My Year Old Honda City 1.5S MT i-Vtec

[kingpin]

Hello Everyone,

Here goes the story behind our lil City i-Vtec.

It was October 2009, and we got thinking on buying a new car. Our Santro ZipDrive needed a change, rather a substitute. We decided to buy a 3-box ( sedan ). After lots of homework, the budget was decided to be within 100,000 INR. And as speculated, the odo would be less than 20k a year, we decided to go for the petrol.

After deciding on the budget, we started scouting. Fiat Linea was the adorable new kid on the block, then there was the sturdy old SX4, then the reliable Ford Fiesta, and ofcourse New Honda City i-vtec.

My parents didnt approve of the SX4 looks, so it took an early exit from our list. Ford Fiesta was too taken off the list, no reasons. ( also no regrets ). Now we had to decide off NHC vs Linea.

First and foremost, I testdrove both the cars. I was equally mesmerised by Linea's superior interiors ( comparing to NHC ), and City's overall performance. The deciding factor for us was the Power/Weight ratio. Linea stood roughly at around 75bhp/tonne while City was around 100+ bhp/tonne. So, we lost Linea, and City won.

 

[avindu]

Re: My year old Honda City 1.5SMT i-Vtec

First of all Congrats Kingpin. A nice start to the ownership thread. Love this colour, looks really good. Do share your service experience at the ASS, service break-up, any upgrades and also your drives (under travelogue ). Btw, how many kms have you clocked?

 

[HoLySaTaN]

Re: My year old Honda City 1.5SMT i-Vtec

Welcome to TAI kingpin!

have a wonderful stay here and Congrats on your ride

the Honda City is one of the most reliable cars we can find on Indian roads. I have heard about OHC Citys which have clocked more than 2.5 lakh kms nad still going strong

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Re: My year old Honda City 1.5SMT i-Vtec

Congrats for the car!!
have miles of happy drive!

 

[kingpin]

Re: My year old Honda City 1.5SMT i-Vtec - continued

Thanks for the response friends.


So, after deciding to go with the City i-Vtec, we started contacting dealerships. Interesting fact is, we do have a holiday-home at Kolhapur. So we decided to buy our car from Kolhapur. Due to less taxes and overheads, we saved nearly Rs. 35,000. So, we got the car on 26th December 2009.

So far, am very pleased with the car's performance. The inline 4 i-vtec pumps out 118bhp at the peak, and when it is coupled to a 5 speed synchromesh gearbox, it translates in brisk speeds. The car is very easy and enjoying to ride on the city streets as well as on the highways.

Regarding fuel efficiency, we get about 14-15 kmpl in the city ( traffic may take it down upto 12 ) and have got the best of 19kmpl on the highway ( in our trip to kolhapur ).

City can cruise at speeds 130 kmph easily on the highways, and the top speed we got was just a bit more than 170 kmph ( on the 4th speed ). Handling is good too. A wee bit of understeer while cornering at 120+ kmph, but it happens to all FWDs right? The ride quality is smooth. Ground Clearence should have been upto 20 mm higher, because some sharp speed breakers act frustrating!

Concluding that, its a overall nice car, and is arguably the best you can get under Rs. 1,000,000.

Currently my odometer reads about 18,000 KM.

Cheers.

 

[Akash]

Re: My year old Honda City 1.5SMT i-Vtec

Kingpin, your City looks really bold in that color. This color is my favorite followed by Taffeta white. I too own a City(Late 2005 model) and the ANHC is definitely leaps ahead.
The new City offers excellent steering feedback which now feels much lively at higher speeds unlike the previous version.
Do post more pics of your ride. Wish you lacs of happy miles.

 

[kingpin]

Re: My year old Honda City 1.5SMT i-Vtec

definately.

At after 40,000 km, I am thinking of modifying it a little bit. Thats might take a while ( upto nov 1011 ). But am thinking of putting.

1. Some decent alloy wheels/ with wider tyres
2. K&N Air Filter
3. Free Flow Exhaust with headers.

Hoping to make the most out of it.

cheers

 

[350Z]

Kingpin, Congratulation for making a wise choice. In the current C-Segment scenario, Fiat Linea and Honda City are the only two contenders which have really leaved me impressed. While the Fiat Linea is more of a gorgeous looking feature loaded luxury car, Honda City on the other hand provides remarkable driving experience along with good comfort levels and I am sure you must be enjoying that. Plus, it is backed by a strong brand (in comparison) which assures that you also won’t have to compromise with the resale value. I think, your running is slightly on the higher side, so you could have opted for some Diesel car (Of course, only if you liked any) and saved yourself from the ever increasing Petrol prices. Do share more pictures, if you have.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[anmol_1990]

welcome kingpin to honda club, i too own the same model but the color is red.

What mileage you are getting?

 

[kingpin]

welcome kingpin to honda club, i too own the same model but the color is red.

What mileage you are getting?

depends totally on how smooth am driving.

max average i've got was around 20 kmpl ( as per the odo reading )

on an average i get upto 18 on highways, and 14-15 in the city.

 

[HoLySaTaN]

That's one great mileage for a 1.5 litre engine.

I have read those mileage figures on magazines but was unable to accept it to be true.

Hearing it from an owner...hmm...Honda machines are awesome! no wonder the City sells more than 3000 units a month.

Wish you lacs of happy miles kingpin & anmol

 

[mastersquall]

congrats kingpin . you have silver colour , this colour very easy to maintained . have a safe and happy drive

 

[cooldhaya]

Congratulations Kingpin! I like City in this color and then White! I love Honda City for its ultra-smooth and reliable engine , extremely spacious feeling! I have driven the City and yes it has got good amount of power!


But am a little surprised at your FE figures! Do you get this FE by tank full method?


Can you share more about your servicing costs?

 

[suhail4110]

actually city is known to give 18kmpl on highway ,on long streches whenyou keep the car consistently at 80-100 kmph on fifth gear...the i-vtec shows itself here as a superior engine compared to the competition(except TSI)...
even few civic owners claim their highway FE to be 14-15kmpl based on driving conditions..