The all new 2014 Honda City has been unveiled in India. This model is slated to replace the outgoing model starting from January, 2014. Honda has incorporated the new “Exciting H Design” concept on the fourth generation Honda City. This car is based on the Jazz platform unlike the first generation Honda City which was based on the Civic platform (the City has been based on the Jazz since the second generation). The 2014 Honda City will be available in both petrol and diesel variants and will be sold across the globe.
Interiors of the fourth generation Honda City have been heavily revamped. The dashboard is black in colour with silver accents and gloss finish while the previous generation car came with a combination of beige and black dashboard with silver accents. The head unit on the new car features an LCD screen with reversing display while this feature was missing in the outgoing car. The new car gets engine start/stop feature which is again absent on the old car. The fact that the new car gets rear AC vents and 4 charging points is a welcome change in comparison with the outgoing car. Legroom for the passengers on the new car is increased by 60 mm as compared to the older car.
The instrument cluster on the new car is blue lit with the dials and digits being white in colour as compared to the orange lighting in the outgoing car. Automatic Climate Control has been introduced on the new car and this feature was sorely missed on the outgoing car. Gear knob is slightly different in comparison to the previous car. Boot space has also been marginally increased from 506 litres to 510 litres. Honda finally offers auto-locking doors, keyless entry and button start on the new Honda City and the same were absent in the previous generation models.
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Exteriors of the all new Honda City have received its fair share of updates although these updates look minor in comparison to the outgoing car, the company has put in new panels. The front grille on the new City gets a big chrome section whereas the outgoing car had 3 chrome slats on the front grille. The headlamps receive a minor taper on the new car in comparison to the older car. However, the front bumper is completely redesigned to make it look much more sportier. The fog lamps are housed by honeycomb grilles. The tail lamps have also been redesigned such that the rear of the car bears a wider stance. Shark fin styled antenna introduced on the 2014 Honda City makes the car look very BMWish. The quarter windows at the rear make the interiors of the new Honda City feel more airy.
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However, the safety kit remains the same as that on the third generation Honda City with two airbags, ABS and absence of ESP. The wheelbase has been increased by a margin of 50 mm from 2550 mm in the previous generation to 2600 mm in the fourth generation. The height has also been increased by 10 mm compared to the outgoing car. The petrol and diesel variants will get 1.5-litre engines. The petrol engine is the same 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine that was present in the outgoing car but tuned to produce 1 PS more than the 118 PS power on the outgoing car. The diesel engine is the 1.5-litre i-DTEC engine borrowed from the Honda Amaze. This diesel engine produces 100 PS of power. The old City did not have a diesel engine and that’s the biggest differentiator.
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So in essence, the all new Honda City is a big step up from the model it replaces. While it might not look like a drastic change when viewed from outside, Honda has actually made a ton of changes both to the cosmetics and the mechanicals of the vehicle. The platform is new, the suspension gets new components and the engines have been tweaked for improved efficiency. In all, Honda has taken the City and improved it by several notches making it the car to beat in the C-segment.
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