New Honda City diesel Photo Gallery and Video, 6 speed manual gearbox

The next-generation 2014 Honda City diesel sedan will feature a 6 speed manual gearbox. We list out its upsides and downsides.

6-speed manual gearbox on the upcoming Honda City diesel

Honda has outfitted the 2014 City sedan’s diesel engined variants with a 6 speed manual gearbox. However, the 1.5 liter i-VTEC petrol engine will retain 5 speed manual and automatic gearboxes. Honda using a 6 speed manual gearbox with the 1.5 liter i-DTEC turbo diesel engine has to do with a range of reasons.

Firstly, Honda has plans of retaining the fixed geometry turbocharger (FGT) on the 1.5 liter i-DTEC turbo diesel engine. This means that any increase in power/torque outputs from the said engine will mainly have to with a revised engine map. Also read: New Honda City unveiled; new features and more space

Assuming that Honda bumps up the power and torque figures for the 2014 City to about 110 PS-240 Nm, a six speed gearbox will allow for closer gear ratios in the first five gears, allowing for better acceleration across the rev range. A tall sixth gear will also deliver better fuel efficiency on highway runs by allowing the engine to spin at a lower speed.

An engine spinning at lower rpms for extended periods of time also makes for fatigue free driving due to the lower noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) levels. One downside of the 6 speed gearbox though, is that the driver will have to shift more gears, something that people might not be happy doing in heavy traffic conditions.

The 2014 Honda City is based on the next-generation Jazz platform. The car gets styling tweaks and all-new interiors, along with new features such as a touch screen climate control module, combi instrumentation cluster, twin beam headlamps, rear foglamps, rear AC vents, auto fold mirrors and four 12 V power points.

The car will be built at Honda’s Greater Noida facility, off New Delhi. While pre-bookings for the 2014 City are already on, pricing will be released sometime in January, which is when Honda plans to launch the City sedan in India.