[CBlazer]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

To put it bluntly - I hate this tin can.

Hi ROC, long time.

And a long time since I heard this expression about a car. I can't believe a 10L car could be built so bad?

[dr chill]

Gots myself an ANHC SAT, and no matter what people are saying about the quality of the interior (agreed thats its not very good ),i dont find it that bad at all, maybe its because i changed from an OHC VTEC or maybe its because the driving pleasure takes over.

[pshyamsundar]

I feel for a c-segment sedan the following a must have

1. 100 bhp/with decent torque to pull with 4-5 adults
2. Climate control A/c
3. safety features all wheel disc brakes, ABS/Airbags
4. Good headlights and fog lights
5. Good build quality.

I think honda have taken it for granted that they can sell anything in India. I think they have to go back and re-visit the car.

I think it is not a complete car.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by dr chill

Gots myself an ANHC SAT, and no matter what people are saying about the quality of the interior (agreed thats its not very good ),i dont find it that bad at all, maybe its because i changed from an OHC VTEC or maybe its because the driving pleasure takes over.

well compared to the previous city (NHC) the ANHC definitely feels less "luxurious"! I felt Honda has descended to SX4/Fiesta levels now when I test drove the SAT in nov!

Just compare the gear stick of ANHC Auto with NHC AT! Nowhere the same class.

[cruiser_1982]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

I td'ed the G3 Honda City today from Dakshin Honda. Following are my impressions

+ The engine is very responsive in the power band. Pulls really well once past 3000 rpm and really takes off past 5000 rpm.
+ Engine note is excellent. The engine is barely audible and I love the fact that it does get nice and raspy once pushed.
+ Lots of space. Even with a 6 footer like me seated comfortably in the front, a person of average size can sit comfortably.
+ Very good driving position and front visibility. Thank got they did away with that crappy front quarter panel.
+ Shifter is quite slick and throw is relatively short. Clutch is reasonably light for easy city traffic driving.
+ Steering mounted controls for audio.

Now for the brickbats
- Cost cutting evident everywhere. The interior quality is atrocious. The plastics are bad, the steering wheel is bad, the body is really flimsy and feels like a tin can. Some standard equipment for a 10lac car like alloys, fogs, CD player missing. Something as basic as the gear lever cover is crappy plastic and not leather.
- Steering feels absolutely numb. Even with Michelin Energy tyres which are reasonably grippy, the steering has no feedback whatsoever. This doesn't inspire confidence at all.
- Something's very strange about the tiny dead pedal. It actually impeded my foot from properly engaging the clutch due to its closeness to the clutch. Every time I pressed the clutch, the middle of my foot would end up touching a part of the dead pedal. It was manageable on a TD however it would be pretty painful when one has to deal with this on a daily basis.
- Considering the nice engine, I'd have expected Honda to give good stopping power to the car. But no the car's brakes are pretty much pathetic. First of all they are on/off with not much room for modulation. Secondly the brakes hardly have any bite. You really have to press them hard to get the car to stop. After being used to my cedia's brakes, these were just plain rubbish. I mean ABS and all is fine but the brakes themselves should be good in the first place otherwise whats the whole point. A 116bhp car deserves good all round discs.
- Body roll is pretty bad. The car rolls pretty badly at corners. Rear passengers won't feel too good sitting there if the car is driven hard.
- Considering the body roll, I'd expect atleast the ride quality to be good and the suspension be able to soak up bumps. However this is not the case. The ride is really hard and all road undulations filter thru into the cabin.
- While the engine is very silent, ambient noise like other cars/horns etc filter thru into the cabin. Probably a result of the poor quality panels used for the car.
- Hardly any cubby holes in the interior. Door map pockets are just too small and feel so flimsy that anything heavy might actually break them.
- Poor quality audio. Very very boomy audio setup.
- The engine bay feels as if it was designed for a different engine and a tiny 1.5 motor plonked in as an afterthought. There's tonnes of empty space in the bay. Wonder why this was done and why they didn't design an engine bay that fits this engine snugly. It doesn't either have a cold air intake. The intake pipe is sitting right behind the battery. The bottom of the engine doesn't have a sump guard so a big rock might damage the block.
- The front grill has huge clearance and I'm sure that small stones will get thru and hit the radiator and might bend or damage it. They should have covered it up properly.
- I could hear rattles from the TD car that had done barely 5000 odd km.
- The Fuel consumption guage in the trip computer showed 9.9km/l which isn't great.
- Severely overpriced compared to competition.

Thats about it. To put it lightly - I was not at all impressed. The fiesta is a way better put car than this. To put it bluntly - I hate this tin can.

That was a really honest review. Honda should stop overpricing their cars so much and remember that they dont sell ACURA here.

[luky_13]

Honda vehicles carry a huge value addition which the indian consumer has traded in for the badge. With linea coming in, competition in this segement will heat up and in the long run the consumer will be the ultimate gainer.

ANHC is a good car, linea competition should make it even better... the value addition should come down and missing goodies should find a place on the ANHC in 2009
1 Alloys/Bigger tyres
2 Climate control
3 Better central console (badly needed)

[Vikster]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

- The Fuel consumption guage in the trip computer showed 9.9km/l which isn't great.

the FE point I tend to agree with - it is less than what was promised but I hope it doesn't slip below 10. I am getting ~12 kmpl right now.

Thats about it. To put it lightly - I was not at all impressed. The fiesta is a way better put car than this. To put it bluntly - I hate this tin can.

Tin can. Hmmm.. Fiesta? Don't think so.

[ImmortalZ]

Who cares how thin the sheet metal is - it is the way the chassis is built that protects you in case of a crash and it has been proven many times that Japanese "tin cans" protect you just as well as European "tanks" in case of a crash.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

1) The engine bay feels as if it was designed for a different engine and a tiny 1.5 motor plonked in as an afterthought. There's tonnes of empty space in the bay. Wonder why this was done and why they didn't design an engine bay that fits this engine snugly. It doesn't either have a cold air intake. The intake pipe is sitting right behind the battery. The bottom of the engine doesn't have a sump guard so a big rock might damage the block.

2) The front grill has huge clearance and I'm sure that small stones will get thru and hit the radiator and might bend or damage it. They should have covered it up properly.

3) I could hear rattles from the TD car that had done barely 5000 odd km.

4) The Fuel consumption guage in the trip computer showed 9.9km/l which isn't great.

5) Severely overpriced compared to competition.

1 and 2) In Europe the law say that there has to be 10cm space between engine and hood for pedestrian safety. Although this has nothing to do with the empty space around the engine, I feel that the space wasted in front of engine towards headlamps is keeping in mind the European standards for pedestrian safety. This also results in large front overhangs.

3) I am hearing this for the first time. Bad specially for such an expensive car.

4) May be the test car was driven badly. This is a possibility.

5) But it will sell. Its very underequipped and overpriced. Certainly not a good deal for Indian customer.

I also agree on you about the cabin being poorly insulated. G2HC was better here.

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

1 and 2) In Europe the law say that there has to be 10cm space between engine and hood for pedestrian safety. Although this has nothing to do with the empty space around the engine, I feel that the space wasted in front of engine towards headlamps is keeping in mind the European standards for pedestrian safety. This also results in large front overhangs.

I'm aware of that. This is way more than 10 inches. Its more like half the engine bay is empty. I'm guessing the bay is designed to be used with a larger 1.8 or 2 liter block as well.

[pshyamsundar]

The points which I have mentioned are available in D-segment cars. (altis, civic, lancer). This has to boil down to C- segment. That is the point I am trying to drive.

1. 100 bhp/with decent torque to pull with 4-5 adults
2. Climate control A/c - (not available in fiesta, honda)
3. safety features all wheel disc brakes, ABS/Airbags (All four disc brakes only available in verna)
4. Good headlights and fog lights. (h1/h7 - twin headlight available only in fiesta) This twin headlights actually gives more light on the road than a H4 head light
5. Good build quality. Leave this to personal opinion.

I still fell that there is no one c-segment clear winner here. All cars fall short in one way or the other.

[appuchan]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

...

Thats about it. To put it lightly - I was not at all impressed. The fiesta is a way better put car than this. To put it bluntly - I hate this tin can.

ROC, you should have tried it in the night. I tried the automatic version in the night. In addition to most of the things you mentioned, the headlights are also pathetic. I was frequently fiddling with the headlight switch to check if its on and the side windows to check if its closed properly as so much traffic sound was filtering inside.

Earlier in showroom I had asked about the lack of fog lamp and the salesman said the headlight will more than compensate for that!

The door upholstery is the worst I have seen in any car for a long time.

Its clearly a "cheap car" with a good engine. And unfortunately all other new cars we have are better cars with "cheap engine".

[ImmortalZ]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

I'm aware of that. This is way more than 10 inches. Its more like half the engine bay is empty. I'm guessing the bay is designed to be used with a larger 1.8 or 2 liter block as well.

The ANHC in China has the Civic's R18A engine as an option.

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ

Who cares how thin the sheet metal is - it is the way the chassis is built that protects you in case of a crash and it has been proven many times that Japanese "tin cans" protect you just as well as European "tanks" in case of a crash.

Not all japanese cars are tin cans. Neither are all hondas tin cans. Civic is decently built and the new Accord is actually very well built. But the ANHC is probably built with bottom of the barrel materials. Comparing it with the outgoing car which was in the showroom right beside it would tell anyone how poor quality and thin the sheet metal is.

The chassis might be good and would probably earn it a 5 star safety rating. However in order to keep the weight and costs down, they've sacrificed on the body's material quality. In an accident, the sheet metal will be history and I'm guessing will entail a huge cost in repairs/replacement.

[ImmortalZ]

Come on dude, in any accident where there's contact above 20KMPH, it doesn't matter if the sheet metal is Skoda thick or Honda thick. They will get crushed - they are supposed to get crushed to absorb impact forces. Either way, you'll have to reshape/repaint or replace/repaint. In a contest between concrete and sheet metal, the concrete will win, Skoda or Honda on the other side.

Besides, that's what insurance is for