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-   -   4th-gen Honda City : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/145656-4th-gen-honda-city-official-review-28.html)

Ex showroom Price of 3rd Gen Petrol City SMT (prior to official price cut) is equivalent to 4th Gen Diesel City SMT.

I have SMT variant of 3rd gen City.

Great pricing overall. I had pre booked the CVT and I'm now wondering if i should get the SV or the VX ! Strange idea to not have a V model in the Auto. I just don't get the logic ! If the diesel manual and petrol manual buyers have a choice, then why not us !

The SV seems better value at 1.5L less than the VX. One can get awesome alloys, 195/60 tyres, a high end pioneer sound system, stanley leather seats and after market fog lamps (original design) for all under Rs. 1 Lakh.
Im not trying to say Honda is ripping people off at an extra price of 1.5L on the VX as they do offer kit such as start stop ignition, sunroof and some other stuff within the price. All I'm saying is that one can live without the sunroof and start stop. My dads bmw has both and i don't find them useful one bit. Never use the sunroof and the start/stop does not make life easier in any way.
The SV will offer more pleasure when you 'dress the lady up' with goodies you like on a lazy Sunday. The VX will ensure you can't add much!

I visited the Apex Honda showroom in Sion this evening. Luckily they remained open beyond their closing time of 7 PM due to the rush of visitors. Came away with mixed feelings. Here’s why:
There was no information available on the ex-showroom or on-road pricing. ‘Tomorrow evening’ was the promise I was given. A single VX IDTEC was available for inspection, the silver metallic I think.
Started inspection at the boot, since a large family was spending a long time in the seats. No covering for the naked underside of the boot lid. Very high loading lip, which will make loading and unloading flight-sized luggage pretty difficult, I’m sure. They said the 510 litre boot space includes the space under the floor. That means they expect you to use the space in and around the spare rim too!
Tyres were Dunlops. The salesgirl didn’t know whether this was standard or what the cars will actually roll out with. She did say that they won’t have a problem if a customer upsizes the tyres. I specifically asked if any warranty would be at risk and she said no. So that’s good. She had no answer when I asked if the rims offered in the accessories could be provided instead of the stock ones, but promised to find out and let me know ‘tomorrow’.
I also asked if I could install front parking sensors separately, since they were charging a bomb for them and she assured me that I could do so without affecting the warranty. I took this with a pinch of salt and will ask again if I do go in for this car.
Opened the bonnet. Was quite surprised to see the fusebox located in the engine compartment, after GTO showed a pic of it located inside the car, below the dashboard. The plastic box itself looks very crude and the lid did not seem to have any catch to ensure it remains tight, to protect the fuses from dust and possible oxidation.
Looking down through the engine bay, I saw probably the entire bottom of the engine compartment covered by a flimsy black plastic cover. I think this too is what GTO had photographed in his review. However, what shocked and confused me was that when I kneeled down on the floor to get a better look at this cover, it seemed to practically touch the floor itself. So I tried to measure its distance from the floor as it appeared to be the lowest part of the car, barring the tyres themselves. Guess what its height turned out to be? Since I didn’t have a measure tape I used the next best thing; my hands. The height was equal to 4 fingers of one palm + 2 fingers of the other. When I got home I used a measure tape on my hands and got a grand total of 11 cm. That’s 110mm. So that made me wonder which part of the undercarriage Honda has measured to get the GC figure of 165mm. So, GTO and anyone else who has examined the car, did you actually get down on your knees and notice this? The front overhang is huge, and I’m certain this plastic cover will be the first casualty on our speedbreakers and bad roads, since the wheels are so way behind! Hey, I just thought of something. Why don't all of you get down under your cars, with a measure tape and measure the height of the lowest point of your car from the ground. I'm sure you will be surprised when you compare your findings with the figures given in your owners' manuals. I'll do it myself tomorrow.

Okay, after this shock I got a chance to sit in the car. First, the rear seat. It seems comfortable and all, but, as I had asked in an earlier post, why did that slight hump have to be there under the middle passenger’s butt? And the hump on the floor would make the guy in the middle a bit uncomfortable, having to keep his legs always splayed.
The two phone charger points on the rear AC console are quite way down and this will result in two not-so-acceptable issues: The charger you would use here would stick out and be prone to damage if you move your foot carelessly. Also, there is no place for you to put the device that’s being charged. You’d have to hold it in your hand, which would be quite inconvenient or irritating, at the very least.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, I was able to roll the window up and down, before the battery totally died. I specifically checked for the movement of the door panel and was happy to find that there was no flexing at all, as reported earlier. The gear shift movement, with the engine off, of course, was quite rough. But then I was subconsciously comparing it with the silky smooth movement of my Qualis.
Finally, I put my hands through the spokes of the rear wheel, to feel the drum, and things in there definitely didn’t feel like drums I have normally seen. What I felt reminded me of the very thin drum brakes the old Royal Enfield Bullets used to have on the front wheels. Needless to say, this didn’t inspire confidence in me at all, so I’ll have to take another look, in case I’m mistaken here.
Of course these impressions were after a quick look at the car at nearly closing time, so I’ll probably need to pay another, more relaxed visit, after the pricing and other details are available, along with the test cars. But the issue of ground clearance, if I am right in my assessment, may just be a deal-breaker for me, since I don’t want to be visiting the workshop every now and then for something like this. If I do go in for this car I’ll really have to work at changing my driving style, since at the moment I don’t really have to worry about such mundane things like speed breakers and potholes.
Oh, almost forgot one last point. There is a gap between the windshield and the A-pillar, which was filled with bits of coloured confetti, probably thrown up during the launch here. So you can imagine the amount of dirt and gul mohor leaves etc. that would accumulate there, if you park outside.

Any comments on my observations would be appreciated.
Cheers

On another note, i feel Honda launched the SV Auto to ensure that the Vento TSI seems more expensive in comparison. The V Auto would have been more expensive and the VX is what Honda really wants us to buy. The SV is 50K less than the Vento and it offers similar kit. Customers at Honda's showroom will be asked to not consider a Vento because the City is cheeper.

C'mon Mods, I need you to confirm my earlier post, so that I can edit it to add that the ORVMs stick out beyond the door by maybe 6 inches, even when closed. So I didn't see much difference between the open and closed positions.

Good to see that SV offer Diver side and passenger Side Airbags with ABS for lesser price compared to other cars which is a good sign and I believe by end of 2014 or mid 2015 most of the car in this might have two Airbags with ABS as standard.
SV would be the best option in this list for reasonable price.

Big :thumbs up to you. Very useful I need it badly although for Chennai. It helps compare the competition.
Just as CITY prices were announced, Skoda has silently increased the prices slightly. The Elegance + TDI is now 9,82,206 compared to 9,77,660.
I guess price increase was expected across the board. May I ask if what you have is the increased prices for all the competition?

I liked the grille of the old Honda City and I don't like the new one as much. I didn't look beyond it because everything under the hood would most likely be the same.

A 1 cm increase in ride height seems insignificant. The 5cm wheel base increase would make a difference if it were added to the rear passenger legroom.

Just wanted to know if anyone has any information on the ex-showroom prices of the city in Mumbai?. The official Honda site is not displaying price of the new city.

All prices for the chart were taken by me in the evening. Skoda increased the price of the TDI Elegance + after that. Rest of the official sites of other sedans are showing the same price.

Base price in Mumbai for petrol is Rs 7.76 lakhs and for diesel is Rs 9.02 lakhs.

Carwale has a series of pics that you may want to check out.

http://www.carwale.com/honda-cars/city/photos/

http://www.carwale.com/honda-cars/ci...iews-11754/p8/

Both links point to the same set of photos. The Golden Brown shade from various angles is towards the end of the 73 pics

Vento TSI price is 9.99 Lakhs Ex-Showroom Delhi. Generally, prices in TN are more expensive.

Read somewhere today that 75% of bookings are for diesel. Tried to find the break-even for the Petrol Vs diesel and found that one need to run 60K kms for break even while calculating on the ex showroom price. Are we just going by cheap fuel not by the value for money.

Well typically the resale of Diesels is also much much better than Petrols so you can make up for that initial 1.2L loss there. Theres also the feel-good factor at the petrol bunks as well :)

This accesorized one is there on the Honda site. Decals, front and rear under spoilers, twin chrome grill, new alloys - transforms the look to super aggressive, I say.