New Honda City i-VTEC

An update on the new Honda City

It has been a few weeks since the third generation Honda City has been launched in India. Bookings have started, test drives have been taken, design has been analysed. Sure, the car is not in the hands of the average car buyer yet for a test drive, but seems a few car magazines have got hold of the car.

As we know already, the third generation Honda City comes with and updated design and a powerful new iVTEC engine.

Those who have seen the new Honda City are unanimous that the new City is an amazing looker. Some even dare say it looks better than the Honda Civic. As a Civic owner, thats a bit difficult for me to accept, but I give that yes, in that bright red, the City in fact looks better than the Civic. Yes, the new Honda Insight inspired front end, Civic like sides and the BMW-inspired back are that good.

You must have already noticed that the new Honda City has the same steering wheel as the Honda Civic. There goes your exclusivity, Civic owners. Not just that, the top end versions of the new City have audio controls on the steering wheel – which even the Civic does not have. Ha!

Overall, the interior looks classy and spacious – much more than the City it replaces. What is strange is that Honda has gotten rid of the CD player – what you now have is a USB port. You can connect your iPod to it, and a CD player is only an option. A bit strange, that. Not everyone carries their music around in iPods yet.

Our friends at BS Motoring have driven the car a bit – not a full fledged test drive, mind you – more like a quick driving impression. What I gather so far is that you get 0-60 kmph times of 5.46 seconds, 100 kmph in 11.64 seconds and achieved a top speed of 195 kmph – all figures which they are confident will improve with a run-in car.

For now, we will wait for more exhaustive road tests to deliver a final verdict on the car. But tell you the truth,  we really like this car. All that 118 bhp is really good, the looks are good, driveability should be good. Just call up your local dealer and find out when you can take it out for a proper road test.

New Honda City Specs and Price

The car has been unveiled in two grades, such as  1.5E (manual transmission) and 1.5S (manual and automatic). Having hit the dealerships across the country in six different colours, the new Third Generation Honda City carries price tags starting from Rs 7,86,000. While the 1.5E (manual transmission) has been priced at Rs 7,86,000, the 1.5S manual and automatic come for Rs 8,36,000 and Rs 9,06,000 respectively.

Features include add-ons such as the advanced integrated audio system, which offers the car user the freedom to integrate with technologies such as ipod, MP3 player, USB memory and cell phone with MP3 player.