Honda City Review

Honda City exterior design

The Honda City remains a well-proportioned sedan, apart from the gaps in its wheel arches owing to its high ground clearance. It features a honeycomb-pattern front grille which is accentuated by a chrome strip that connects the LED headlamps. Its sporty credentials are further complemented by the 16-inch alloy wheels, along with the carbon-fibre like diffuser and boot-lid spoiler at the rear.

Honda City interior and features

The Honda City has a premium and well-laid-out cabin with the petrol version getting a beige/black colour scheme and the Hybrid getting a white/black theme. The front seats are plush and supportive and the 8-inch touchscreen, with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, has a good resolution. It also features a wireless charger that can be stowed away when not required. The rear seats offer class-leading space and comfort. However, it misses out on ventilated front seats and the City Hybrid is down on boot space due to the battery’s positioning.

Honda City: ADAS tech

The Honda City comes with ‘Honda Sensing’ ADAS features, on both manual and automatic variants, which include lane-keeping assist, lane-departure warning, adaptive cruise control, auto emergency braking, collision mitigation braking and auto high-beam assist. The systems are helpful, but work under specific driving conditions and when the roads are well marked.

Honda City mileage, engine and performance

The Honda City is powered by a 1.5-liltre petrol engine or a strong hybrid powertrain. The former is paired to a 6-speed manual or a 7-step CVT auto, whereas the latter comes with an e-CVT. The petrol powertrain is fun and delivers strong performance at higher revs, whereas the hybrid’s biggest strength is its responsiveness, refinement and smoothness. Even though the petrol CVT is surprisingly efficient, the Hybrid delivers staggering mileage, hovering around 20kpl in real world driving.

Honda City ride and handling

The Honda City offers great confidence around corners courtesy of its well-weighted steering and balanced suspension setup. It showcases good stability and ride quality too, cushioning passengers from the bumps and uneven road surfaces. However, cabin insulation and refinement aren’t the best among the competition as a lot of engine and road noise does creep in.

Honda City price and verdict

The Honda City petrol is priced from Rs 11.49 lakh - Rs 15.97 lakh whereas the Hybrid commands a Rs 4.50 lakh – Rs 5.00 lakh premium, costing Rs 18.89 lakh – Rs 20.39 lakh. The Honda City is a well-rounded sedan, packing in space, comfort, and fuel economy, whilst being fun to drive as well. While it misses some features like ventilated seats, ADAS is a neat safety net, and while rivals do offer punchy turbo engines, the strong hybrid delivers unbeatable fuel economy.