid or not and then giving in to my command eventualy. Secondly, in D mode auto takes over very fast bringing the car back to the gear autobox thinks is right. Things take a good turn in S mode though which is the real manual mode. Engine holds revs to a higher range before upshifts and in this mode you come to know potential of iVtec engine. The engine is rev happy and as you go up in the rev range engine becomes more audible.This engine is capable of keeping even race drivers happy. But IMHO, the S mode is also not a true manual mode. Somehow, i always get a feeling that autobox is always judging me and thinking whether i am capable of choosing right gear. This Judging is very apparent in D mode and reduces quite a bit in S mode. Those of you who have pushed manual iVtec to its limit will agree to me when you drive same engine with CVT.
Overall i would rate the Engine and CVT combination very highly. The one flaw of Ivtec engine i.e. poor low end torque is superbly masked by CVT but the infamous rubberband effect does puts a damper on otherwise great combination.


Ride Quality and Complete Feel of the car

As you enter the car first thing that hits you is low sitting position. You feel as if you are seating in some sports saloon. Front seats are wide and supremely comfortable. Combination of height adjustment, long fore/aft travel of seat and tilt/telescopic arrangement of steering it is easy to find perfect riding position in this car. Position of A and B pedals is perfect and there is ample space in leg area. The dead pedal is raised and its size is good enough for show size up to 10. One ergonomic problem faced by my father is knee of left leg hits the hard part of console which gets a irritating over a period of time. Even i agree to his point and the only solution we could come up with, is to pull the driver seat a little more back. This results in knee keeping clear of off console. ORVM both side give ample view of happenings at the back. IRVM is wide enough to cover the rear view but it is hampered by headrest and unusually high parcel tray. As you put car in reverse gear rear camera comes in action. Quality of video from digipad is crisp and clear. But i think, car of this size should have parking sensors to give additional aid to driver. In the age where Toyota Yaris is providing front parking sensors, here we are stuck with a car with premium pricing and without reverse parking sensors. On the top of that, guidelines are not even active. Sad! The three viewing angles are a good addition and try to make up for the missing stuff. Quality of camera output at night also is sufficiently good. After comfortably reversing the car, when you put the gear lever in D and look in front, you meet with commanding view of the road. Steering wheel is of the right size and meaty to hold. Being leather strapped, it is soft to touch. Multimedia and cruise control buttons are well laid out without cluttering the steering wheel. Horn pad is also within reach of the thumb and soft to press. Another thing you notice are the super sexy paddler shifters which make you feel like a race driver. Three pod cluster with its white glow is pleasing to look at and gives ample information. The party trick of light changing to green/blue according to your driving style is also a nice touch encouraging you to drive with light foot.

When you take your leg off brake car starts creeping forward and you start to enjoy the smooth drive with nice view of surroundings but when you come to a corner your view is hampered by thick A pillar. When you are on a road with sparse traffic you tend to note other things of the car. You have padded hand rest on both sides to rest elbow. On good concrete roads NVH are good with minimal road, wind, tyre or engine noise filtering into the cabin. Car maintains its composer through minor rough patches. But things tend to go downhill when road gets really bad with potholes. That is the time when you realize that the car is stiffly sprung. There is too much movement inside the car when passing through potholes which is a bit unsettling. Another thing you notice is some screeches and grinding noise coming up when car is moving through uneven patch making you feel that the car is not that well built. An advantage of stiff suspension is that it gives you plenty of confidence in cornering. You are not at all nervous in pushing the car around bends. One thing i have noticed is suspension behaves much better when the car is loaded with four passengers.

Out on the highway car feels confident up to three digit speeds. There is some wallowing of rear seat passengers if undulations are present on the highway. Body roll of the car is also well under control and i feel this might be the sportiest car i have owned giving stiff competition to third generation honda city. Steering weighs up nicely at higher speed and you feel connected to road all the time.

Brakes have a sharp bite and car sheds speed very fast. I personally would have preferred all disc setup but current setup along with ABS is sufficient for all conditions. Along with that car doesn't loose composure on panic braking.

Car has ample ground clearance to go over high bumps without belly scratches. I have never seen car bottoming out on huge speed breakers, even when it is fully loaded with five passengers and luggage,


Concluding the car has spacious and comfortable cabin with sorted ergonomics and acceptable quality. Powerful engine is superbly mated to CVT giving a smooth ride in the city and ample rush to adrenaline on the highway. Ride is comfortable on good to slightly rough roads but gets bit wobbly on pothole ridden patches. Brakes perform as they are required to without any fuss.

Last edited by hotspot : 31st July 2018 at 22:53.
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Old 29th July 2018, 10:10   #8
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The Legacy Continues: Orchid Pearl White Honda City ZX IVtec 2018

Small Observations/ Features
  • Car had run 400 Kms at the time of writing review MID showing 13.8 Km/L as the efficiency. Will update further from tankful to tankful.
  • Power Windows switches remain functional even after switching off the car until the doors are opened.
  • When you leave parking light on and open door there is chime reminder (Usual Feature). But when you lock the car they switch off preventing battery drain.
  • Sound of music system seems to go up and down in Radio mode. There is no option like speed depending volume control. Can anyone shed some light on this?
  • The rear LEDs also have a dummy mic.
  • When music system has maps turned on screen, wheel buttons do not switch from station to station but change frequency. Pretty annoying!
  • Running in period stated to 1000 Kms as per manual which states to avoid heavy acceleration and deceleration during this period. Nothing specific about Revs. I for one have switched on ECON mode to automatically be easy on engine.
  • ECON switch also affects AC performance as per manual.
  • Meekest Horn in any car. It unsettles passengers inside the car much more than the people outside the car.
The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-tools.jpg
  • Honda still provides tools in a pouch. No Foam Holder, No Proper place. Just a pouch lying randomly. Jack is firmly secure and has its dedicated place.
The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-triangle.jpg
  • Even the hazard triangle lies around in the boot. Sad!
  • Fifth spare wheel is also an alloy.
The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-lifting.jpg
  • There is no mechanism to hold the mat cover while taking out the spare wheel. just a cheap cut out is provided to lift the mat.
  • To open the car you don’t need to press the button. Just slide your hand in the handle and car will unlock. Sensor provided at back of both driver and passenger side. To lock the car you have to press the button.
  • Trunk door needs a good push to close.
  • Trunk lid doesn’t pop on pressing boot release button on remote. You have to press the sensor on the lid to open.
The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-telephony.jpg
  • Middle button in telephony buttons has a dot protruding so that you can make out position of buttons with looking at the buttons.
The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-uauto-off.jpg
  • Finally! Mirrors Auto Fold In/Out on locking and unlocking the car.
The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-message.jpg
  • Annoying message on digipad everytime the car is started.
  • Service interval is 1 month, 3 month, 6 month and so on. Most of us would prefer 1 year service interval but i feel with indian road conditions this 6 month interval is appropriate.
  • Orchid white colour comes in Pearl finish which adds another 6k to Ex-showroom price. No other colour has this option.

Last edited by hotspot : 31st July 2018 at 22:36.
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Old 29th July 2018, 10:26   #9
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The Legacy Continues: Orchid Pearl White Honda City ZX IVtec 2018

Conclusion


I have been a happy Honda customer for long now. Even this car has come through in my expectations. It is said that Honda City in all its iterations does excels only at one aspect of the car, either exterior or interiors, but i feel this latest generation has been good on both fronts. Yes, its not excelling but gives a good mix of style, practicality and safety. I am hoping to rake up many more miles on this car and will surely keep you all more informed with new observations, problems and delights i get with new family member.


A few parting shots.



Two generations of trust and reliability. Go Honda!


The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-parting-shot-1.jpg

The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic-parting-shot-2.jpg


PS:
As i am frequently in and out of city i might not be able to reply specifics immediately but will surely try to answer the query as soon as possible.
We like to keep the car stock, so no major upgrade planned.
That's our Dog trying to pose in between the two cars.


PEACE

Last edited by hotspot : 31st July 2018 at 22:28.
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Old 1st August 2018, 09:31   #10
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Re: The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic

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

What a first thread, dude . This one is going straight to our homepage .
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Old 1st August 2018, 10:25   #11
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Re: The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic

OP,
A great first post!

Honda's reliability is legendary! We have previously owned 2 Accords. The first one had clocked 270,000 miles when we finally parted with her and guess which car replaced her?! Another Honda Accord which ran for 110,000 miles before we sold her during one of our moves. When the time came to upgrade, naturally we were biased towards Honda though we did look at several other cars. The latest addition to our garage is the City which has already clocked 4,000 kms in 3 months. Like you have mentioned, the current generation City has a good balance of exterior and interior quality. Wish you many thousand miles of happy car ownership.
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Old 1st August 2018, 11:21   #12
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Re: The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
What a first thread, dude . This one is going straight to our homepage .
Heartfelt gratitude to you for your kind and encouraging words.
This review is heavily inspired from numerous official and ownership reviews i have read over the years on this great forum.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Lively View Post
OP,
A great first post!

Honda's reliability is legendary! We have previously owned 2 Accords. The first one had clocked 270,000 miles when we finally parted with her and guess which car replaced her?! Another Honda Accord which ran for 110,000 miles before we sold her during one of our moves. When the time came to upgrade, naturally we were biased towards Honda though we did look at several other cars. The latest addition to our garage is the City which has already clocked 4,000 kms in 3 months. Like you have mentioned, the current generation City has a good balance of exterior and interior quality. Wish you many thousand miles of happy car ownership.

Thanks "Lively" for reading through a long thread. I completely agree with you. We all talk about Toyotas legendary reliability, but i stand with Honda for giving us a product which has proved itself time and again. More than me, my family stresses on getting only a Honda because of its low cost, peace of mind ownership. Wishing you lots of great memories with your Honda City.
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Old 1st August 2018, 11:42   #13
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Re: The Legacy Continues: Orchid Pearl White Honda City ZX IVtec 2018

Quote:
Originally Posted by hotspot View Post
Concluding the car has spacious and comfortable cabin with sorted ergonomics and acceptable quality. Powerful engine is superbly mated to CVT giving a smooth ride in the city and ample rush to adrenaline on the highway. Ride is comfortable on good to slightly rough roads but gets bit wobbly on pothole ridden patches. Brakes perform as they are required to without any fuss.
A great car is more than the sum of its parts - the City still excels in this aspect.

What a superb review hotspot! my compliments.
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Old 1st August 2018, 11:46   #14
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Re: The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic

It is like marrying the same girl again !!. I can tell this for sure because i did the same. Infact same color choice. Silver replaced with White.

::::First one ::::
Year: 2010
Model : Ivtec V
Status : Lost in 2016 chennai flood with 75k kms on the odo.



::::Second one ::::
Year: 2016
Model : Vx CVT
Status : 20k kms and still going



Welcome to the forum. Congrats on the purchase. Wishing you and your family a happy and safe driving experience.

Dev
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Old 1st August 2018, 14:53   #15
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Re: The Legacy Continues: White Orchid Pearl Honda City i-VTEC ZX Automatic

Welcome to the forum hotspot.

Quite an entrance. A well-written and detailed report.

Once a Honda customer, always a Honda customer.

It is disappointing to read about your experience at the Honda dealership. As you pointed out, you have no other option as it is the only Honda dealership in your city. Considering that you are a return customer, they should have provided a much better service to you. Hope another Honda dealership comes up soon.

Oh, and the best pic in the thread is the last one where your dog is posing between the two cars.
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