Team-BHP > Team-BHP Reviews > Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports
Register New Topics New Posts Top Thanked Team-BHP FAQ


Reply
  Search this Thread
58,219 views
Old 25th February 2022, 16:07   #1
BHPian
 
sankdadevil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Pune
Posts: 78
Thanked: 247 Times
Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review

This is an ownership thread that I intend to maintain over the coming years on my ownership of Honda City (5th Gen) Petrol ZX CVT.

Likes & Dis-Likes



The customary list of likes & dis-likes based on our test drive in late January 2022 followed by approx. 4 weeks (~350 KMs) of ownership so far.

Likes:
  • Feeling of a premium sedan - comfort, looks, luxury - the rear bench is heavenly
  • Appreciable ride quality - smooths out the pothole riddled roads
  • Truly key-less entry and exit - configurable via the settings
  • Sporty engine note and exhilaration on revving beyond 5K RPM - rev happy engine
  • Paddle shifters - for that quick downshift while going over a ghat or attempting an overtake - in both the "S" mode as well as the "D" mode
  • The "S" mode unleashes the beast to deliver the sportiness expected from this gem of a 1.5L Naturally Aspirated i-VTEC engine
  • ORVM allows a peek of the road from between the A-pillar and the mirror mounting point - reduces the blind-spot created by A-pillar
  • 3 point seat belt for all occupants - even for rear center passenger
  • 6 Airbags
  • Physical climate control knobs with a click on each turn - no need to fumble while driving
  • Hit the power button on infotainment system and it will be muted - handy to quickly silence the cabin while reversing or attending an incoming call
  • 8 speaker setup (on ZX) is fulfilling - needs to be tuned to your liking from the settings - works best with connected phone not so much with radio
  • All four windows as well as the sun-roof have pinch-guard
  • All four windows as well as the sun-roof have one-touch operation (on ZX)
  • All four windows as well as the sun-roof can be opened using the key remotely
  • No under-body scraping yet (in ~4 weeks of ownership)
  • Approx. 5L of reserve even when fuel tank level shows 0
  • Honda Connect App works as advertised, also maintains an automatic log of each trip with Distance, Avg. Speed and Trip Duration
Dis-Likes:
  • Presence of hard plastics on the interiors
  • Stock tyres are under-sized - had to upgrade it as soon as the car moved out of showroom
  • IRVM is a size smaller for my liking
  • Boring mid-range rev
  • No electric/assisted seat adjustments
  • No memory for seat adjustments
  • No passenger side seat adjustments
  • No cooled/ventilated seats
  • If the car is parked outside on a sunny afternoon the air conditioning can feel inadequate to the rear passengers
  • The sound insulation can be better - road noises do seep in, better than hatchbacks not so much when compared to premium sedans
  • No 360 degree camera feed!
  • The camera feeds (both lane change camera as well as reverse camera) is quite dated (feels like last decade) - Honda seriously needs to consider higher-resolution cameras with better low light performance
  • The infotainment system looks dated - competition provides larger, more vibrant, higher-resolution displays for their infotainment system
  • With the sun-roof open on a sunny afternoon, the visibility of infotainment screen seems poor
  • Slotting the transmission to "R" does not automatically mute/reduce volume of infotainment system - our Polo had this nifty feature
  • TPMS is more of a mathematical formula to determine deflation of a tyre and not really a pressure monitoring system
  • The front over-hang scraped twice in a period of ~4 weeks
  • The front center arm rest doesn't slide - can be an inconvenience
  • The Trip 1 doesn't reset to 0 automatically after a certain period of no use i.e. I need to remember to reset the Trip 1 before every journey - our Polo used to reset Trip A after two hours of being parked and it helped to check the trip stats. Honda Connect App maintains a trip log automatically for each journey and I now rely on the app more than the MID.
The fuel efficiency on various runs has ranged from 10-12 KMPL as per the MID. The fuel tank has not been refilled since the first tank-full on the day of delivery.

RedPo - Previous Ride



We brought home a VW Polo 1.2 MPI (highline) in October 2012. It has since proven to be an impeccable and trustworthy ride. We always counted on it to get us to wherever we wanted without a scratch and it delivered flawlessly. Our ownership experience was much more of a relationship where we looked after each other. In the words of GTO “It (Polo) was to hatchbacks what the 1st-gen City Vtec was to sedans."

An expanding family and need for more creature comforts meant there was a need for an upgrade. We started looking out for probable contenders in 2019 and were strongly inclined to go for either a Honda Civic or Honda City and during the same time the news of an impending upgrade to Honda City lineup started doing the rounds. We were comfortable to park the decision till 2020. As the world was upended by the pandemic in 2020 the car upgrade took a backseat. We cannot thank our RedPo enough for all the services it rendered during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. The inter-state travels were a breeze and we felt safe and comfortable at high-speed highway travels. No unnerving experiences with this ownership. We parted ways just a couple of days prior to our new vehicle delivery.

On a side note, our love & admiration for Polo has been so strong that when the 1.2 TSI with 7-speed DSG was launched, we bought one for our hometown. This ownership still continues… Moreover, based on our feedback a lot of our friends & family members opted to bring home one or the other model of VW Polo.

To be or not to be an SUV owner



The last 5 years or so saw a lot of SUV’s being launched in India and every person around was bringing home one of the so called SUV’s (essentially a Compact SUV a.k.a. CSUV.) The share of sedan in the overall market share was showing a steep and steady decline. We also thought of giving the SUV space a look.

My only fixation was to have at least an AWD or ideally a proper 4x4. Having a two-wheel driven vehicle badged as an SUV is just a marketing gimmick for which I was not inclined to shell out steep premium. The consensus of having a higher ground clearance didn’t make too much sense to me as the ground clearance needs a more holistic look by taking into consideration the suspensions, wheel base, tyre profile, etc… My thought, if ground clearance is so much of an issue, how have the collective lot of an entire nation travelled the length and breadth of this great nation without SUV’s for so long!?! Various threads on this forum helped me realize that my thoughts were in the right direction.

SUV’s serve an objective, a specific desire of venturing into areas where there is no road or has treacherous (snowy/sandy/boggy) roads and to achieve this objective it needs proper tech i.e. 4x4. I was wondering how the various offerings in the less than 30 lakh price bracket could offer such tech. The marketers have really caught the fancy of the population and are rolling out a lot of Compact SUV’s that run on two wheels however are advertised as badass and what-not! No offence to any owners of such vehicles. These are fine vehicles in their own right and are really desirable. Moreover, it’s a pleasure to see a new form factor catching the imagination of an entire nation (and even globally.) Vehicles on our roads today have a lot of variety and it’s definitely a welcome thing.

A few worthy contenders that were considered, the Jeep Compass Limited in its 4x4 avatar and the XUV 700 in its AWD avatar. I will not go into the pro’s and con’s of each as these are very well articulated in their respective official reviews as well as by various forum members.

I was not very well convinced with the presence of Jeep w.r.t. service & support. Also, being a relatively new and mostly one car offering in India, a Jeep’s long-term ease of ownership was unknown. The wait for XUV 700 (approx. 15 months when I checked) was excruciatingly long and given that we originally started looking out for a new car in 2019 it was just endless… and coupled with frequent price bumps it was not a worthy bet. Moreover, both these options were touching or exceeding the 30 lakh mark. After some fair discussions, it was decided to put off both these options.

The dream of owning a Civic in India



I learnt to drive on a Honda Civic and have spent many years enjoying its marvellous engineering. With time our family switched to Honda Accord, another magnificent piece of automotive engineering within the reach of regular people. These ownerships were outside of India. However, the brand Honda and its promise of good-ol' trust-worthy Japanese engineering never left my imagination.

When the Civic was re-launched in 2019 in India, I was really upbeat to get one home. However, its reception in the market was lukewarm and rightly so. I hoped that Honda would come up with a face-lift, a new variant, something to put life in this beauty that once held the entire world enthralled by its magnificence. Alas, Honda decided to pull the plug on Civic and it went off-stage!

A contender from VW stable



We did briefly glance at VW Taigun given our previous ride from VW stable served us so well. However, we decided against it due to the lack of an AWD option and long-term reliability of DSG. The Polo DSG back at our hometown did give us a shocker a few months back! As it has been rightly claimed on this forum time and again “it’s not a question of if but when will the DSG give up.” Moreover we were not as impressed with its styling as compared to the timeless styling of the Polo.

Last edited by sankdadevil : 10th March 2022 at 22:09.
sankdadevil is offline   (39) Thanks
Old 25th February 2022, 21:05   #2
BHPian
 
sankdadevil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Pune
Posts: 78
Thanked: 247 Times
Our Red Starsky - Honda City CVT

Let’s check out the all new Honda City



We booked a test drive of the 5th Gen Honda City late in January and the top-spec variant (Petrol ZX CVT) TD vehicle was at our doorstep right next day. We took a rather long test drive to go over various road surfaces and traffic conditions. Things on my mind during the TD: soothe the GC itch, check the CVT responsiveness, check the NVH (saw a lot of complaints on the forum regarding the same), understand how much of a deal-breaker the ICE really is and most importantly how confidence inspiring the car really is.

Mirror, mirror on the car (also in the car)



The test drive started by adjusting the IRVM and ORVM. I felt the IRVM to be a tad smaller to my liking given the size of the car. ORVM adjustment was a breeze and it offered enough view however a size bigger would have been better. The placement of ORVM is to my liking where it allows me a peek of the road from between the A-pillar and the mirror mounting point.

Let’s lock & roll…



Being 6’ tall, the tilt-and-telescopic steering was pushed all the way in and lowered just a bit for a comfortable grip. The driver seat adjustments (all manual) were made. I would have appreciated assisted (electric) adjustments with memory function (the desires are endless!) All occupants were buckled-up, including my 5 year old son who was very happy to have the back centre seat with a proper 3-point seat belt. The infotainment system was switched off. The gear knob was within easy reach so were climate controls. With the transmission slotted in ‘D’ mode, off we went…

How’s the pick-up?



The first thing I noticed was the sluggish pick-up. I asked the SA and he fumbled to answer (later in the TD it was revealed that he’s a pretty new SA.) Thanks to all the information gathered from the forum, I recalled that probably the ECON mode is ON. And it was! Lo-and-behold, once it was turned OFF the engine roared to life and finally it felt like I was driving a 1.5l engine. The throttle response was good and the shifts were as expected. I didn’t notice any rubber-band effect. Having driven VW DSG with 1.2 TSI quite extensively in my hometown, I immediately felt the Honda engine + transmission lacked the sportiness and the sheer exhilaration of the VW. There is a reason the VW Polo with 1.2 TSI & DSG is called a hot-hatch! Will the Honda City feel even a little bit sporty..? It was time to slot the City into the ‘S’ mode and find out…

Is it sporty..?



The silent Honda City transformed into a roaring beast as soon as the ‘S’ mode was engaged. The engine was eager to push upwards on the RPM range without the transmission forcing an up-shift. The engine note was quite audible within the cabin. It was not boomy, it was refined and sounded sporty. This is one of the reasons I started the TD with the infotainment system turned off. I wanted to listen to the engine note as well as judge the overall NVH. The paddle-shifters were a joy to use and more so in the ‘S’ mode as throttle input or braking didn’t disengage the manual mode. I also tried the Cruise Control over a patch of long empty road. It worked as advertised.

Does it handle well?



The roads I took were known to me for the last 7+ years and traversing these roads on a different vehicle gave me an opportunity to judge quite a few aspects of ride quality and handling. The Honda City flattened out uneven surfaces and minor potholes and it felt almost as if the car was flying. Large potholes were felt however the jarring was not as strong as in the Polo. I deliberately tried to bottom out over a few speed breakers however was unable to do so even with 3 adults and one kid on-board. High speed manoeuvres felt planted and confidence inspiring. I didn’t cross 80 KMPH ever during the TD so I am not sure of the handling above that speed, however within that speed range pushing the City on corners didn’t feel scary at all. With the plush feeling over broken roads I imagined there will be good body roll over tight corners however I was pleasantly surprised. There was no body roll. Given the nature of my TD path, I couldn’t check the under/over steer of the vehicle, however I felt it would be good given the kind of experience on a few tight corners tried during TD.

Braking was predictable. The amount of force needed as per road/traffic demand was at-par with my expectations. No surprises.

The steering was light enough for zipping through city traffic and it weighed up nicely on the highway. The size of the steering was standard and I felt a more sportier design would have done wonders to the already beautiful interiors.

Is it comfortable?



During the drive my son asked me to stop over. He mentioned that he wanted to change his place from centre to the side. On querying the reason for such a request the reply was “the folding centre arm rest is feeling hard on the back” and “I want to have the centre arm rest down to rest my arm.” After the TD, my wife and I tried to sit in the middle and yes it was not the best place to be in the car. It was more pronounced due to the very comfortable seating on offer on either side of the middle seat.

The driver's seat was comfortable. It provided good support to the back, had good under-thigh support and also supported the arms on both sides (typical of the bucket seat design.) The seat was not very soft/spongy i.e. it had proper hardness without any evident discomfort. The front passenger seat was also comfortable sans any height adjustment. However my wife was very clear that the back seats were the most comfortable, so much so that it felt like sitting on the sofa at home. This was a contrast to the seating in Polo where the rear seats were uncomfortable (not enough under-thigh support) and the occupants felt cramped up. The good driver's seat coupled with an automatic transmission meant that there should be less driver fatigue (at least in theory.)

How’s the climate control?



Being a late-January sunny afternoon, the ambient temperature was in the range of 31-33. The climate control didn’t have to break a sweat and the interior cooled to our liking in a very short time. Running it in Auto mode kept the interiors comfortable throughout the TD. I really liked the knobs to control the system with clicking on each turn. Makes it easy to change the settings without moving my eyes off the road. The rear blowers were adequate and could be adjusted to rear seat passengers' liking.

How’s the NVH?



The NVH is acceptable. Not super silent probably as some higher end sedans however better than hatchbacks. The road noise did filter in however it was less compared to the Polo. The engine vibrations were not felt inside the cabin or in the pedals or in the steering. The engine note was audible when the car was driven aggressively.

How are the camera’s?



There is a lane change camera on LHS ORVM which is activated on indicating left turn or can be permanently turned on using a dedicated button on the turn indicator stalk. The quality of video is pretty basic, just enough to get the job done. No HD (1080p) video. The reverse camera comes up as soon as ‘R’ mode is engaged using the gearbox. The video is pretty basic and a higher quality camera would definitely have been more appreciable especially because it’s really hard to see what lies behind from a sedan’s rear windscreen compared to a hatchback.

How’s the infotainment system?



About 2 KMs prior to reaching home, I switched on the infotainment system. I didn’t wish to connect my phone to a TD vehicle so I had to let the radio play. The 8 speaker setup on the top-spec variant did drive up my expectations and I was eager to know how it sounded... Alas, the sound was boomy and loud. I figured it might have something to do with the EQ settings and left it at that assumption due to my focus on driving. I figured I can play around with the EQ and sound settings after the TD or at the showroom.

Controlling the infotainment system from the steering mounted controls was a breeze. I really liked the fact that hitting the power button on the infotainment system will mute it (instead of turning it off), a handy feature for times when you want to quickly turn your attention to something important. Visibility was poor given overhead sun position with open sun-roof. Closing the sun-roof improved the visibility a lot, to the point of no complaints. The touch screen was resistive however I didn’t find it difficult to use (I belong to a generation that used resistive screens for long before Apple arrived and made capacitive screens a norm.)

The infotainment system was my biggest grouse reading all the feedback on the forum. The feedback is correct, however by no means a deal-breaker!

How’s the sun-roof?



The sun-roof gives a good view of the sky. Panoramic sun-roof is desirable (no end to desires, eh!) Controls to open, close & tilt the sun-roof were easy and intuitive. The sun-roof also has a pinch guard and was demonstrated by SA.

How's the overall quality?



Honda City felt like a proper Japanese car. The build quality was confidence inspiring however not as much as the built-like-a-tank feel of our decade old Polo. The paint quality was good and felt it will last a decade of ownership (or more.) Panel gaps were even and symmetrical.

Interior design is done tastefully and it is welcoming. The seats were comfortable as well as they looked good. The stitching seemed proper. There were plenty of hard plastics on the dashboard which at this price-point felt sore.

Is there enough storage space?



The storage on offer was adequate. The boot was large and it would easily gobble up the family's luggage for a decently long outstation trip. There were well thought out cubby holes in the front center of the dashboard to hold the mobile, wallet and also two cups. There was a bottle holder on each door and it also had provision to slide in a few books/magazines, etc... The front seat's back pockets were deep and also had nifty mobile storage pockets.

Other observations…



All four windows were one-touch up & down with a pinch guard just like with Polo. The 3 passenger windows could be locked from the driver's armrest, again just like with Polo. The rear windscreen sunshade was ON and it did have a positive effect on the climate inside. The traffic at the rear was still visible due to the thoughtful construction of the rear windscreen sunshade. The 12v outlets on rear side of center arm rest is really thoughtful as it can be re-purposed for whatever needs the occupants have by plugging-in a variety of after market accessories.

What was not tested?



I was unable to test the night time road visibility aided by the LED’s as the TD was a mid-day one. The reverse camera performance during night time could not be tested as well. The late-January mid-day was not as hot as a mid-May mid-day so the climate control feedback was not complete. High-speed (greater than 80 KMPH) manoeuvrability could not be tested and correspondingly the NVH (wind noise, tarmac noise, noises from quick transition of tarmac surfaces, etc.) at such high-speeds could not be felt/observed. I couldn’t test the Apple Car Play as I was not inclined to connect my personal phone to the TD vehicle.

Judgement time



What I liked:
  • Fine i-VTEC engine - revv happy with sporty engine note
  • Responsive CVT - not as sporty as the VW DSG however not sluggish as some AMT’s
  • Planted ride - suspensions are soft enough to offer comfort over pothole ridden city surfaces and stiff enough to inspire confidence during high-speed highway cruising
What I liked from the spec sheet:
  • Vehicle Stability Assist with Agile Handling Assist & ABS with EBD - to maintain control over the car for those scary moments we pray doesn’t arise!
  • 6 Airbags - again we pray not to encounter a situation where it’s needed!
What my wife liked:
  • The looks - a proper sedan look with beautiful overhangs
  • Back seat space and comfort - sitting on the back seat is like sitting on a sofa at home
  • Premium looking interiors - makes you feel good about owning the vehicle
  • Trust of the brand Honda - they have worked hard to earn the trust in our country
What my son liked:
  • The centre armrest - he doesn’t need mumma’s arm to rest his head during the drive any more
  • The rear seat push type LED’s - he can happily switch it on & off to create whatever imagination he is building in his head
  • The sun-roof - he can look at the sky, the trees and the birds
What we were sceptical about:
  • The safety ratings - the 5 star rating was for the South-East Asia variant. We placed our bet on Honda’s Japanese work ethics. Thankfully the GNCAP ratings for Indian Honda City were released right after our purchase and we felt reassured that we made the right choice with Honda.
We gave a cursory look at a few other sedans. However, compared to the test-drive of the Honda City the competition was blown out of the window! We were ready to welcome the all new 5th Gen Honda City in its Petrol ZX CVT variant to our family.

Last edited by Aditya : 3rd September 2022 at 07:18. Reason: Extra smiley deleted
sankdadevil is offline   (37) Thanks
Old 1st March 2022, 18:51   #3
BHPian
 
sankdadevil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Pune
Posts: 78
Thanked: 247 Times
Our Red Starsky - Honda City CVT

Let’s book the all new 5th gen Honda City



With the decision being made to bring home the Honda City, we began the process to book the vehicle with dealership.

Which engine?



My daily running since the pandemic set in has been a big 0. Except while running errands we are at home. However, as the world slowly inches back to pre-pandemic normalcy, I expect a few days in a week run to office i.e. roughly around 50 KMs weekly. Additionally the weekend getaways to nearby locations would result in roughly 300 to 400 KMs of monthly run. With such low running it was a no-brainer to pick a Petrol engine. Moreover, Honda is known for their Petrol engine. It's refinement is at a totally different level.

Which trim?



I believe that a car should be safe, should have predictable handling and should feel premium. As far as handling is concerned all the trims offered the same package and there was no difference in overall build amongst the variants. From the stand point of safety, I wanted maximum air-bags (begins with VX) and also the lane-watch camera (only on ZX.) On the exterior, I found that Full LED Headlamps with 9 LED Array (Inline-Shell) with L-Shaped LED Guide-type Turn Signal in Headlamps give the car a modern look. On the interior, the Exclusive Leather Upholstery with Contemporary Seat Design, the Glossy Dark Wood side garnish finish, Soft Pads with Ivory Real Stitch, LED map/reading lamps (these look really slick) and Chrome Decoration Ring for Map Lamp & Rear Reading Lamp lent a premium feel to the cabin. Therefore the ZX trim is the one we were inclined on.

As it has been mentioned many times by various members on the official review thread as well as in other ownership threads, the VX trim is the most value for money. However if you want the premium feel that is expected from a car purchase costing more than a million rupees, the ZX is the variant to go for. The additional benefits (apart from the ones listed in para above) with ZX trim over VX trim are: all 4 windows one-touch up/down, auto folding door mirrors, a rear sunshade, ambient light in front footwell and chrome outer door handles.

Finalizing the colour



All my previous vehicles have been Red. Therefore we were planning to get the Radiant Red Metallic colour. We were informed by our SA that this colour was launched with Civic and it replaced the Red that was offered previously. We were relieved as the red on previous generations was more maroon than red! We had a pre-decided date when we wanted to take delivery, not a hard one, more of a soft preference. The SA confirmed that the variant + colour can be made available in two weeks time i.e. he can meet that date. The SA requested us to visit the showroom to check the colour on a different vehicle (WRV) as they had no City on display in the Radiant Red Metallic colour. We visited the showroom the next day to check the colour on a WRV. To our satisfaction with the colour, the negotiations began.

The add-ons & negotiations



The SA offered us a waiver of basic insurance cost as it was a weekend and they had some weekend-only deals on-going. On the accessories front I was very clear that I am not interested in any bundled accessories, however the dealership insisted I must get the basic kit and after a lot of negotiations they gave a 50% discount on the same.

Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review-screenshot-20220301-160206.jpg

I was looking for a few additional accessories viz. the trunk mounted spoiler with LED stop light and the chrome admirer package. Addition of these two elements really accentuates the look of the Honda City. Instead of looking like a boring family sedan, it looks more like a sporty ride

Name:  Screenshot 20220301 160238.jpg
Views: 2973
Size:  30.5 KB

Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review-screenshot-20220301-160135.jpg

I also enquired with the dealership if they could upgrade the tyres to which they replied in negative, as expected.

On the front of additional work, I was interested in 3M under-body anti-rust coating as well as filming the windows using Llumar film. Prices for the same were negotiated. I was also offered a complete car wrapping with PPF at an attractive price point however I chucked it in favour of getting it done at Aquatint.

The car comes with a standard 3 year warranty. Additionally, I opted for a 4th year of extended warranty. I also opted for a 4 year RSA.

I also indicated that I would like to go for Engine Protect, Key Protect, Return to Invoice Value and Zero Depreciation add-ons with my insurance.

Financing the purchase



I wanted to make a 50-50 deal w.r.t. own payment v/s financing. The dealership helped me get the best quote from Bank of Baroda. I pushed for not opening a savings account with the bank, I needed just the loan account and nothing more at this time. The paperwork was handled by the dealership however I had to visit the bank for final signing.

The car is delivered to the stockyard...



A week later the car was delivered to the stockyard. I wanted to do an in-person PDI at the stockyard. However the dealership insisted that they don’t allow it due to the pandemic. They offered to make a walk-around video and share it with me. The video looked good.

The VIN was shared with me and I could confirm the vehicle was a January 2022 manufactured one. I used the VIN decoding guide on the forum and had the skeletal VIN built beforehand.

MAKXXXXXANXXXXXXX A = January N = 2022

Is the IDV right..?



I made my part of the payment and on my go ahead the bank was intimated to release the disbursement cheque. The final invoicing was done and the insurance was applied for. I noticed a gap in the insurance IDV and hence raised the concern to the dealership. They confirmed that it’s as per their SOP. The ex-showroom price minus the discounts offered to me becomes the effective/discounted ex-showroom price and 95% of that value is the IDV.

The final costing looks as follows...


Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review-screenshot-20220301-174428.jpg

Registering the vehicle



The registration process began and on the next day I received the OTP from RTO. I had a shocking realization in the afternoon when the SA came over to my place to get the paperwork signed. The PAN quoted in RTO documentation was wrong. I put my foot down and insisted it be corrected before being sent to the RTO. Dealership agreed and the new set of paperwork was done. I checked the details to my satisfaction and signed the documents. The HSNP was applied and an OTP was generated for that as well for confirmation.

The tyre replacement predicament



In the interim I started hunting for tyre replacement. I wanted to upsize the 185/55/R15 to 205/50/R15. However that size is not pretty common and hence the pricing was on the higher side. In a face to face discussion with a Michelin dealer, he recommended me to go for 195/55/R15 Primacy 4ST. He also offered quote for Pilot Sport 4ST. Back at home, a bit of online research revealed that Primacy is more suited to my needs compared to Pilot Sport. I conveyed the same to the dealer. He agreed to have it ready on the date of delivery.

All set!!



The SA called a couple of days later to confirm his ability to deliver the car a day prior to our preferred date. We were comfortable to wait a day more and take the delivery on our preferred date.

Let’s bring home the Starsky



Finally that day arrived. We reached the dealership and the SA welcomed us. He then took me over the paperwork. Our car was under covers and we were asked to do the customary unveiling by tugging the covers while it’s pulled back. Pooja of the new car was performed by my wife. This was followed by a celebration of our special day by the dealership by having us cut a cake in presence of all members of the dealership. I handed out a box of sweets each to the SA, SA manager and the accessories point of contact. I had also carried another box of sweets to be distributed to the entire dealership. The folks at the dealership were happy with this gesture.

We performed a PDI and confirmed everything was in proper shape. The under-body anti-rust coating and sun film application were also verified. The SA gave us a demo of all features of the car inside and out. The VIN and engine numbers were confirmed on all documents. During this time I noticed the driver door would not close properly unless pushed with a little force. This was not the case with other doors. SA noted it and assured it will be handled during the first service. The entire delivery process took about 2 hours and we were out with our new ride

Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review-img_3594.jpg

Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review-img_3595.jpg

Let's gift Starsky new shoes



The first stop was at the Mandir nearby. However, being lunchtime the Pujari was not present and we decided to drop by again during the evening hours. The car then stopped at the Michelin dealer’s shop. He had procured the tyres as per my requirements. The tyre swapping followed by balancing and alignment was done in about 50 mins.

Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review-img_8822.jpeg

Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review-img_8824.jpeg

The tyres were inflated as per Honda recommended pressure and I chose to fill the tyres with Nitrogen. On our way home, the ride felt extremely comfortable and the NVH was excellent.

Will the car move forward..?



The way home led to a moment where I skipped a few heart beats. At the time of departing from the showroom, the SA informed me that they had filled around 10 litres of petrol at the stockyard. The ODO showed a reading of about 32 KMs. When we left the Michelin dealer’s shop the distance to empty was showing 2 KMs and on the very first signal it turned to 0 KMs to empty!! My mind suddenly started imagining being stuck in the middle of the road in a brand new car and what not..! The AC was switched off and I started driving the car on a prayer to reach the nearest petrol pump. We reached the fuel station and heaved a sigh of relief! The refuelling revealed only 35.44 litres of petrol was pumped meaning the 0 KMs left to empty was not taking into consideration about 5 litres of petrol in reserve! Smart.

Let's entertain ourselves



During our drive, when the radio was turned on the first realisation was that the system was not tuned properly. The radio sounded too boomy and the overall listening experience was marred. On checking I found that the bass and treble were turned to max! Not sure if it’s so right from the factory or somebody in the supply chain made changes to these settings. Anyhow, I tuned it to my liking. Next I tried to play songs using Amazon Music via Apple CarPlay (wired.) The output was in total contrast to the radio. It sounded really nice. I tried the range of preset EQ options before settling on one that sounded best. The bass & treble had to be adjusted as well due to the source encoding being better. The music sounded really nice after that.

Owning a pretty capable home theatre and the experience of tuning it for a perfect sound stage came in really handy to get the music juices flowing in the car. Key takeaway, garbage in - garbage out! If you supply poorly encoded music to a decent system it will fail to deliver versus if you supply properly encoded music to the same decent system it will deliver a spectacular result.

The stock system consists of a 8 speaker setup and although it isn’t as good as more capable systems available in the after market, we are more than happy with the setup. I don’t foresee an upgrade in this department anytime soon.

The first proper drive



In the evening we visited the Tulapur Triveni Sangam where there is a Samadhi of Sambhaji Maharaj and a beautiful temple of Shivji. The trip consisted of a highway run for major part however the highway goes through the over-crowded Wagholi area meaning there were quite a many patches of extreme traffic. The patches where there was no traffic, cruising the car at 80 KMPH with Cruise Control ON and good music playing felt really satisfying. The suspension flattened out the uneven and broken village road that leads to the actual spot. This was a marked difference from my Polo which had a really stiff suspension setup leading to a not so smooth ride over broken roads.

Is the infotainment system worth it..?



There was a lot of apprehension w.r.t. the touchscreen infotainment system during my test drive and in general on the forum as well. I found the system capable once connected to Apple CarPlay. It does what it’s intended to do i.e. entertain the occupants on long drives. The navigation using Google Maps via Apple CarPlay is smooth including searching for points of interest, starting the navigation and following the on-screen as well as voice over directions. The display of the map as well as the music album covers is really good & sharp. Visibility is proper during the afternoon as well as during the night. Although I do find the low res reverse camera and its display on the screen very poor. If anything, I would have appreciated it if Honda invested on this front for a bit of extra moolah from us.

Day One Feedback

  • The car behaved the way any well engineered car is supposed to. There were no scares while on the open roads or in the middle of choc-a-bloc traffic. We found the ride quality was plush, much better than our Polo.
  • The steering was light enough for comfortable parking and weighed well at high speed over the highway.
  • The automatic transmission was a boon in the chaotic traffic jam on our way back from Tulapur. My left leg was thanking me.
  • The air con performance during the afternoon and evening was optimum.
  • The music system performed to our liking and made the journey melodious.
  • Navigation was spot on thanks to Google Maps.
Overall the upgrade from a well sorted German hatchback to a classic Japanese sedan was refreshingly noticeable. I hope this Japanese ride gives us years of fuss-free ownership as is usually the case with Honda cars.

Some pics of Starsky

Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review-img_8873.jpeg

Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review-img_8875.jpeg

Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review-img_8876.jpeg

The right door doesn't close completely if it's closed without a hard push.

Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review-img_8877.jpeg

To munching many more miles in our Starsky… Cheers!!


Last edited by sankdadevil : 2nd March 2022 at 14:00.
sankdadevil is offline   (84) Thanks
Old 11th March 2022, 07:03   #4
GTO
Team-BHP Support
 
GTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bombay
Posts: 70,546
Thanked: 300,788 Times
Re: Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage today
GTO is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 11th March 2022, 08:05   #5
Distinguished - BHPian
 
vigsom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: NSEW
Posts: 3,768
Thanked: 25,496 Times
Re: Our Red Starsky - Honda City CVT

Congratulations on acquiring what can be argued as the finest looking generation of the City.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sankdadevil View Post
- ORVM allows a peek of the road from between the A-pillar and the mirror mounting point - reduces the blind-spot created by A-pillar
- Physical climate control knobs with a click on each turn - no need to fumble while driving
- Hit the power button on infotainment system and it will be muted - handy to quickly silence the cabin while reversing or attending an incoming call
- All four windows as well as the sun-roof can be opened using the key remotely
- No under-body scraping yet (in ~4 weeks of ownership)
- TPMS is more of a mathematical formula to determine deflation of a tyre and not really a pressure monitoring system
- The front over-hang scraped twice in a period of ~4 weeks
Small yet significant likes and opportunities for improvement which have been noted and recorded; well done!

Quote:
195/55/R15 Primacy 4ST
Good that you went in for the 195/55. The 50 profile with 205 width would have given you a lot of headaches.

I encountered a City ZX CVT briefly sometime last year and was amazed at how much better the 5th Gen was over the 4th; summarised here.

Wish you many many miles of happy flying with the Starsky!

Last edited by vigsom : 11th March 2022 at 08:07.
vigsom is offline   (7) Thanks
Old 11th March 2022, 10:13   #6
BHPian
 
pta320's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 133
Thanked: 380 Times
Re: Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review

The new City looks fabulous on red. And the tyre upgrade seems to add to the looks even more. Congratulations and many many happy miles with your purchase.
pta320 is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 11th March 2022, 10:37   #7
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,238
Thanked: 3,334 Times
Re: Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review

Congratulations and wish you many miles of safe driving. Glad you went for a proper sedan than a CSUV. We need more buyers like you to keep this segment alive.

No offence, and I know it’s personal preference, but that additional chrome bits in the rear, above running boards, front bumper looks overdone in an otherwise fine looking car. More so it is contrasting to the spoiler.

Last edited by sunikkat : 11th March 2022 at 10:42.
sunikkat is offline   (12) Thanks
Old 11th March 2022, 12:08   #8
BHPian
 
Pequod's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Trivandrum
Posts: 156
Thanked: 707 Times
Re: Our Red Starsky - Honda City CVT

Quote:
Originally Posted by sankdadevil View Post
[h3]
To munching many more miles in our Starsky… Cheers!!

Congrats! The Honda City in red is one looker!

Also, you meant 195/55/R16 right? The 15 inchers are only on the V variant I believe.

PS - not to rain on your parade and certainly no offense, but those additional chrome bits look garish. To each his own -
Pequod is online now   (8) Thanks
Old 11th March 2022, 12:41   #9
BHPian
 
saisree's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: TN-11, AP-03
Posts: 942
Thanked: 2,429 Times
Re: Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review

Very nice detailed review. Liked the flow.

City really looks Red HOT. Wish you more miles with Starsky.

I'm also waiting to take the plunge and replace my Jazz with City. Waiting to see, whether Honda is ready to launch a CVT version of i-DTEC. Addicted to that zero lag turbo engine.
saisree is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 11th March 2022, 13:42   #10
BHPian
 
sankdadevil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Pune
Posts: 78
Thanked: 247 Times
Re: Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by vigsom View Post
Good that you went in for the 195/55. The 50 profile with 205 width would have given you a lot of headaches.
Any particular reason why you feel the 205/50 would have been terrible?

Quote:
Originally Posted by sunikkat View Post
Congratulations and wish you many miles of safe driving. Glad you went for a proper sedan than a CSUV. We need more buyers like you to keep this segment alive.

No offence, and I know it’s personal preference, but that additional chrome bits in the rear, above running boards, front bumper looks overdone in an otherwise fine looking car. More so it is contrasting to the spoiler.
I am not a fan of the chrome as well. However, with the spoiler added on the rear trunk, notice how the chrome accentuates overall look from the rear. With the chrome lines run from front to back, this chrome package is neatly designed by Honda to give the new City a striking look. There is a reason it's called the Chrome Admirer package. You need to see it in flesh to admire it.

There are a few more chrome packages for City that really go overboard and seem garish.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pequod View Post
Congrats! The Honda City in red is one looker!

Also, you meant 195/55/R16 right? The 15 inchers are only on the V variant I believe.

PS - not to rain on your parade and certainly no offense, but those additional chrome bits look garish. To each his own -
Thank you for catching the typo... Yes, I did intend R16.

These chrome bits are designed as if it was always meant to be there. See it to believe it.
sankdadevil is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 11th March 2022, 14:18   #11
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Bombay
Posts: 1,050
Thanked: 302 Times
Re: Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review

Ride quality will improve since you upsized the tires. Outer diameter has increased by 5%. Not really a bad things - should also help a bit in the ground clearance. Be aware of speed and mileage errors due to this.Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review-screenshot-20220311-124616.jpg

Last edited by sandeep108 : 11th March 2022 at 14:20.
sandeep108 is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 11th March 2022, 14:25   #12
BHPian
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: Pune
Posts: 48
Thanked: 190 Times
Re: Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review

Congratulations and hope you have years of fuss-free, peaceful, high-revving ownership with your red beauty. Reading your review, seems the City ticked almost all the boxes from your expectations list. Honda has done a tremendous job with the CVT on this 5th gen City with noticeable improvement in the rubber-band vs the 4th gen. Do keep up posted on the FE figures of your City - I've heard some really impressive numbers! Also, do note that it is extremely important to follow Honda's atrocious 6-month service intervals for the warranty to work, unless you have special agreements with your SA
aniket13 is offline  
Old 11th March 2022, 14:28   #13
BHPian
 
sankdadevil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Pune
Posts: 78
Thanked: 247 Times
Re: Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by sandeep108 View Post
Ride quality will improve since you upsized the tires. Outer diameter has increased by 5%. Not really a bad things - should also help a bit in the ground clearance. Be aware of speed and mileage errors due to this.
That is correct.

I forgot to mention in my review, that I used https://tiresize.com/tyre-size-calculator/ to evaluate the differences between 185/55/R16 v/s 195/55/R16 v/s 205/55/R16. It's a good tool to visualize the changes and make a more informed decision.
sankdadevil is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 11th March 2022, 15:33   #14
BHPian
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 128
Thanked: 223 Times
Re: Our Red Starsky | 5th-gen Honda City CVT Review

Hearty Congratulations! A nicely compiled and crisp review. Thank you for sharing. Honda City, as we all know is iconic and has simply got better over the years. Please keep us posted on your ownership experience in the coming years. Wish you a million happy miles.
Regards.
VikramCS is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 11th March 2022, 15:55   #15
BHPian
 
Born 2 Be Wild's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Roaming
Posts: 813
Thanked: 1,367 Times
Re: Our Red Starsky - Honda City CVT

Quote:
Originally Posted by vigsom View Post

Good that you went in for the 195/55. The 50 profile with 205 width would have given you a lot of headaches.
I sincerely beg to differ sir, i have 205/55/16 michelins on my car and they have performed flawlessly over the 40k kms covered so far. No issues whatsoever with them
Born 2 Be Wild is offline   (2) Thanks
Reply

Most Viewed


Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks