Recently got a test drive of Honda city Ivtech. I have been using a honda city for past few years and hence I consider myself in a better position to comment on this new product from Honda stable.
Undoubtedly, when it comes to handling, precision and fine tuning Honda still leads from the front. There is only one originator and duplicators can only come close to Honda. These guys have mastered the art of car building and it reflects at every stage including the dashboard, seat, steering alignment, appropriate angles at which objects are rightly placed and every other miniscule details which can only be incorporated with experience.
The engine of Honda probably would take up an award for the best invention in automobile industry. No noise at all....period! And god!! it listens to every delicate ’touch’ on accelerator paddle. I was wondering if I could replicate this within the family as well. One button and all family members agrees to what I say! I know, wishful thinking.
Back to review, the car almost glides as soon as u put up the accelarator, Needless to say that gear movement is so so smooth. That the way one should play with car (and woman, if I may add). In terms of design, looks like car is bit too influenced with Bollywood ’size zero’ fad and hence have unnecessarily eliminated nice big cabin space which was a toast of earlier dolphin model. Honda guys, we Indians love bigger cars on narrow roads so please keep this in mind for future. Mileage wise I have been told that it consistently clocks 11 / KMPL which is not bad for this class of sedan.
However, all said, there are still some issues which I think Honda needs to address immediately. Its overtly plastic body doesn’t bring in the ’macho’ look to this car. Neither it makes the ride comfortable. Our roads in India will remain terrible during my lifetime and its a better strategy to create robust cars than to wait for better roads.
The most important, I dunno the technical reason why Honda couldn’t act on it. The ground clearance of this car remains a major concern. I’m willing to pay 10, 000 more to an insurance company if they insure me for damages to this car on speed breakers. Wonder how such a low ground clearance is acceptable to Honda customers. May be they have learnt to live with it like all of us Indians are living with our ’dummy’ prime-minister.
Overall, I reckon, Honda City is a great product. It has a status symbol. Product is extremely dependent like any Indian spouse. Will never ever ditch u! But all these qualities comes with 20% extra price. Do you wanna go for it? Well really depends because other automakers are competing really hard and making this decision even more complicated. For those who want peace of mind and comfort.
My suggestion, Honda City is your next car.....