[Sid13]

Originally Posted by Dead_Pedal

There's simply too much beige going on. Now, it's trying to look sporty outside while the interiors are too executive-ish. T

Maybe that's the customer-base honda is catering to. I personally like the interior of Honda City more than Virtus. I recently sat inside the rear of a vehicle with all dark interior theme. Despite the vehicle being spacious I felt a bit claustrophobic due to the lack of light inside the cabin. But Honda could bring a version with a sportier interior for catering to customers like you. But in that segment, they are not selling enough volume to create another version with major changes in interiors. Also, the engine output of City doesn't really support too much sportiness elsewhere.

[Sid13]

Originally Posted by tiagoatrix

ADAS will be the new sunroof for us Indians.

In the current scenario of Indian traffic, I feel ADAS is as much a marketing gimmick as a sunroof.


Other than in certain parts of India where there are protected express highways isn't it quite unsafe to use ADAS. As is Cruise Control I feel.

When I personally think about the occasions where I could have opened the sunroof is very very minimal. The kind of premium I pay for another piece of equipment that I rarely use and which could go wrong and cost me money to repair. It just doesn't justify the extra money I pay for it.

[Sid13]

Originally Posted by GoBabyGo

If we compare City with all other 4 meter plus sized vehicle available on sale then I think City score at par or may be little more than available options variant to variant and also price to price. Indian highways has highest legal speed of 120kmph and City within this speed is almost at par with others. It has amongst the highest respect and owners can feel that proud feelings of owning City.

True that! in that segment city really is VFM and variant- to- variant comparison in consideration of price also City simply offers more.

Regarding ride quality and stability at speeds above 90, I really doubt if the current city comes anywhere close to the kind of Virtus. Especially I have heard more than one person complaining about the vertical movement rear passengers experience at high speeds, especially on poorly laid highways.

[Skorp_Knight]

Love the City for being a beautiful, no nonsense practical car that's also fun to drive, as well as extremely comfortable to be driven in. It has that premium car vibe going for it that no other Honda can boast of in the Indian market. Wish Honda tried just as hard to sell every other car they plan to bring to the market.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

It’s high time Honda gets a turbo engine, atleast in top ends. The 1.5 vtec is no match to 1.5 and 1.4 turbo engines from VAG and Hyundai / Kia.

The turbo petrol comes with higher cost and more imporantly lower reliability compared to the NA petrol going by reports in overseas forums.

[true_sedan]

Honda has still not updated their website with the latest brochure for the city hybrid. Here’s the latest one:
[ATTACH=City e-Hev Brochure.pdf]2425202[/ATTACH]

[ellip5i5]

Honda has shored up their safety features and tweaked a few aesthetic bits. I wish they’d move to the grey interior scheme from the eHEV model which would make a good refresh.

But overall I expect this will not be able to stand against the upcoming Verna with its feature blitz. Will be interesting to follow the sedan market shares in the coming months

[SouravS]

Originally Posted by Chethan B G

Door and boot damping would be good if you are installing speakers and a better music system. For road and external noise, I think it would be an overkill..

I would suggest that proper 3M rubberised coating ( 2 ltrs should be used) for the under chassis and wheel arches would solve much of the issue with respect to NVH. The problem is that there are very few players who do a honest job. I would prefer 2 coats with a gap of 1 week would seal the surface properly.

Could you elaborate more on the rubberised coating? - you seem to have experience of using it earlier. How is the efficacy as compared to damping (with decent quality sheets)?

Does another coat after a few days make a lot of difference in your experience? 3M website says 2 coats after a gap of a few minutes. So this will mean 4 coats?

3M website also mentions about trunks and interiors. Have you (or anyone else here) used for interiors as well?

[TheHelix0202]

Honda really doesn't give a rat's arse anymore. Expected a call back when I enquired for a test drive on their website today. Nothing. The Skoda chaps called back, though they've their own issues.....that's the City dropped from the shopping cart real quick.

[Chethan B G]

Originally Posted by SouravS

Could you elaborate more on the rubberised coating? - you seem to have experience of using it earlier. How is the efficacy as compared to damping (with decent quality sheets)?

NVH in general comprises of the following factors:

1. Engine noise / vibration : This depends on the engine itself, engine mounts, engine bay noise insulation and fire wall insulation. This is well controlled in the City.

2. Road / suspension / tyre noise : This depends on the Wheel arch cladding, Under body built quality / insulation provided. This is the main problem with the City and can be reduced to a decent extent through under body rubberised coating and tyres with silent thread. Difference can be easily perceived.

3. Wind noise : This depends on the panel gaps around the door and the selection / quality of the door beading. This is another problem with the City and can be reduced by replacing door beading with double- door beading all round. Difficult to source the right beading, but beading procured from the international market (export model) might help.

Temporarily, this noise can be reduced by spraying the beadings with silicon lubricant available in the market. The effect of each spray would last for a week or so.

4. Ambient noise : This depends on the thickness of the glass used all-round and also the body sheet metal. Nothing much can be done here. Quality damping on the door panel and the boot will probably reduce it, but the main culprit here is the window glass thickness. Therefore, I would say, no point in spending money here unless one requires "acoustic insulation" as a process of upgrading the music system components.

Damping sheets are meant for acoustic insulation, to avoid scatter of acoustic waves and direct it towards the cabin. These sheets are pasted behind the speakers for that purpose. These are comparatively expensive and does not serve the purpose effectively as the window glass are the spoilers here.

Originally Posted by SouravS

Does another coat after a few days make a lot of difference in your experience?

Yes. Because, the first coat unfortunately does not cover the entire area required (due to average work carried out by the vendors; there can be exception though). The second application after a couple of weeks (allows the first coat to dry up thoroughly), covers the area and also adds to the thickness of the coat. This helps.

Originally Posted by SouravS

website says 2 coats after a gap of a few minutes. So this will mean 4 coats?

A single application requires 2 coats. If the job is well done, second application may not be required. But the second application adds to the thickness of the coat which helps.

Originally Posted by SouravS

website also mentions about trunks and interiors. Have you (or anyone else here) used for interiors as well?

I have not tried this and would not have black tar / rubber coating inside the car, even inside the boot.

But technically, if the wheel arches and the under body is coated well, then interior and the boot need not be touched.

All the best! Drive safe!

[M00M]

People can continue to criticise Honda India and rightly so, despite having world class products they have faltered and how and still there is only talk. However, one thing we cannot criticise is their commitment to the City brand in India which continues to be updated timely and regularly and is the best in class all rounder.

Having owned the dolphin and the arrow shot design of the City I think the new FL is a well rounded all rounder once again. I am looking forward to the test drive of the same.

Comparison to Slavia and Virtus - They only have the drivability going for them and performance otherwise I found their plastic quality and interior quality sub par and overpriced, the fact that Skoda sales guy agreed with me puts more weightage on that.

Comparison to Hyundai Verna - Having owned Hyundai's theyre not so cheap on maintenance and not big on safety, I have vowed never to buy another Hyundai until the made in India Hyundai is 5 star on Bharat NCAP list. I personally find the Verna spy photos ugly but then design is a subjective choice per person.

Anybody who wants a reliable sedan, plan to keep it for 10 years, comfort oriented, with everything that just works should and will buy the Honda City rest all wanting performance can go to Skoda VW and people wanting diesel will go to Verna.

Regarding 360 camera and Ventilated Seats omission, I have ventilated seats in my car but I never use them because I dont want the body odour of the driver to filter back to me so I dont find that a big deal. 360 would be nice but I find it baffling that we Indians want only features and not safety for us and our family. Having been in a life threatening accident I only value safety, comfort and reliability over performance (we cant go past 60 in city, 80 in MH highway and 100 on expressway anyways) and touch feel materials in the interior over gimmicks given by Hyundai and Kia which are terribly unsafe despite having 6 airbags as the body structure is compromised from day 1.

I hope some sanity prevails in Indians over safety and some sanity prevails at Honda India to relaunch CRV, Accord in India along with HRV and other global models.

[GoBabyGo]

Originally Posted by SouravS

Could you elaborate more on the rubberised coating? - you seem to have experience of using it earlier. How is the efficacy as compared to damping (with decent quality sheets)?

Does another coat after a few days make a lot of difference in your experience? 3M website says 2 coats after a gap of a few minutes. So this will mean 4 coats?

3M website also mentions about trunks and interiors. Have you (or anyone else here) used for interiors as well?

Hi, floor dumping would cost around 7k and door dumping also around 8k (very good quality sheets). I did under body coating in my 2018 City (black coating in 2021) from my trusted FNG for Rs.2200/-. I did coating so that botton area look better, no other benefit of doing this in 2018 model, in my experience.

Door dumping will give extra weight to doors and doors & boot feel very solid when you close them. It is not just that speaker output will be better. There is just about 15% to 20% noise reduction not more than that. Floor dumping in City more or less waste of money in my view.

My experience with 4th generation City is that glass & sheet material used in City is at par with Ciaz (Maruti grade), therefore whatever one do, there will be very minimal reduction in noise entering the cabin. I feel the same for 5th generation City, though don't own 5th gen so can't say with full confidence.

[Asoon]

Honda is surviving on just 2 models and both of them feels dated. Their sluggish product strategy is the reason for their downfall from top 3 to irrelevant player in the sector.

City new gen was launched in 2014 a year before Creta launch. We have seen as major facelifted Creta few years ago and expecting next gen in 2023/24. City feels same as 2014 city with cosmetic changes. Similarly we have seed 3 versions of i20 all very different from each other, difference between i20 elite and current i20 is less than the difference between 2009 ivtec model and current City. Same goes for Verna evolution

Even the VW group brought Virtus/ Slavia as successor to Vento/ Rapid.
With competition evolving at a faster pace and new gen Verna around the corner City will loose its grip and Honda will become irrelevant in the four wheeler segment

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Honda really doesn't give a rat's arse anymore. Expected a call back when I enquired for a test drive on their website today. Nothing. The Skoda chaps called back, though they've their own issues.....that's the City dropped from the shopping cart real quick.

Please dont take it otherwise. Cars today are a commodity item. Just because no one from one particular dealer called back doesnt give Honda a demerit point. Go to the dealers yourself and get a test drive done. Our objective is to use our cars, no dealer is going to pamper a customer with royal pre and post delivery comfort. Those days are gone. If you get it, its a bonus frankly. You can have problems even with 40l plus cars due to dealer apathy and can be perfectly happy with the ownership experience of a SPresso. Pre- delivery customer engagement particularly , should never be a criterion to judge the brand itself because it gives us a heartburn more than anyone else.

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

Please dont take it otherwise. Cars today are a commodity item. Just because no one from one particular dealer called back doesnt give Honda a demerit point. Go to the dealers yourself and get a test drive done. Our objective is to use our cars, no dealer is going to pamper a customer with royal pre and post delivery comfort. Those days are gone. If you get it, its a bonus frankly. You can have problems even with 40l plus cars due to dealer apathy and can be perfectly happy with the ownership experience of a SPresso. Pre- delivery customer engagement particularly , should never be a criterion to judge the brand itself because it gives us a heartburn more than anyone else.

This wasn't even one particular dealer but the entire website! At least the Skoda guys called back and enquired about my choice of dealership. C'mon, lacking the basic courtesy to deliver on a promised area by a manufacturer, irrespective of dealership or top management, speaks volumes about the interest and willingness of these people to sell an experience. Remember, it isn't just about selling a car. Maybe it's true that cars are now a commodity. It's as easy for me to walk into competitor X's showroom and pick up a similarly priced or higher priced variant. Truly not the customer's loss. Quoting a friend of mine, Honda (anybody tbh) might as well just pack its bags and leave.

Also, in an era of internet non-privacy, one is made to feel like a fool signing up on an umpteen number of websites, only for said action to have no use when it matters. So much for the user experience, of which I'm a designer.