The much-loved Honda City has been on sale in India for 25 years now. Through multiple generations and facelifts the car has undertaken many advancements both in terms of design as well as features and technology. After launching the itshybrid form in 2022, the Japanese car maker has launched the 2023 facelift of the sedan in India, both for the Petrol and hybrid versions. For both these cars, the brand has added additional base variants to make the car more accessible.
Design
The new City gets a new front grille with diamond chequered flag pattern, newly designed front bumper with carbon wrapped lower molding, sporty fog lamp garnish, new rear bumper with carbon-wrapped diffuser, body coloured sporty trunk lip spoiler and newly designed R16 dual-tone diamond-cut multi-spoke alloy wheels. However, on the lower variants you get 15-inch wheels. There are more colour options as well as a new Obsidian Blue Pearl colour has been introduced on the car.
Interiors
Honda has used different interior themes for the Petrol and hybrid versions of the city.
While the former gets 2-tone beige & black theme the latter gets a 2-tone ivory & black interior colour theme. The car now gets Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, improved Infotainment system with new background & colours, Remote control operation via Smart Phone application, improved rear camera, wireless charger and rain sensing auto wipers. The City hybrid or e:HEV gets a new carbon fibre pattern instrument panel assistant side garnish finish, piano black surround finish on All AC Vents and piano black garnish on steering wheel.The new City also comes equipped with 37 Honda Connect features and comes with 5-year free subscription.
Engine
The engines remain the same on the City where the Petrol gets a 1.5L i-VTEC DOHC engine which makes 121PS and 145 Nm, with quicker torque increase at lower engine speed. It has been mated to a 6-speed manual transmission and 7-speed CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) which come with a claimed fuel efficiency of 17.8 kmpl and 18.4 kmpl respectively.The City e:HEValso gets a 1.5-litre petrol engine, and the electric-hybrid system produces combined power of 126 PS, and peak torque of 253 Nm. The car comes with a claimed fuel Efficiency of 27.13 kmpl. The car uses three driving modes – EV Drive, Hybrid Drive and Engine Drive, along with Regeneration mode during deceleration. Both the models are BS-6 RDE compliant on E5 fuel and E20 material compatible.Honda has discontinued the sale of City Diesel with this new facelift.
Safety
The New City (Petrol) now comes with Honda Sensing – or an advanced driver assist safety technology.Here, the system uses a front camera with a wide-angle to scan the road ahead and alert the driver to minimize risk of accidents. Features here includeCollision Mitigation Braking System, Adaptive Cruise Control, Road Departure Mitigation System, Lane Keep Assist System, Lead Car Departure Notification System andAuto High-Beam. The hybrid which already had ADAS features now additionally gets “Low-Speed Follow” in Adaptive Cruise Control and ‘Lead Car Departure Notification System’. You also get features like 6 Airbags, Honda Lane-Watch, multi-angle rear view Camera andtyre pressure monitoring system with deflation warning.
Prices
Prices for the new City Petrol range from Rs. 11.49 lakh to Rs. 15.97 lakh ex-showroom while the two hybrid trims are priced at Rs. 18.89 and 20.39 lakh, ex-showroom. The car comes with 3-year Unlimited kilometers warranty as standard while the warranty on Lithium-ion Battery will be 8-year or 160,000 Km.
The author is a senior editor at carandbike.com.