Shootout: Honda City vs Hyundai Verna vs Toyota Yaris vs VW Vento
Shootout No. 188
Price OTR Mumbai: Rs. 10.22 – 16.97 lakhs (Honda City), Rs. 9.15 – 15.60 lakhs (Hyundai Verna), Rs. 10.37 – 16.77 lakhs (Toyota Yaris), Rs. 9.80 – 16.67 lakhs (VW Vento)
The Toyota Yaris in spite of being the freshest car here, can’t match its rivals
The C-segment has always been one of the most popular segments in the Indian 4-wheeler market and ruling the roost has been the Honda City over various years. Giving it tough competition is the Hyundai Verna. The City got a mid-life facelift last year while the Verna’s new generation was launched. Toyota has entered this segment with its Yaris and we decide to pit all of these cars together. That’s not all, we even decided to throw in the Volkswagen Vento to see whether it’s still got all that jazz!
Motor Quest: The Honda City has been in the Indian market for 20 years and for most part it has been the highest seller in its segment. When diesel cars started becoming popular, the City’s sales lost some steam to the Hyundai Verna and then Maruti Ciaz but Honda got a diesel engine with the 4th gen City to keep the ball rolling. The Volkswagen Vento is one of the oldest cars in this segment now though it keeps getting updates regularly.
Some have clean lines while some have quirky styling!
Exteriors – Looks are subjective but to me, the Hyundai Verna looks more pleasing with its curvy styling while the Honda City has a beefier appearance with some sharp elements. On the other hand, the Toyota Yaris looks weird from some angles and is even smaller than its rivals. The Volkswagen Vento has a clean design and not much has changed over the years. The Verna and Yaris come with projector headlights while the City and Vento get LED lights. Except the Yaris, the other cars come with 16-inch wheels on the top-end variants and 15-inch wheels on mid and base variants while the Toyota comes with only 15-inch wheels on all variants. The smaller rubber does make the Yaris look under-tyred.
The City has the most space but poorest build quality in the cabin
Interiors – Talking about cabin space, it is the City which is the roomiest over here with excellent space for passengers at the front and rear alike. There is ample amount of knee room and head room and the seats are pretty comfortable too. The Verna has good space at the front but its rear is very cramped with knee room being very limited. I’m 6-feet tall and with my driving position, I could barely fit at the back and my knee would brush against the backrest of the front seat. Moreover, due to its sloping roofline, headroom is also very limited in the Verna and don’t be surprised if tall passengers complain of their respective heads touching the roof. In the Yaris, the cabin is well-spaced out with good enough room even at the rear. The seats offer decent comfort and support too. The Vento too has well-shaped and comfy seats but rear seat space is just about satisfactory.
The Verna has excellent build quality inside but rear lacks space
The Honda City is the most spacious C-segment sedan, Verna the least
If we talk about storage spaces, all of these sedans offer good practicality with more than enough places to keep all your nitty gritties. The City has the biggest boot at 510-litres followed by the Vento which has a capacity of 494-litres. The Yaris offers space of 476-litres while the Verna has the smallest boot here at 465-litres. The top variants of all these cars come with leather upholstery which uplifts the cabin ambience while lower variants make do with fabric on the seats and door pads. In terms of interior colour scheme, all of these get a dual tone dashboard which seems to be the trend these days. Interior build quality is the best in the Vento followed by the Verna and then the Yaris while it is the poorest in the City.
The Yaris’ cabin doesn’t feel upmarket but gets the most features
All 4 sedans are loaded with a good amount of equipment. All of them get a touchscreen infotainment system but only the Verna and Vento come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto while the Yaris and City get MirrorLink connectivity. The sound system on the Yaris doesn’t sound very good in comparison to its rivals and it feels like an aftermarket unit while the touchscreen on the City is glitchy. Some other features that are common to all cars here are cruise control, steering-mounted controls, reverse parking camera, keyless entry and push-button start.
The Vento has superb fit & finish but feels outdated now
The Hyundai Verna has some unique features like front ventilated seats and a smart trunk which basically opens the tail gate when the person with the car key stands near the boot lid. The Yaris is the only car in this segment which comes with 7 airbags and front parking sensors and it also gets a power adjustable driver’s seat. The Honda City misses out on rear parking sensors while the Verna misses out on auto wipers. The Yaris and Vento don’t get a sunroof.
The City i-VTEC MT is super fun to drive
Performance – Talking about petrol engines first, the Vento is the only car here to get a turbocharged petrol engine which is a 1.2-litre TSI mill with an output of 105 PS and 175 Nm. The City and Yaris get 1.5-litre petrol engines producing 119 PS, 145 Nm and 107 PS, 140 Nm respectively while the Verna gets a 1.6-litre unit making 123 PS and 151 Nm. All of these engines are very good in refinement and NVH levels are also quite nice. The engine on the Yaris is pretty laid back and just doesn’t have the GO to match its numbers. The low-end and mid-range are quite average and this is where rivals have an upper edge because the petrol engines on the City, Verna and Vento are very good. The i-VTEC mill pulls cleanly till the redline and offers very good drivability and similar is the case with the Verna which delivers power effortlessly. The Vento TSI is in another league with that engine providing solid performance.
The Verna and Vento lead the pack with their diesel engines
The Vento’s 1.2-litre TSI petrol unit with the DSG has incredible performance
Interestingly, the Yaris doesn’t even come with a diesel engine while its rivals boast of punchy oil-burners. The City’s i-DTEC mill which produces 100 PS and 200 Nm is quite noisy but offers linear driveability. However, it is the Verna’s diesel (128 PS and 260 Nm) which has more grunt and better performance than the City. While the City has controlled turbo lag, the lag on the Verna is more pronounced. Similar is the case with the Vento (110 PS and 250 Nm) which has some turbo lag but after that it delivers strong performance. Honestly, none of these cars feel out of breath at even high speeds. The Verna is the most refined and quietest diesel car here while the Vento and City are way noisier.
Both the Japanese cars come with a CVT and no diesel AT option
The Honda City MT comes with a slick shifting gearbox mated to a light clutch and same is the case with the Verna which gets a very smooth 6-speed MT. The Vento gets a 5-speed MT too but the clutch is relatively heavier while the 6-speed MT on the Yaris has a light clutch but shifts are notchy. In AT, the City gets a 7-step CVT with the petrol engine while no diesel AT is offered. The CVT makes a lot of noise and the rubber band effect is also felt. The Yaris gets a CVT-i tranny which has a slightly lesser rubber band feel. The Verna gets a 6-speed torque convertor which is definitely way better than both the CVTs and offers seamless shifts while the 7-speed DSG on the Vento is the best-in-class gearbox here with its quick shifts and overall responsive nature.
The engine on the Yaris feels the most lacklustre here
Coming to fuel efficiency, the City petrol MT gives about 10-14 km/l while the CVT gives 8-12 km/l. In comparison, the Yaris gives 9-12 km/l for the CVT while the MT variant returns similar figures as the City MT. The Verna petrol MT and AT give 9-12 km/l and 8-11 km/l respectively while the Vento TSI gives 10-14 km/l and the diesel gives 13-16 km/l for the MT and DSG alike.
The Yaris has much better ride quality than its rivals
Driving Dynamics – The Toyota Yaris rides really well and it is safe to say that its ride is the best in segment and it feels very plush. Sharp potholes, broken roads, none of these bother the Yaris and it just glides on smoothly. The City has a flat and comfortable ride at high speeds but at low speeds it feels a bit stiff. It’s not uncomfortable by any means though. The Verna gets a mildly stiff setup for low speeds but the suspension has a tendency to thud when you encounter bad stretches. The Vento’s ride is again on the stiffer side but the suspension is quite pliant.
The Vento and City are the most fun to drive cars here
The Volkswagen Vento is the best handler here with great body control and sharp reflexes. Following the Vento are the City and Yaris. While the City is known for its fun to drive nature, the Yaris comes across as a surprise because it holds its line nicely on corners but the downer here is that the steering is devoid of any feedback while the City’s steering feels much better. The Verna has improved over its previous generation but the steering still doesn’t generate the kind of confidence that we’d want. In braking, the City, Verna and Vento have almost similar stopping power but the Yaris has an upper edge with its all 4 discs.
Toyota has the best service followed by Hyundai and Honda
Safety and After Sales Service – Toyota has excellent service with low running costs and unbeatable reliability. Hyundai and Honda also offer very good service and are known to be trustworthy in the long term too. It is here that the Volkswagen feels lacking because service isn’t as great. In the long run, the Yaris is likely to be the cheapest car to maintain but spare parts on even Honda and Hyundai cars are known to be a bit on the pricier side, especially after the warranty is done and dusted with. Volkswagen cars are known for their niggling issues but there shouldn’t be anything utterly troublesome with the Vento because it isn’t as complicated as its bigger siblings.
The Vento gets the least airbags in the segment
Safety kit on these 4 sedans is more or less similar. The City and Verna get 2 airbags on the lower variants and 6 airbags on the top variants. Meanwhile, the Yaris gets 7 airbags on the top variant while the Vento gets only 2 airbags on every variant. ABS, ISOFIX mounts and seatbelt pretensioners are standard on all cars. In addition, the Vento DSG comes with ESP and Hill Hold while the Yaris also gets TPMS, Hill Start Assist and Vehicle Stability Control.
The best all-rounder in the segment is the Honda City
Verdict – Picking a winner is tough because all of these cars have something different to offer. I’ll try and sum it up neatly – if you’re an enthusiast who loves driving and wants strong performance but you don’t care about rear seat space or getting a slightly older car in the segment, get the Vento because it is the most fun to drive car here. If you’re someone who wants a car that is engaging to drive yet offers a complete package in terms of space, practicality and features, I’d recommend the Honda City. The Verna is also a very good package and the diesel variant is highly recommended if you don’t mind the less space at the rear. The Yaris doesn’t offer anything extraordinary, it is a no-nonsense car that will comfortably take you from Point A to Point B and who knows it’ll never even break down but it is priced at a premium and the petrol variants are actually priced closer to the diesel variants of its rivals.
What would be your choice out of these four?
Further Reading –
Honda City Review
Hyundai Verna Review
Toyota Yaris Review
Volkswagen Vento Review
Hyundai Verna Video Review
Toyota Yaris Video Review