Honda City sedan has been a household name in India for over a decade now. Right since its inception, a lot in the car has changed. But what Honda succeeded in keeping intact is the appeal to the targeted middle-class Indian buyers. It would be no wrong to quote that the City sedan has always been a notch ahead of its peers.
The 2017 Honda City is no exception to it. It brings to you the reliability and trust of Honda, premium interiors, and classy exteriors. But one fact that has always been a constant for the car – is the tough competition that it receives. After the grand opening on the 14th of February, 2017, the results are quite phenomenal. The newer version was very well received and the sales numbers are only going northwards since then, proving it still rules the premium sedan segment in India.
However, is the Numero-uno spot alone enough to make it worthy of being your next car? Not necessarily! There are a few things which you should be aware of before you go for it.
Table of Contents
The stylish exteriors
The Honda City 2017 is compulsorily a facelifted model of the previous generation car. At the first look, you may not find many tweaks on the exteriors, apart from the larger 16-inch alloy wheels. The overall lightweight and sturdy chassis have been retained.
However, one of the most prominent changes is that the overall body gets an LED treatment. All among the illumination department, like fog lamps, headlamps, tail lights, and indicators on the ORVMs, and DRLs, are flanked with LED lights. This could turn out to be a major attraction for all prospective buyers.
Apart from this, other visual tweaks are restricted to the front section only, with the sides and rear getting little or no such upgrades. The front grille now gets a honeycomb treatment and the thick strip of chrome has been done away with. The chrome strip in the present Honda City is a lot thinner, thus making the inbuilt grille design a lot more prominent. The headlamps have undergone a few stitches, along with the addition of a thin chrome bezel on top of it. The overall front dimension is far sportier, yet classy.
The stuffed interior
The inside of the Honda City 2017 gets a faint tinge of richness, a little more than before. Right in front of your eyes, you get a 7-inch DigiPad touchscreen infotainment system, which is integrated with voice recognition, Bluetooth, satellite navigation, and a large 1.5GB internal storage and runs on Android. The multi-information display gets a white backlight, which further improves the sophistication level. The switches on the steering wheels and the AC vent knobs get chrome inserts.
The cabin is spacious, along with roomy rear seating. The center AC vent will keep the back row well cooled and ventilated. In times of cool winters, the sunroof comes to the rescue.
The performance
The engine of the 2017 Honda City is the same as the previous model. There is a 1.5-liter i-VTEC petrol engine that makes a maximum power of 119 bhp at 6,600 revs per minute and the highest torque of 145 Nm at 4,600 revs per minute. The transmission option is handled either by a 5-speed manual or a 7-speed CVT (common variable transmission) gearbox.
The manual transmission trim returns with a mileage of 17.4 km per liter while the CVT variant offers a superior 18 km per liter efficiency.
Apart from the petrol model, there is also a 1.5-liter i-DTEC diesel motor with a maximum power of 100 bhp at 3,600 revs per minute and a peak torque of 200 Nm at 3,600 revs per minute. The transmission option for the diesel option is fixed at a 6-speed manual gearbox.
The lost trim
Honda has discontinued the “E” variant. Hence, now the trim level starts for “S” variant on the Honda City facelift.
Also, there is a slight flaw (arguably). The top-end ZX gets only a CVT gearbox and not any other options. This might be a major setback as many prospective customers prefer an extra option in the transmission section. Now they will have to stick to the automatic transmission only.
Conclusion
Honda City has always been a topper in its segment and it wouldn’t be very wrong to say that this might continue to be the forte of the car in the coming days as well unless it is not confronted with sedan cars with equal or better caliber.
As of now, the Honda City 2017 is one of the best middle-class sedans to be driven. It is comfortable, it is luxurious and it is everything that your eyes would have always wanted to see.
