[sharktale]

I feel this is the car which defined the Indian car scene, and how the trends have changed overtime, from trim choices to design lines..

Sharing my 2 cents Gen-wise :

Gen 1 : We had the facelifted model in our family for a year. Man, it was a style statement to travel in a car back then, and this made you feel like a King. Extremely well designed, spacious, clean lines and a hoot of an engine!

Gen 2 : We got an upgrade to this from the Gen1 model. It was a handoff from dad's colleague who had spent Rs 1 lac back in 2005 on the stereo system. Pioneer Double DIN, subwoofer , amplifier, and speakers adequately potent of bringing the house down.
It is still my favourite of the lot of cars my garage had seen till 2015 (Replaced by the Octavia in 2016). I still remember buying the Eminem Curtain Call CD, and going mad with "Shake That"! Oh, that lovely thumping Bass!

Gen 3 : Never had it in my garage, but a well developed model. Powerful, good features and the last of the strongly built ones.

Gen 4 : The clean simple lines have taken a drastic, sharper u-turn!
Don't have it in my own garage, but my neighbour/friend has it. It is a step-down from its heritage. Too many shared bits and designs from other Honda products, and the quality of the metal has gone down. Engine isn't that effective to me, and doesn't feel
as re-assuring as its older bros. I hope they solve the issue, and try to not cut costs from all angles. Honda's upcoming lineup isn't exciting either, and they might lose Mkt share, if they don't up their game.

[manaljain]

Originally Posted by Ithaca

@ manaljain. This Honda City thread is something dear to me because the Dolphin Honda City is the first car I bought with my earnings and will always be special to me.

I would request you to kindly add a Poll to your thread with all the Honda City iterations so that members can vote on their favorite version of this beauty.
If possible, another poll could be added to select the favorite Honda City colour too. I would vote for the New Warm Silver colour that my Dolphin City came in.

Thanks for this thread.

I guess a poll can only be created when posting a new thread. I read on the FAQ section that

Creating a new poll

When you post a new thread, you may have the option to also create a poll.

[The Brutailer]

Honda City in India is a true cult classic. I remember a decade back, it was an aspirational car for the masses. Even now, IMO it’s the gold standard in the segment (especially in it’s iVtec avatar).

Which car comes close?
- Ciaz, which I believe is a City clone and is not at all competent with it’s underpowered engines.

- VAG Group cars (Vento/Rapid) : Solid cars with great, modern engines but plagued with lot of major issues. Not at all reliable. Gearbox failure, sub par ASS. Not to mention they don’t have the muscle of the 1.5 iVtec. The fast, phantom feeling is due to superb shift times of that DSG. I, though still prefer the old school high revving NA engines.

- Linea and others : Too old to be honest. Need a refresh or it’ll be dead soon.

Note : I don’t want to spark a debate, so counter arguments are not welcome. It’s my own personal views. Congrats to Honda. Though you’ve become too greedy for your own good and I believe it’ll lead to your downfall as well.

P. S. My views were intended towards the petrol powered cars only. In diesel guzzlers, probably every other car is better than the City. Lol.

[Thermodynamics]

Sedans from 90s, the ones that come to my mind are Contessa classic, Ford Escort, Opel Astra, Daewoo Cielo, Mitsubishi Lancer, Maruti 1000 and the Honda City.

Nearly all of them are gone but the City survived to this day and still holds a strong market share in its segment. Congrats

As a second thought, the City remains a sole bread winner for Honda India. Not sure what their strategy is, High quality and High margin? or Low quality and Low margin? or Low quality and High Margin?

[OSH]

Originally Posted by The Brutailer

Honda City in India is a true cult classic. I remember a decade back, it was an aspirational car for the masses. Even now, IMO it’s the gold standard in the segment (especially in it’s iVtec avatar).

Originally Posted by Thermodynamics

If I think of subcompact sedans from 90s, the ones that come to my mind are Contessa classic, Ford Escort, Opel Astra, Daewoo Cielo, Mitsubishi Lancer, Maruti 1000 and the Honda City.

Nearly all of them are gone but the City survived to this day and still holds a strong market share in its segment.

50 years down the line, I won't be surprised to see TeamBHP full of threads that go like, "Restoring my 20xx Honda City".

After the Fiats/Ambassadors of the early 90s and M800s of the late 90s, it's the 21st century's Honda City that people are going to remember for ages.

[behaln]

No doubt CITY has enjoyed a decent run in India, was proud owner of two of them, first gen and third gen. Infact one of them is still in the family, being driven by a relative.

Always had a smile on face while driving a HONDA, in those days.

[ALTIMAed]

Originally Posted by Sahil

That is not the first generation Honda City. There was one before this that was launched in the last 90s a few years after the Opel Astra.

I don't see how Honda India could mess this up. Or maybe they didn't have a first generation honda city available so they went ahead and potrayed the second generation as the first. Below are picture of the first generation.

We had the first generation Honda City 1.3, it was a 100bhp engine that at that time felt like a rocket!! There was also a 1.5L engine which was even better. I remember they launched a sport edition of the 1.5L which had an amazing blue color and nice set of rims.

Sir, the 1.3 Ltr developed 90 Bhp. The 1.5 Ltr developed 100 Bhp.

[ALTIMAed]

Nostalgia for people like myself who were associated with selling the first generation Honda City. I was the Sales Manager of Kamdhenu Honda, those days, the only dealership in Gujarat for Honda Cars. We were a very lean team - Trupti Mehta, Ekta Patro, Harshal Desai and myself (Sunil Banerjee) covering the entire state of Gujarat. Most of the times, Harshal and myself were on the move, travelling from town to town with our test drive vehicle - 1.5 Ltr manual transmission Adriatic Blue. Must admit, having worked in the automobile trade for 21 years (brands (dealership level) Tata, Honda, GM, Toyota, Ford, Nissan), I can honestly say, no car has ever given that AAAAAWWWWWWW as the 1.5 Honda City gave - that exactly was its selling point. A test drive was all that was required to make a sale. Power and mileage both really impressive. The AT, which came only in the 1.5 variant, was purchased by people who, those days knew what AT was.

[Durango Dude]

Originally Posted by ALTIMAed

Nostalgia for people like myself who were associated with selling the first generation Honda City. I was the Sales Manager of Kamdhenu Honda, those days, the only dealership in Gujarat for Honda Cars. We were a very lean team - Trupti Mehta, Ekta Patro, Harshal Desai and myself (Sunil Banerjee) covering the entire state of Gujarat. Most of the times, Harshal and myself were on the move, travelling from town to town with our test drive vehicle - 1.5 Ltr manual transmission Adriatic Blue. Must admit, having worked in the automobile trade for 21 years (brands (dealership level) Tata, Honda, GM, Toyota, Ford, Nissan), I can honestly say, no car has ever given that AAAAAWWWWWWW as the 1.5 Honda City gave - that exactly was its selling point. A test drive was all that was required to make a sale. Power and mileage both really impressive. The AT, which came only in the 1.5 variant, was purchased by people who, those days knew what AT was.

Exactly, one TD was all that was required to make the sale: I was the buyer the CVT is very convenient, powerful, comfy cabin, fuel efficient, etc. Only fly in the City package is the touchscreen navigation that leaves a lot to be desired, lacking in finesse, Apple Car Play and Android Auto after charging a bomb, despite this the speakers are reasonably good. But its a very refined drive, indeed! And here's she basking the morning sun light on the scenic ECR at Muttukadu.

[GTO]

I've owned what is perhaps the most iconic generation & variant of the City in India. The 1st-gen Vtec:






Along with the Vtec, we had a C220 and after the Vtec, we had a Civic. Of all the 3 cars, it is the City Vtec that I miss even today. Says a lot, no? The precise hydraulic steering, mad revv-happy engine and light chuckable nature made it a lot of fun <100 kmph. Equally, it was a disaster on the highway with very poor high speed manners.

I've owned the Lancer too. Other than the crazy redline-loving Vtec engine, the Lancer was the superior in all aspects.

Originally Posted by Sahil

Yes you are right but the facelift was quite major on the first generation that it felt like a completely new gen.

Still a facelift man.

Originally Posted by Equus

The City (with its shiny H badge) has been seen as a status/success symbol since almost day one! Anybody can throw light on what PR helped them achieve that?

The Honda Accord & Civic were among the most popular imports of "rich men" in India. Indians had also seen their popularity when traveling abroad. Honda had immense brand equity in India even before it set foot in the country. It's similar to how the imported Land Cruisers & Prados made the Fortuner an instant success.

Originally Posted by manaljain

I guess a poll can only be created when posting a new thread. I read on the FAQ section that

Added . The 1st-gen pulls the strings to my heart the most. However, in terms of being the best car on sale (in their respective times), I would say it's the 2nd & 3rd gens. The 1st was too cheap & basic, while the 4th gen has shown a quality compromise for the first time in a Honda.

[R2D2]

I owned a black Honda City 1.5 EXi Type II (post facelift) from 2002 to end 2005.

Have I mistakenly thought of this as the 2nd gen HC? I though the 1st gen was the car introduced in '97/'98.

A memorable ownership experience except for the lousy sales and service afforded by the local dealer. She was beautifully maintained. So that is my favourite City.

Most disliked? The so called 'dolphin' (AKA chuchundri) with the anaemic 77 BHP engine introduced in 2005/06. UGH! What a let down after the previous Type II models including the VTEC.

[siddd]

Originally Posted by GTO

I've owned what is perhaps the most iconic generation & variant of the City in India. The 1st-gen Vtec:

Are you sure that is a VTEC. My query is due to the fact that there is only one exhaust pipe in your car whereas the original VTEC had twin exhausts (both on the right side). Also, it also had cutouts in the front headrests which I could not notice in your pics.

Having owned one myself (sapphire silver colour), I totally agree that the VTEC was one of the most iconic City's ever produced.

[dinu2506]

Originally Posted by siddd

Are you sure that is a VTEC. My query is due to the fact that there is only one exhaust pipe in your car whereas the original VTEC had twin exhausts (both on the right side). Also, it also had cutouts in the front headrests which I could not notice in your pics.

Having owned one myself (sapphire silver colour), I totally agree that the VTEC was one of the most iconic City's ever produced.

I guess GTO was running an aftermarket exhaust (looks like Magnaflow), but a VTec no doubt

[vb-saan]

I remember that urge to buy a brand new Honda City around 2002, and by the time I got down to buy one (in 2003), the generation change happened and one look at the 2nd generation was enough to look at other brands; ended up buying the brilliant Ford Ikon 1.6 nxt. In my opinion, the 3rd generation was quite brilliant and covered all the basics pretty well. The corporate edition with all basic safety features (of its time) and all-black interiors was awesome.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by siddd

Are you sure that is a VTEC. My query is due to the fact that there is only one exhaust pipe in your car whereas the original VTEC had twin exhausts (both on the right side). Also, it also had cutouts in the front headrests which I could not notice in your pics.

Having owned one myself (sapphire silver colour), I totally agree that the VTEC was one of the most iconic City's ever produced.

I think he's pretty sure his car is a VTEC going by his thread:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...ance-mods.html

It would be quite funny if from all people, he wasn't sure if his car was a VTEC.