How much of a leap forward has Honda taken with the all-new City? Here's our comprehensive road-test review.
After a decade and a half, the City finally gets an oil-burner under its hood and it’s the same 1.5-litre i-DTEC motor that’s found in the Amaze. Honda hasn’t opted for the VGT turbo that this engine comes with in Europe in a bid to cut costs, and the spec sheet carries over the identical figure of 98.6bhp from its smaller sibling. But, the added sixth cog and slightly shorter ratios compensate for the City’s extra weight over the Amaze. So, how well has this motor adapted?
Honda’s main goal with this engine was to offer the best possible driveability and fuel economy, and to this extent it’s done a fantastic job. Despite having to shoulder the added weight of 160kg, the engine feels extremely tractable and pulls cleanly from as low as 1800rpm all the way to its rather modest 4400rpm limit. At full tilt, it’ll breach 100kph in a modest 14.75 seconds. Doubtless, its higher-capacity competition, the Rapid, Vento and Verna, can post better figures, but when it comes to snappy low-end response – what you’ll need in the metros – the City is as good as it gets. Also, the diesel’s short-throw, six-speed manual ’box has a crisp mechanical feel, and the well-defined gate makes it easy to drive the gears home. Most importantly, the additional ratio is instrumental in keeping the engine ticking over at low revs while cruising at highway speeds. And it’s best to keep this engine at low revs because it’s pretty noisy when you rev it hard.
In a bid to make it quieter, Honda engineers claim to have added more noise insulation material, along with some tweaks to the engine. Sadly, they haven’t achieved the desired effect, and the all-aluminium motor remains intrusive, making it impossible to escape the fact that it feeds on diesel. Honda’s forte is the petrol engine and expectedly, there are no refinement issues here. Though it’s the same 1.5-litre i-VTEC motor from before, Honda has tweaked it substantially and it shows. The intake manifold has been redesigned and now the VTEC kicks in at lower revs, resulting in a much improved bottom end. The cooling system has been redesigned to warm up the engine faster, and double-needle spark plugs have improved the combustion process.
It’s remarkable how these tweaks have added incredible flexibility to this engine. Keen drivers will love how the tacho needle sweeps cleanly from as low as 1,700rpm to all the way past 7,000rpm. Come 4,600rpm and the clever valve timing gives you that classic VTEC ‘step up’, leaving only the limiter to keep the revs in check. Flat out, 100kph is dispatched in just 10.13sec – a class benchmark.
The fun-factor is amplified by an encouraging exhaust note, and with a hint of induction noise thrown into the mix, the high-revving engine eggs you to slam the next cog home and repeat the mad dash to the rev limiter. Yes, it does sound frantic when worked, but never unpleasant.