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Since a new City is now out, I suppose we must call the old one, well... the old City. And I remember the time when I fell in love with the old City. It was about three years ago, when I had a bright red VTEC all to myself for two full weeks. I was coming back from the airport at two in the morning (one of those weird international flights) with four adult passengers, and what must have been a hundred kilos of luggage. I was taking it easy, lounging along at some 60 kph in fourth, when I was told to hurry up a bit. ‘Can we get home and get some food and sleep, please?’ Ah, but of course. A downshift to second, accompanied by burying the throttle produced appropriate results – the car spun its front wheels, the 106 bhp VTEC snarled its rasping thrum, the needle on the rev-counter shot up instantly and we were off. Of all the cars ever sold in India, the Honda City VTEC was, without question, the most exhilarating. When it was time to just leave, the City VTEC was the car to have. If you got all aggressive with it, it wouldn’t back off one bit. Instead, it was your ever-willing partner in crimes of speed, goading you on to swap gears quickly, rev the cams off the engine, drift it sideways and generally behave like a complete hooligan.
Law of progression
Now, after all these years, we have a new City. One that’s completely different from the old one. In intent, performance and packaging, the two couldn’t be less alike. And indeed, the new City is a significant car, for it defines the new social mores which all contemporary cars must stick to. The old City was a satisfyingly middle-rung, junk-food parlour. Lots of beer, well-done steak and chilli-cheese fries. Burp! The new one is an upmarket sushi bar. White wine, green salads (without the dressing of course) and tofu. And please, do not burp.
‘Men are the new women,’ said one of the editors of the New York Times a few months ago. Laugh if you will, but that’s how the new order seems to be. Think chic linen, pedicured feet, organic facepacks, deep-breathing exercises, ‘wellness’ (eek!), flavoured oxygen and Tai-chi, and you have the new City.Based on Honda’s very successful Jazz/Fit hatchback platform, this car is sold as the Fit Aria in Japan and as the City in Thailand. It’s a high-tech, contemporary vehicle, and the focus is on maximum cabin space for occupants and maximum fuel-efficiency. The cab-forward styling is not strikingly beautiful and in what may be slightly unfortunate for Honda, seems to have shades of the Tata Indigo. Yet, it’s not at all bad looking. Actually, I think it makes every other C-segment car in India look dated. At least two of my colleagues think the old City still looks ‘more premium’ than the new one, and that the old one ‘looks like it means business, the new one doesn’t.’ I don’t agree. Parked alongside the old City,the new one looks very here and now. It will never have the hot-rod charm of the old car, which could be made to look very sporty, with a set of spoilers, skirts and bigger wheels and tyres, but this new machine certainly has an air of sophistication about it. The compact nose, high waistline, abbreviated glass area and rather substantial boot are all vaguely MPV-ish cues, but I’d say the overall effect is pleasant enough. The hood has a central crease running down it which is Accord-like and makes the City conform to the Honda family look. There’s also a very discreet little spoiler on the boot, which is somewhat akin to what you would find on a new 5-series BMW. Fit and finish is impeccable, and you’d be hard pressed to find fault anywhere. Doors shut with a muted ‘whump,’ shutlines are tight and paint quality seems a shade better than it used to be on the old City.
More than its exterior styling, inside the new City is where the action is. For the first time in this segment, apart from the base model, we have a car that does not feature uniformly dull, black-and-grey interiors. Both our test cars, the CVT-equipped top-end model as well as the manual, came with tan and cream plastics on the dash and on the doors, plush velour pholstery, and smidges of chrome. There were also imitation-wood accents scattered around the cabin, which I didn’t like very much. If we have to have plastic wood inserts, can we have more real-looking shades please? Apart from this little complaint, I have nothing against the Honda’s cabin. There’s not one, but two gloveboxes (one of them is where the airbag would have been if that had been offered in India) which can be rather useful, while the deep-set instrument panel, with its three fake chrome-ringed dials looks rather cool. The three-spoke steering wheel feels small and sporty, and is adjustable for position. The new City is quite an ergonomic delight – the controls all fall to hand without having to fiddle around much, the seats, though a bit on the firm side, are comfortable, and there is no bare metal on display anywhere. There are no power adjustments for the seats, no CD-player (there is a CD player compatible Alpine radio/cassette player in there) and no separate AC vents for back seat occupants, but then maybe it’s just the plush interiors that got me expecting too much! One thing’s for sure – the new car’s cabin certainly outclasses any other in this segment.
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