First Drive: Honda City

By James Stanford

The Daily Telegraph

04 October 2008

Cheap to run... the new Honda City will be available at the Australian International Motor Show. Photo Gallery

Small sedans usually only appeal to old people, but the new Honda City might just connect with the youngsters.

It isn't a performance car and the suspension is set-up with comfort rather than agility in mind, but the City looks cool especially from the front with a bold grille and slit headlights.

You could just imagine it being pimped with big wheels, a body kit and a massive muffler almost scraping on the ground.

They wouldn't have to change the sound system though, this one is as good as you will find in some premium cars costing twice the price with a very impressive bass. Ask anyone under 30 if the sound system quality matters.

The Honda City was introduced in Thailand in 1996 and is exported to 36 countries. Honda is to bring the third-generation to Australia in February. You can get a first glimpse of it at the Australian International Motor Show, starting at Darling Harbour on Thursday.

The City will compete against the Toyota Yaris, Holden Barina and Nissan Tiida sedans.

The two model range is likely to be well priced between $17,990 and $21,990.The biggest thing the City has going for it is the amount of interior space. Two tall blokes will be happy in the back of this car. The leg room is remarkable and there is ample headroom, while the seats are very comfortable.

Then there is the cavernous boot, which has a wide opening to allow for big bulky items.

Given this has a 60/40 split fold rear seats, it’s able to take surfboards or a mountain bike.

The City's interior is good. The plastic surfaces are hard but it looks nice.

The instruments and steering wheel are similar to the Jazz but the console is different.

The Jazz has gone for a futuristic look with different-sized dials and a non-conventional style. The City has a simpler and easier to use sound system and plain heater controls.

I drove the City at a race track near Pattaya in Thailand this week because Honda was worried we might hit or be hit by the hordes of scooter riders on the streets.

This made it harder to get an accurate picture of the City, but it was clear this carhas a different attitude to its Jazz sibling.

First, it feels much softer. The suspension has more give and there seems to be more body roll. Unless you fiddle, the City is never going to be a sporty drive, but that was never its role. It was designed to offer affordable, practical transport.

Hopefully, the softer suspension tune will allow the City to smooth out bumpy roads that it's likely to meet when it arrives in Australia. The steering is light, without much feel, but is excellent in tight spaces just like the Jazz.

We drove the automatic version of the City in Thailand and it is best described as adequate rather than lively. The Jazz isn't a fireball when fitted with an automatic and the extra 50kg of the City doesn't help.

It may feel quicker on a road, but it wasn't going anywhere in a hurry during our test drive.

We would expect the manual would be the choice if you wanted to make the most of the high-revving engine.

Except for when you are flogging it, the City is quiet and there didn't seem to be much wind noise or road noise.

At 100km/h it ticks over at just above 2000 revs, which is good for fuel consumption and great for your sanity on longer trips given it isn't buzzing away at 3300 revs.

The likelihood that the City will use less fuel than the Jazz, which is a miser, should be a big drawcard and could encourage some people out of compact crossovers and mid-sized sedans.

It isn't sporty but the City should be cheap to run, has heaps of space and looks good.

Snapshot

Honda City

Price: $18,000-$21,000

Engine: 1.5L/4-cylinder, 88kW/145Nm

Transmission: 5-speed manualor 5-speed automatic

Economy: better than 6.4L/100km

Comments on this story

Displaying 10 of 18 comments

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Just bought this vehicle. Beautiful car, plenty of features and excellent build quality which Honda are renowned for. Low road noise inside the cabin. Bought the Vti-l model which includes a few extras including alloy wheels, fog lights, leather steering wheel, chrome door handles. Well worth the extra $3000 or so for the upgraded model. Stereo is amazing. Ipod and USB connectivity and steering wheel controls. And YES there is a mp3 compatible CD player behind the face of the stereo unit.

Ron of Sunny Gold Coast Posted at 22 March 2009 5:07pm

nnnick….
The City does have a cd player. There’s a button you press and the panel pops down exposing the cd player.

Also ebd and abs come standard in a Yaris.. as does air con. Air con comes standard in EVERY car, it is not something you should pay extra for.

Speaking of paying extra if would’ve been nice if we had to option to choose whether we want 2 or 6 airbags on the city, that might’ve dropped the price down a bit.

Billie of Perth Posted at 04 February 2009 10:33am

The city will start from:
$20,800 base model manual. Therfore base auto will be $22,800.

fuel economy is jus under 5 at 4.9L. No CD player jus an aux and ipod plug in with ipod interface. Lots of storage. Perfect safe reliable car for any first car driver. With 6 airbags and abs and ebd standard! compared to Yaris and barina where extras such as airbags, air-con are expensive and not included.

nnnick of Sydney Posted at 03 February 2009 4:13pm

I got to test drive this car. It is AWESOME to drive, sound system is quite good its funny because the salesman made a real big deal about it, but I was more interested in how the car drives (just because I’m young I do have other interests than a good sound system). It is a real smooth drive and it’s just so quiet. I was sold just on the test drive.

The disapointing thing about this car is the price. For the base auto it is $25800 drive away.. and from what i remember the manual was like $23000ish. The upper auto model was like $28000ish drive away. So after reading all the reviews and speculated prices on the model (thinking i could afford one), I was extrememly disappointed when the salesman told me the price.

In saying that how can a car at this price compare with the Yaris, Barina, and Tiida? They are all cars that are $23000 and below.. and the quality? Tiida and Barina to be put in the same category? COME ON…

Billie of Perth Posted at 03 February 2009 11:27am

I quite like the look of the City. I currently have the old Civic hatch and am looking to upgrade soon. I do love the current Honda Civic, but this could be a good cheaper alternative.

anne of adelaide Posted at 22 December 2008 10:19pm

I’m excited about the City being available to purchase in February and think there is definitely a market for this type of car. Personally I find the jazz is just ugly and lack style (an acquired taste says the guys at my local dealership) and the civic is too big and more of a guy’s sedan. I think the City will appeal to women that like the look of the civic but find it’s just too big and are sick of driving hatchbacks.

For the record, I’m 38. Does that mean I’m getting old because I like a small sedan…?

Hilary Holliday of North Perth Posted at 25 November 2008 10:53pm

wow ” looking good but i thikg too exspensive car good but no money to buy and too exspensive for pedtro mine

khammy of sydney Posted at 24 November 2008 8:00am

looking good now on we don’tneedbig car anymer’’

khammy of sydney Posted at 08 November 2008 9:02pm

Small cars appeal to sensible people who don’t need BIG cars with 6s and V8s. However I find this City looks like a Corolla Clone and not in keeping with the modern look of the Jazz and Civic. Honda needs to shake off the “old person” image by updating it’s colours and designs. The new Civic Type R is a step in the right direction as are the new Civic exteriorss/interiors. I agree Honda is slow in providing extras that cheaper cars come as standard with. My present car is a Civic Vi hatch and I would like to upgrade to a Type R but would prefer the Japanese 4 door rather than the European hatch. That would be a better option than this boring sedan. Oh, by the way, I’m old in years but young at heart. Come on Honda use the popularity of the Jazz to realise Honda owners want an option at least of bright colours and sports car looks!!

John of Adelaide Posted at 17 October 2008 11:47am

Erm.. why do you need a great sound system in a car? You are there to drive, not sing, listen to music, or annoy other people with that useless doof doof doof… Cars are for transport and being driven, not for mobile concert halls. If you don’t like patronising age comments then grow up and act like you are.

Amazed of Warner Posted at 15 October 2008 10:51am

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