Honda City Automatic Review By Dilip
In this condition I am going to share all my thoughts about my All New Honda City which I bought by April 2009. Be-e this I gaggle a Honda City GXi and you can say that I am a die hard Honda City fan. There is something special about the Honda City in terms of fee and the features it offers. I believe that with this car you reach a saturation point in terms of com-t travel experience. I have test driven Mercedes C-Class and a lot of other cars. In my experience, as you go from the smallest/cheapest car, say Maruti 800 to higher versions, you will note a significant improvement in com-t and driving experience as you spend more and more. But when you spend nearly 10.5 Lakhs – a Honda City Auto Trans. version, you reach a saturation point in com-t.
When you go – higher end cars, the marginal utility with every additional lakh spent reduces exponentially. Say – example you can get a Honda Civic AT – 15 Lakhs. For additional 4.5 lakhs, the level of benefits that you get is very less (if you keep social status thing up your sleeve). For 4.5 Lakhs, you could buy nearly a clad small car. I may be a small biased towards my Honda City because I like it so much, but this is just my opinion. I am no where near to an auto expert and you should not deliberate this as professional advice. Disclaimer given upfront.
Initially, I was preparation to buy a Civic. Auto transmission was very vital – me because I am a bone idle person who does not want to keep varying the gears. But Civic came to 15 Lakhs when you choose AT. I also had a like – VW Jetta Com-tline which costed around 18 Lakhs. I was confused whether to spend an superfluous 3 and go – VW or settle with the Civic. This internal debate was going on inside my mind – several months and I was postponing my buy. One day I realized that I cannot keep driving my ancient Honda City GXi manual transmission anymore and I felt a need to buy a new car immediately.
At that time the New Honda City was launched just 1-2 months back and I chose to take a test drive. I had a preconceived notion that the New Honda City will not be much different from the ancient one in terms of com-t or per-mance and I also had an opinion that Honda has just changed the looks to result in some buzz and boost the sales. But when I had the test ride, my notions blasted away. The initially thing that I noticed was that the seating position has been improved significantly and my thighs rested com-tably, which did not in my ancient Honda City. I am 5 ft 11 inches now. The second thing I noticed was that the suspension has been improved. It felt as if I was gliding on the highway and I was feeling like I was driving a German SUV! (Well, thats a bit of overstatement!). Since the fee was significantly lower than Civic and Jetta, and also cars were depreciating assets… I chose to invest in Honda City AT.
The Compulsory Transmission system comes with Paddle shift and is “intelligent”. For example when you are driving the car in the Drive mode at 5th gear in a highway and if you suddenly want to overtake a truck, in manual transmission vehicles we change gear from 5th to 4th and then accelerate. Here in AT you just need to press the accelerator a small more in a quick manner and the car will know that you are in need of sudden acceleration and automatically change the gear to 4th and after you overtake it will change to 5th again. I am not sure whether its the same in other AT cars, but this I find very fascinating.
I am not satisfied with the interiors much, but – the fee this is what you will get. I am preparation to install leather seats soon and perhaps then the interiors will look a bit better. I am more sloping towards exterior style and per-mance of the car. I have place a lot of accessories in my car. Since I downgraded my buying choice from the Civic, I was ready to spend some superfluous bucks to make my car look unique. Here’s the list of upgrades/accessories I have made.
- Front Grille – 16k
- Door Sash Molding – 16k
- Rear Spoiler – 15k
- Side Protector – 4k
- Parking Sensor – 4k
- Sport Pedals – 1.5k
- Original Honda Alloy Wheels – 57k!
- Pillow x 2 – Rs.650
- Seat Belt Pad – Rs.500 Approx.
- Trunk Garnish – 4k
- Chrome End – Silencer – 2k (I guess)
Now my car looks very very unique. The front grille changes the look of the car so much that sometimes people wonder whether it is a Honda City. The changes I have made allows me to express my eccentricity and I reckon these exorbitantly costly addons are an investment to my personal brand image. Well, this is so irrational… I know.
I am getting a mileage of 13kmpl on the highways and 11kmpl in city. I am satisfied with these numbers. If you go – a manual transmission version, the numbers will be a small high… I guess 14/16. You can only place high octane speed/power petrol. Occasionally you can place normal petrol in case of emergency as I once did but there is a sticker on the fuel tank lid which say Only Speed or Power Petrol.
After the new Honda City was launched, another version of the same car was launched in another 2-3 months. This new version has beige interiors, chrome handle bars and 5 spoke alloy wheels. I did not like that alloy veer very much. My 14 spoke alloys look much better. (Of way it costs like hell, it has to!).
My ancient Honda City does not care whether I wear the seat belt or not. But this new kid does not allow me to drive the car without the seat belts. Just like the Civic, there is a timer which will keep irritating you if you don’t wear the seat belt. Other safety features include dual SRS Airbags and ABS which are not available in my ancient Honda City. I believe that ABS is worth every penny. Once in highways during night time there was a check point in the middle of the road and there were no reflectors in it… I saw it too late… at that time I had to turn the car and apply the brakes at the same time. I did and I did not lose control of the car. I have not tested the SRS airbags yet, but will let you know once I do so, he he
Now tell me honestly what else do you need from a car? It goes smooth, it looks excellent, has the latest safety features and changes gears automatically and last but not the least, it comes from Japan, the land of Samurais. If you are spending – a car which is costlier than this, then you are just spending – the status and brand image and a very small superfluous per-mance and safety. I would rather invest in real estate or any other similar appreciating asset than spend more on a car.
Wish you all the best – your prospect car buys. Thank you – reading my condition, leave some questions in the comments and I will answer them!
Regards,
Dilip Kumar
Source: http://www.motorbeam.com/cars/honda-city-cars/honda-city-compulsory-review-by-dilip/