New Honda City ZX+ eHEV First Drive Review

Honda recently announced a slew of new launches for the Indian car market over the next four years, and the start of this journey is the car you see in the photos—a new Honda City. This is the sixth generation for the legendary badge and sees it get an evolved design and new features to bring it into the modern age. But is that enough to sustain a body style that has been forced to play second fiddle to SUVs for close to a decade now? Let's see if the new Honda City is up to the game.

The biggest set of changes to the Honda City is its exterior design. The direction taken by the Japanese automaker is one of evolution rather than outright change, and they have managed to find a mix of keeping the City's famous silhouette but bringing it into the new age. Up front, the headlamps have become bigger and wider, whilst the grille has been blacked out, and we now also get the new Honda logo, this being the first one to get it.

There are chrome inserts on the door handles as a new addition to the overall package, but Honda has managed to retain the iconic silhouette of the car, this one being the familiar shape for almost six years now. The wheels are new and look classy due to their diamond-cut nature, but now look small and undersized. A similar wheel in a 17-inch size would have made a major difference.

The City's tail lamps have always been one of its signature elements, and in this latest evolution of the City, they too have evolved to suit the times. The overall layout is the same, but there are new LED elements to give it that futuristic look. Finally, the lip spoiler and black mesh elements on the bumper are all now standard bits of kit. In fact, you now have to buy a chrome kit from Honda's accessories pack if you want that kind of styling, a sign of how the times have changed over the generations of the City.

The interior, like the outside, is an evolution of the fifth-gen cabin. It's still ivory for the upholstery and black for the dashboard and doors, which is pleasant to look at but has its own drawbacks, chief among them the fact that it soils in places and at speeds you can scarcely imagine. However, it does make the cabin look very airy and light, but is only available from the ZX variant onwards.

Elements like the AC console, steering wheel, stalks, buttons, and instrument cluster all look very familiar, with just a few minor styling changes to align them with the new design language Honda has adopted for the new City. One of those big changes has been to replace chrome silver with chrome black, adding a bit of contemporary feel to the look.

All the contact surfaces look and feel premium, but there are quite a few places with hard-wearing plastics, like the doors, second-row AC console, and storage consoles. They all look like they could have done with some soft-touch surfaces, especially considering the competition.

This is a place where Honda has spent a decent chunk of its budget, and the results are a mixed bag. New additions to the list include a bigger touchscreen infotainment system, ventilated front seats, 360-degree camera package, and a digital instrument cluster. These are all segment expectations, and Honda has ticked off almost all the requisite boxes in terms of making itself a viable player among the rivals. However, it is still lacking a powered driver's seat/front seats and a panoramic sunroof, both of which are considered expected features at this price point.

Up front, space is not an issue at all with more than enough headroom, knee room, and shoulder room for both front occupants. It doesn't have a large zone dividing the centre console but you do still get your individual spaces. One of the City's big selling points has always been its second-row space, and this one is no different.

Three people can sit with a decent amount of shoulder room and knee room, but if you go for the 2+2 layout, it becomes really spacious, and as you can see from the images, there is quite a bit to go around. You sit slightly low, and there are scoop-outs over both the rear seats, allowing for a significant amount of headroom.

Honda has optimised its storage package with this new City. Take for example, the centre console in this e:HEV, which now gets an electric parking brake and that has allowed Honda to fit a wireless charger under the front armrest and, in turn, also provide another storage space in front, which was previously the wireless charger. The glovebox is wide but could have been deeper, whilst all four door pockets are capable of holding 1.0-litre bottles, but also offer additional storage space for smaller items.

The vent console in the second row doesn't have a spot to keep phones, and you would need a large cable to account for the distance between the console and seatback pockets. What's more, this being a hybrid model, the rear seatback does not fold down due to the hybrid battery pack and motor partially being under the rear seats. The standard car gets a 506-litre boot, whilst this gets closer to 300 litres.

One of the big additions to the City's feature package is a new 10.1-inch infotainment system. It's a large unit and is again one of those things that Honda needed to do to bring the car up to segment standard. It might look large, but it comes with its own set of pros and cons.

On the side of pros are the facts that it is massive, offers wireless phone mirroring, is very easy to use, and has some neat touches like an altimetre and swipe-to-use functions. However, as a screen package, it lacks the rich graphics one would expect from screens today, and the 360-degree camera does not override phone mirroring if you press the button on the stalks. The camera system is comprehensive, providing all the required angles, but the resolution is not very great and is likely to struggle in low-light conditions. The relative simplicity of the system means it is quick to respond and that means less time on the screen and more on the road.

The safety package on the City is pretty comprehensive with things like six airbags, rear parking sensors, ABS with EBD, stability programme, and ISOFIX child seat mounting points. However, its biggest flex is the Level-2 ADAS. Honda was the first one to bring it to the market and whilst its system now feels a bit behind as compared to the rest, it is still very effective in keeping you safe on the road. We tested the adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist and both delivered as expected, though in the case of the latter it only works past the 70kmph mark. Since 2022, Honda has also added a lead car departure notification system but has still not included any form of rear cross-traffic alert, something which the Hyundai Verna offers as a part of the package. However, you now get ADAS from the mid-spec SV variant.

Powering the City e:HEV is a Honda 1.5-litre four-cylinder mated to an electric motor and a battery pack. The petrol motor produces 98bhp and 131Nm, whilst the electric motor produces 108bhp and 253Nm. The whole package is mated to an e-CVT powering the front wheels. There is no change in the powertrain from the previous car, and that's a good thing as it's a pretty good system providing some absolutely crazy numbers. The company officially claims a mileage of 27.26 kmpl, which, when combined with a 40-litre tank is a driving time of 1,090km. In our real-world tests, we got 22 kmpl, which, when combined with the 40-litre tank, is 900km DTE.

The switch between electric and ICE is seamless and on the go, the electric motor provides an additional boost, negating a noticeable part of the rubber-band effect caused by the CVT. You get a brake mode that adds more regeneration and charges the batteries more aggressively. Finally, there are also paddle shifters, which control the intensity of the regeneration and are a useful tool when you need engine braking.

One of the places where the City manages to shine is in the ride quality, and there is plushness to the way the City glides over most bumps and imperfections. It settles quickly if you displace it, and this, combined with a surprising amount of poise when you push it gives this car some solid driving credentials for its price point. The steering is responsive and weighs up progressively, allowing you to push further into the corner if needed. Combine this with good ground clearance and Level-2 ADAS, and you have yourself a pretty decent car that can do well in both city and highway conditions.

The NVH insulation is on point for this price point, with most of the outside world being filtered out. However, the engine is still very audible in the cabin, especially if you put the pedal to the metal. However, whilst it is audible, there are no vibrations transmitting into the cabin and on the go, everything feels very smooth and progressive.

On the face of it, the City's upgrades may seem surface-level and more to do with matching segment expectations as well as new buyer tastes. The new design makes it contemporary, whilst the feature list and hybrid powertrain will now put it on the radar of new-age buyers. It does have its drawbacks in terms of the appeal of the touchscreen, the lack of rear cross-traffic alert, panoramic sunroof, reduced boot space (hybrid only), and the quality of certain parts of the cabin. However, look deeper, and it's the first in Honda's new premium push, and it certainly looks like they have woken up and are ready to take on the market with a slew of new models.

Photography: Kaustubh Gandhi