CarWale Comparison:Third generation Honda City Vs Fourth Generation Honda City

Honda has launched the fourth generation Honda City for the Indian market for Rs 7.42 lakh (petrol) and rs 8.62 lakh (diesel) (ex-showroom Delhi). The most successful model in the Japanese automaker’s line-up, it has been on sale here since 1996 and for the first time will be offered with a diesel engine. We pitted the outgoing model against the new car to see what change Honda has brought into the C-segment game. We have already driven the new car and you can find the video review as well as a written review at the bottom of this story.  

Exterior     

The fourth generation Honda City retains the same exterior proportions as the outgoing car but thanks to some clever adjustment, the wheelbase of the car has increased thus consequently increasing the space inside the cabin. The 2014 Honda now gets an aggressive and sporty appearance thanks to new bumpers and a new grille. 

The car has been redesigned using the Japanese automaker’s new ‘Exciting H Design’ philosophy and so sports a grille very similar to the ones found on the new Jazz hatchback and Vezel compact SUV. A grille similar to this had been offered as an optional extra with the previous car. The sportiness is further accentuated by double barrel head lamps which now seem to be slowly becoming a segment standard. 

The side of the 2014 Honda City is dominated by two huge creases running along the car’s length which, by the looks of it diverts attention away from the fact that the car seems to have gotten a little larger. The alloy-wheels too are new and consequently the wheel covers in the lower spec variants are expected to look exactly the same. 

At the back the 2014 Honda City, gets revised design for the tail lamps as well as a higher loading lip but this has been disguised by the various creases as well as a large chrome strip running along the length of the boot. 

Interiors       

Honda knows how to get its bang for the buck and therefore has majorly worked on the interiors. It has retained the beige and black combination but has now included wood/ grey plastic inserts. The outgoing car was labelled as being ‘underfeatured’ and in response Honda began offering an AVN (Audio Video navigation) package with the top spec V variant. 

With the new car however, the feature list seems quite extensive and there is expected to be a new spec VX (first seen on the Amaze) variant. It gets chrome coloured handles, leather upholstery, rear AC vents, front and rear power outlets, music system with six speakers and five-inch touch screen, Push button start, smart key, sunroof, pinch guard and rear parking camera.

Engines    

This is the second Honda after the Amaze compact sedan to be offered with a diesel engine. It is powered by the same 1.5-litre i-DTEC with the same output of 100bhp and 200Nm of torque. Power is transmitted to the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. 

Honda will also continue to offer the 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol unit that now produces 119bhp and 146Nm of torque. This engine can either be mated to a five-speed manual or a CVT automatic. The diesel’s fuel efficiency has been rated 26.0kmpl (ARAI) while the petrol has been rated at 18.0kmpl. Much like the Amaze we expect real word numbers to be just a few kilometres lesser. 

Price and competition 

We expect that Honda will price the 2014 City in the range of Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 11.5 lakh. It will compete with the Hyundai Verna, Renault Scala, Nissan Sunny and the Volkswagen Vento. We will be reporting live from the launch so stay tuned to CarWale for all the details. 

Edit: Check Live updates from the Honda City launch event.

2014 Honda City Diesel first Drive

2014 Honda City upcoming car