[BUSA]

City is definitely not a generation behind

I totally agree with you, if anything MUL is used to selling car two generations old. Hondas City was the first car in the segment to take a direction in the right step which has destroyed the Accent, Baleno(never was competing with the City), AVEO, Verna(P) and Fiesta(P)

Till now no car has been able to upbeat the City (be it Verna, Aveo, Fiesta, Indigo XL) so it definately cant be called a generation behind, please.

[benbsb29]

From the snaps posted by a fellow member, while the A pillars and quarter glass look liveable with from the outside, it looks horrible when viewed from the inside. How i wish they had displaced the quarter glass.

[srishiva]

Since the swift had a very high waistline and dash, was the quarter glass unavoidable to reduce the line down ? It slants down compared to other vehicles.

[Akshay1234]

i just had a look at the sx4 and i was impressed. the first thing that struck me was that this was tall. about as tall as a getz. i love the 16inch wheels. the only thing i didnt like about the design was the quarter glass. the build quality seems good and the doors have that thud. the rear legroom as many people have already mentioned is nothing to boast about but it wasnt bad either. the boot is huge. some 500ltrs. the center console looks nice with the integrated stereo. the stereo also has an aux in. the finish seems good on the inside. another small thing i like was the control for the mirrors. it was a little joystick instead of the 4 way butons we are used to. the on road price in mumbai for the zxi is 805,000 (give or take a couple hundred) for the individual registered one.

[goldie_malhotra]

Managed to get a very brief test-ride in the Sxi last evening with a couple of colleagues

Overall impressions

Interiors - Looks very decent, especially the Sxi with leather. Dash is not very impressive, reminding me of the Swift. And I agree with all that plastic quality could have been a lot better for a car of its class - lets see how well they age.
Space is very impressive, far above the competition, and the driver seat is quite comfortable. Didnt get a chance to try out the rear, but my friend was very happy with the seating.

Engine - The engine is quite responsive and fairly smooth compared to its predecessor, which had quite a coarse grunt. The low-end torque, however is missing, and you have to wait until 2500 rpm for some of the really good mid-range to show up, and from then on to around 4500 rpm, it can put a grin on your face (not a wide one though). The high-end again is a bit disappointing, and not quite smooth as expected.
Gear-shift is a bit notchy, not as smooth as NHC which was creamy and precise from day-1.

Ride/Handling - The ride is way beyond the competition - it soaks up potholes, bad patches and speed-breakers with punitive ease. Couldn't get a chance to really speed it up (only a 100) and test the cornering etc., but the heavy weight of the car gives a lot of confidence on straight, open roads - should be a comfortable cruiser on the highways.

Comfort/NVH - bad, bad, bad - this is the worst part of the car. After my experience with the Swift, I had expected MUL to give a class leading or at least equal NVH in the SX4. The engine noise at higher rpms is way too intruding, even the rear passengers seem to sit up and take notice. And the ride over bad patches seems to give quite a few vibrations and noise.

Equipment/VFM - dont need to say anything over here - SX4 simply blows away the competition here.

To summarise, the SX4 has some very strong points in its favour - namely, the equipment level, VFM, space, ride quality, and of course, the promise of excellent A/S/S from MUL. Other decent points include the engine, and the handling, which has yet to be fully explored/ripped. FE is another key area to be seen. However, the NVH is something SX4 lacks in compared to competition, and this gives a feeling to a lot as 'not' being as luxurious/refined.

So, while SX4 seems very promising, it still needs to slug it out with NHC/Fiesta to come out at the top of the pack.

[ballkey]

Originally Posted by goldie_malhotra

Comfort/NVH - bad, bad, bad - this is the worst part of the car. After my experience with the Swift, I had expected MUL to give a class leading or at least equal NVH in the SX4. The engine noise at higher rpms is way too intruding, even the rear passengers seem to sit up and take notice. .

Is this engine noise, or just wind noise? The Swift also starts bawling after 90km/h, it's an issue in most tall cars.

[GeekSrik]

excellent review goldie. guess the NVH did really bother you. other than that i dont see anything dangerous enough to worry about like maybe rattles and the like!

[HSV]

My only bone of contention is - how come they didnt offer an auto transmission (not even as an option)? The NHC CVT is the only car in its segment without any competition.

If this car is to beat the NHC then MUL should have thought of this as well. Everybody loves the equipment and interiors etc, but wouldnt it have been great if they had offered a CVT too? That way the budding young entrepreneurs who are potential buyers of automatics, who may not want to afford the luxury class cars yet, would have had another option to choose from other than the NHC CVT.

What say?

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by goldie_malhotra

Ride/Handling - The ride is way beyond the competition - it soaks up potholes, bad patches and speed-breakers with punitive ease.

Originally Posted by goldie_malhotra

Comfort/NVH - bad, bad, bad - And the ride over bad patches seems to give quite a few vibrations and noise.

Contradicting views about the ride over bad patches. Which one is true ?

[theMAG]

Judging from the Swift, a reasonably educated guess will indicate the suspension will be on the stiffer side - aiding handling better than ride

[AshOnTheRocks]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

OT: i wish i could do this over PM but one last point i need to make. mods please moderate if required.



yes sir i didnt drive the SX4!! (coz the car was not having RTO clearance at the place where i saw it), but i did walk around the car, sat in the car, jumped inside the car, opened the doors, shut the doors and quite a few other things also which i cannot post here.

my experience driving a honda city 1.5 L new model, is whenever i visit my hometown (friends car which is at my disposal, and i personally have covered some 500 kms till date over 2 years lol).

This car does tons of kms (2 yr car done 70k kms), its pristinely maintained with a decent set of tyre alloy upgrade (2nd set) and i have driven at various odo readings starting from 500 kms to last visit when it had done 70k kms.

But compared to the above I for one felt that the INITIAL IMPRESSION of SX4 was much better. The thuds, the quality feel of switch gears, the way the car welcomes one into its lap etc.

Am not a qualified auto person but a pure layman who loves driving and cars and i have definite preference to solid build compared to fragile and tacky feel which honda always had. My personal way to refer to the city is "gal car" which is very easy to live with but no involvement what so ever.

Damn i just had a oral debate at the car park over the same with a honda city owner lol, but he drives first model and trust me that car is a dream compared to the new city.

Yes i would personally put my money on SX4 compared to City and only place where city would score will be for its FE in my books.

I rest my case now and back to SX4 please, if anyone has any comments/abuse etc feel free to PM me

cheers
Jaggu

You seem to have got involved with SX4 by just looking around the car & jumping in and out & then stating that NHC is a 'no involvement car'..interesting! Maruti cars & solid build..hmm..this is news to me..BTW I also own an Opel Corsa & despite the solid build of Corsa I do not feel the door closing etc of Honda is poor..infact it is pretty okay. Honda cars anything but fragile or tacky..statements should be backed by facts & not personal biases when taking on well established brands like Honda..Honda have always led the sedan market in their market segements with quality products that have defined the market & others follow & try & play catch up..

[RX135]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Contradicting views about the ride over bad patches. Which one is true ?

What is so contradicting about it? A good ride will soak up craters, bumps or any unevenness on the road without passing on to the passengers. In doing so, it may as well create distinct "thud", rattles if build quality is poor. (Not that SX4 has poor build).

Originally Posted by theMAG

Judging from the Swift, a reasonably educated guess will indicate the suspension will be on the stiffer side - aiding handling better than ride

With high GC, it better be tuned for ride than handling.

[cartech]

SX4 ZXi compared to NHC GXi and VTEC is VFM.
Mumbai ex-show prices:

ZXi(Leather) 7.60L,
ZXi(Normal) 7.25L
NHC(GXi ) 7.65L
NHC(VTEC) 8.42L

ZXi has Climate Control+ABS+Twin airbags+Pretentioner seat belt+In dash 6 CD Changer+ 6speakers+Glass antena+Longer wheelbase+ Larger dimensions+Maruti service.

[esteem_lover]

If it is soaking up potholes & craters, where is the question of the thud, i am stupid.

[RX135]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

If it is soaking up potholes & craters, where is the question of the thud, i am stupid.

Someone will have to take impact of the bad road, either suspension or the passenger

If the suspension takes that without passing it on to passenger, it means it soaked it up and ride is good.

Since it takes the impact, it might as well create some noise (not that it is mandatory).