Welcome Home Lady in Red - THE ALL NEW HONDA CITY


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I started out with a budget of upto 10 lakhs. Fuel efficiency, after
sales service, inside space, drivability and resale value were my prime
concerns. I needed a car with atleast 100+ BHP and basic features like power windows, ABS, keyless entry etc. I short listed four cars maruti sx4, fiat linea, all new Honda city.

I took out linea due to a few reasons.

Linea: Very good car. Has got everything I wanted. Scored high on 80% of
my parameters (Except Power). However, I doubted about Tata’s service and also feels insecure after reading past fiat behaviors in India( I mean what happened to fiat sienna, palio, Uno?). Tata has always been criticized for their lack of after sales support

Now, I have two options – Maruti SX4 and Honda City.

No Discounts have been taken into consideration (Honda city won’t give you
much discounts unlike SX4). If you take discounts, SX4 CNG
will be even more attractive. After dropping linea, I finally had to decide between SX4 and Honda city. I took a test ride for 30 mins on Maruti SX4 ZXi. I drive
my friend’s Honda City SMT. So, the following is a result of my own judgment.

Engine: Both cars have very comparable engines. In terms of engine sizes
and BHP (Brake Horse Power), there is nothing really to choose from.
Honda City has 118 PS power, whereas SX4 has 105 PS. Initially I thought more the power lesser the fuel economy, though I was wrong.

Gear Box: City’s gearbox is smoother and the gears are pretty close to
each other, which means lesser effort compared to SX4(as I felt)

Suspension : City’s suspension is smooth. SX4 is smoother. The
engine performs better for City at decent speeds (upto 120 Km/Hour).
But, at higher speeds SX4 suspension seems to be much better.
The GC of SX4 is a massive 180, now that even makes an Scorpio to feel shame.
While the Honda city GC is only 160 which is its major negative point.

Dashboard: Quality of Plastics seemed better/sturdier in SX4 while
in City, fit and finish of upholstery and buttons/switches seemed not that elegant.

Drivability: Both cars are good in this area, though there is more confidence in sx4 because of the higher GC.

Maneuverability: city is better to maneuver in city traffic and it is
“Zippy”, compared to SX4 which is more huge/solid and hence
Difficult to maneuver, reversing an SX4 is a difficult task

Cabin Space: City has more cabin space (though overall dimension is
Less than SX4). This is because City’s engine is smaller and takes
Less space at the front.

Seating: City has the advantage of driver’s seat adjuster which the sx4 doesn’t.(or it has?)

Smoothness: City has a smoother ride, especially for people at the
back.

Cabin Noise : City’s motor feels dead when it starts, its absolutely
quit and noise during drive is negligible.

Rear-Seat Comfort : Much better in City. SX4’s ride is bumpy and
the seating positions for back seat are very uncomfortable, even for a
short ride.

Mileage : City has been shown to give higher mileage. But the new
SX4 VVT claims to give more. Expect 10-14 Km on an average and
Nothing much to choose from here.

AC : SX4 has auto climate control, city has manual but the city AC cools much faster than SX4.

Utilities : City has provision for four speakers, same for sx4
But the sound quality of sx4 music system is very standard and nothing remarkable. City integrated audio system’s sound quality is very excellent. The bass and treble are heard crystal clear.

Boot Space: again nothing to compare much but looks better in city.

Looks : SX4 is a huge car and looks majestic. Honda city’s got killer looks which is just unbeatable IMO.

After Sale Service/Spares : SX4 will be better entirely due to
Maruti’s wide extensive network

Resale: Will be better for Honda City

I had almost made my mind to buy the SX4 but following things put me off.

1. Very uncomfortable back-seat ride (Important because I need to
drive with 4/5 people consistently)
2. Overall Bumpy Ride
3. looks doesn’t inspire
4. Noisy Engine & Cabin as compared to city
5. Less Effective AC as compared to city
6. SX4 dimensions are larger than city, now that’s the problem for me as the colony’s entrance is narrower, so the xtra 5 cm wider and 10-15 cm longer thing was putting my mind off.

I got City at a discount of 30,000 (Due to a special Honda’s Promotion – the great Honda fest) also i want to comment on the car dealer, i bought this car from Ring Road Honda, peeragarhi and their service was just excellent, everything was in smooth and friendly manner I made“Smart” decision thinking about the long-term. The car fulfills
my entire criterion I noted down at the beginning.
 

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Joined
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Congrats Anmol. But only 1pic, thats unfair. Post some more exterior as well as interior pics.
Enjoy your new ride.
 
Joined
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Congrats on your new ride Anmol , its looking great! Please do post more pictures.


I also TD the City a few weeks back and boy , i just loved the car! The engine was ultra-refined and even a tall guy like me managed to sit comfortably in all the seats. Gearing was also good but not as good as my Verna. Good choice but Fiat is improving now , so no worries about their A.S.S.


And your discount of 30k i think it must be the insurance , right?
 
Thread Starter #8
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ilango[speed thirst];55935 said:
Congrats for the ride man!
thanks buddy.

Congrats on your new ride Anmol , its looking great! Please do post more pictures.


I also TD the City a few weeks back and boy , i just loved the car! The engine was ultra-refined and even a tall guy like me managed to sit comfortably in all the seats. Gearing was also good but not as good as my Verna. Good choice but Fiat is improving now , so no worries about their A.S.S.


And your discount of 30k i think it must be the insurance , right?
thanks bro, yes the discount is for free insurance.
 
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oh congrats bro. we expect many more pics of your new car buddy!!! i am happy that you chose the red colour. the only dis-advantage with the ICE of the city is that its not a cd player. else its just great if you are a person who listens to songs at lower volumes.
enjoy thousands of miles with your car. :-)
 
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Congratz Anmol,

One of the best looking color in City & wishing you lakhs of Happy Miles.

Why not post more pics of interiors ?
 
Thread Starter #13
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Congratulations.
This color (along with white) looks great on Honda City.
thanks mate.

oh congrats bro. we expect many more pics of your new car buddy!!! i am happy that you chose the red colour. the only dis-advantage with the ICE of the city is that its not a cd player. else its just great if you are a person who listens to songs at lower volumes.
enjoy thousands of miles with your car. :-)
thanks bro......actually i liked the cd elimination from ice by honda....pretty futuristic move.

Congratz Anmol,

One of the best looking color in City & wishing you lakhs of Happy Miles.

Why not post more pics of interiors ?
sure buddy/

Congrats for the ride Anmol.
thanks.....




i have a query here.....i have key less entry system in the car but the car doesn't chimes on opening or closing the car by remote.

can i add some after market system which can integrate with this system so that it can chime when car is opened or closed using remote, as chime helps to ensure that car is locked/unlocked without visually inspecting.
-----------Next Post-----------
here are couple of pics.....taken from mobile.
 

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Joined
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anmol, congratulations on your new city, looks awesome in this shade, but i personally loved the steel grey shade.Great choice.BTW which model did you choosed and what was on road price you paid.Do share.
 
Thread Starter #15
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anmol, congratulations on your new city, looks awesome in this shade, but i personally loved the steel grey shade.Great choice.BTW which model did you choosed and what was on road price you paid.Do share.
thanks vijay. i too love the steel grey shade but my mother insisted to go with red.

we took the S-MT variant and costed 9.70 On road delhi.
 

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