Long term ownership review - My Honda City VX CVT - Team-BHP
Long term ownership review - My Honda City VX CVT - Team-BHP |
| Long term ownership review - My Honda City VX CVT - Team-BHP Posted: 11 Apr 2020 12:00 AM PDT Chapter 4: 18 months and 18000km later My mental health has definitely improved over the past year and a half (not that it was questionable earlier). I say so because the first thing you notice while driving an automatic in Bangalore is how much calmer, relaxed and zen you are. You're not stressed to the same levels as before when you spot a jam from 100m away, that you'll soon be jamming with. And that is good enough for me to know that I did the right thing getting this car. Let's break down the review from here. Also, I'll keep it mostly to the stuff that matters to me or was new to me. 1.Exteriors I didn't like the design of 2015 Honda City with that fat chrome strip and flat headlights and was pleasantly surprised how much just a bumper nip and tuck, some contrasting plastics and new headlamp cluster can change the looks of the car. Even the rear bumper just with the addition of the lower black strip looks so much better. I don't think the car has any bad angle as such and comes across as a very well balanced design. However, in my photo library, I find myself more inclined towards the rear 3 quarters and the profile view with that undoubtedly City silhouette. The Orchid Pearl White is basically a metallic white shade and that makes it shine very nicely in most photos. Would you just look at those alloys! Move over home office, there are better options I think the amount of dental real estate on display says it all Also, I LOVE THOSE ALLOYS! And Honda has provided a full sized alloy spare too! I know a lot of guys feel that the design looks a bit too busy but works for me. Also the way they shimmer at night when driving is a treat to eyes. I would've been sad if I had got the V variant because now whenever I look at any of those, the alloys just look a bit too plain. Tyres are OK. I wanted to replace them with Pirelli Cinturato P1 (I had these on my Brio and made a WORLD of difference after the horrendous stock JK tyres) but my budget was already overboard by 2 lakh and I wasn't getting much in return for the brand new Bridgestones considering they are a unique size for this car. So far I've found the Bridgestones lacking mainly during braking as in they reach their limits quickly under heavy braking and ABS cuts in pretty soon. Stickier tyres should improve this. Another thing that I like here, that I also like in any car that has it, is that the rear door edges do not take the shape of the wheel well and continue in a straight line upwards. I have no major dislikes about the exterior except the fact that the outer pointy end of headlights doesn't align with the bonnet lines. Very unsatisfying. Would've looked nice if the bonnet line dropped lower and met the headlights. Maybe. This. Satisfaction denied! Also notice uneven gaps in the bonnet shut line I haven't added any exterior accessories except the weatherguards bought from JC road in Bangalore for about Rs. 700 I think. I had them in the Brio also and I liked the practicality they offered of being able to open the windows a bit and drive without the AC in rains. However, on the City, I find that these add significant wind noise above 100 km/h which gets irritating on the highways. I'll probably remove them once any one of them starts peeling off. The LED headlights are fantastic for stock lamps and at high beam, light up the highways very well. Initially I felt the throw wasn't proper and after a couple of hits and misses, was finally able to adjust it to my liking. The headlamps are "Triple barrel", if I may call them so, as there are 2 clusters of LEDs for Low beam (outer two) and 1 for high beam (innermost towards the grill). "Triple barrel" headlamps The sharp cut-off of the headlights however becomes the proverbial Achilles heel in the ghats and this is where cornering lamps are sorely missed. It's quite scary at times since you're almost turning blind as there is hardly any light spread towards the corners in sharp turns. I've been looking for some aftermarket options for static bending lights but haven't found anything interesting. It also doesn't help that there is no steering angle sensor to help enable such function. The foglights on my car seem to be focused a bit too low as in I can't even see the light from driver's seat, only kind of an afterglow. I asked the service guys to adjust it but they simply said fog lights cannot be adjusted. I forgot this later and while writing this review, I got back on this topic and some googling suggested that they ARE normally adjustable. I re-read the user manual but no mention. I went down to the car, opened the hood and put the apex tech of our smartphones – the torch to good use. I could see some sort of large screw head with knurling below the foglamp with the screw head facing the ground and a long shank partially visible. From the construction it looked like an adjustment screw that could tilt the lights up or down. But accessibility seemed an issue. Logic said that if it was an adjustment screw, then there should be a way to reach it from below the car through some access hole. Looked under the bumper and lo and behold! There were 2 sweet access holes exactly below the screws. Too bad I don't have the correct socket driver (it looks like a size 6) and will get one post-lockdown and fiddle around. Will keep you guys posted. Pinky promise! Also the foglamps seem to have one set of LEDs permanently focused into corners. Hopefully the adjustment should resolve the corner lighting issue also. Below are lighting images taken with fixed speed, aperture and ISO settings so the difference is clear. Only DRLs ON. Although difficult, notice the brightness on the pillars that goes off in next image Fog lamps + dimmed DRLs. Notice the very short fog lamp throw Low beam + fog lamps. Sharp cut off to prevent glare can be clearly seen High beam + low beam + fog lamps. Can clearly see the driver in the santro up ahead (if any) would easily be dazzled. Fog lamps and DRLs in action All except high beam From the reflector design, foglamps seems to have 2 sets of LEDs, one pointing ahead and one into corners, kind of always ON. Also notice the Made in Japan label. No such label on headlights. On the dislikes, I feel Honda has been unnecessarily stingy in some very basic areas, case in point being no rear wheel well insulation. That could've helped reduce road noise and the occasional rock hitting noises inside the cabin which isn't exactly a benchmark in cabin insulation. Also the panel gaps around the bonnet seem a bit too large to me. 2. Interiors Front seats & Dashboard view The dashboard looks great to me although I feel Honda could've tried to differentiate the design a bit more compared to Jazz or BRV. I have no complaints w.r.t quality of plastics and materials used inside the cabin. The meters are clear and simple with a 3 dial layout and soothing white backlight. Pre-facelift ones came with a blue backlight and I never liked anything that came with blue backlights. You get a tacho on the left, speedometer with tell-tale lights in the middle and MID on the right which displays the Odo, 2 tripmeters with average FE for each trip, time, fuel level and instantaneous FE and outside temperature. What could be better here is providing more info from the MID on the dials, for ex: which door exactly is open? The front row seats are pretty wide and very comfortable although I feel the lower back support was better in the Brio. Driver's seat gets 6-way adjustment and an armrest to be shared with co-driver. However, the construction of this armrest could've been sturdier as this one flexes and sometimes squeaks if extra pressure is put on them when getting out of the car. There is ample leg-room and headroom everywhere. I normally sit with the seat all the way back minus 1 or 2 notches and a six footer can still sit comfortably at the back. In fact, once at a tea stop, I realised that I can stretch my left leg completely straight with heel resting on top of the dead pedal! Also, this being VX from 2017, gets the perforated leather seat covers and so far I haven't had a sweaty back. Seats offer good all-round support and no complaints as such. However, I feel Honda should've provided adjustable seat belts here. On the topic of seat belts, only Driver's side gets a seat belt alarm and none for the shotgun rider. Driver's door gets controls for all 4 power windows with driver's being one-touch up/down, window lock and central door lock/unlock button. Central locking / unlocking can also be done by pushing/pulling the door release lever. Acres of space with driver's seat set to my liking Same at the rear with driver's seat position unchanged. Also notice the small center tunnel hump and the sloping floor Rear AC vents Coming to the rear seats – I think it's pretty well known by now that you can't beat the City in back seat comfort. The middle seat backrest folds out as a centre armrest and can hold 2 cups/bottles . Despite this, the middle seat backrest as well as the seat itself feels quite comfortable even for long rides, additionally aided by a very small "transmission tunnel". The bench and the backrest spread from door to door that makes carrying 5 adults or in my case, 4 adults and a baby (in a baby seat) a comfortable affair. There is also one AC vent for the back seat passengers but the air flow is not that great (probably like 20-30% of front). There are also 2 12v charging points below the rear AC vent available. Rear seats get only two integrated headrests (I think Honda calls them pillows?) and none for the middle seat guy. These headrests /pillows are filled with a much softer material and are extremely comfortable if you want to rest and sleep but not sure how effective these are in their actual role i.e. whiplash prevention. Back seat comfort is also aided by the upwards sloping floor (towards driver seat) which makes a very perceptible difference in how your foot rests. This complements the slightly extra-laidback backrest by still maintaining a more or less right angle between your foot and leg. If you're wondering why does the floor have a slope at all, the reason is that this version of City is based on the current Jazz platform, where the tank is placed under the front seats to enable magic seats and more utility space. However, in the City, it still lies below the rear seats. Points for improvement at the back could be to provide a proper 3-point belt for middle seat also (some variants elsewhere get it as per the manual) Edge to Edge seat cushioning. Goes a long way in ensuring comfort for 3 at the back. The air-conditioning, in true Honda fashion, is nothing much to write about. Given the large glass area, the performance is above adequate for Bangalore weather but leaves a lot to be desired in hotter coastal regions. Honda should've provided UV cut glass like the Baleno or even their own Amaze here. The cool down after starting with a hot soaked car could be better. Also, its either comfortable at front but uncomfortable at the back or uncomfortably cold at the front while comfortable at the back. Sort of a workaround I've managed is to almost close the side vents (middle ones can't be closed). That kind of equalises and also allows for better air throw from the rear vents. A short note on the Auto AC control logic (not sure if this is the norm, risking sounding stupid here) - the blower speed and possibly the compressor loading is a function of the difference between outside temperature and set value of AC temperature apart from actual cabin temperature itself. What this means is if the outside temperature is 20 deg C and you set inside at 19 deg C, the blower speed would hardly be at 1 or 2 bars but if the outside temp here was 30 deg C, you'll have the blower running close to max speed. I was a bit apprehensive about the touch panel control for the AC but off late I'm used to it and it doesn't seem so much of an issue as mostly said to be. That said, I'm a mechanical engineer and will always prefer knurled dials and toggle switches for controls. In terms of storage, the glovebox is neither cooled nor too large. For this reason, I've moved the manuals to the trunk, in the lap of spare wheel, cocooned in bubble wrap. Each of the doors can take a 1 liter bottle each, with two cup holders in front of the gear lever. The armrest covers a deep recess too. There are slots on each side of the hand brake which are probably meant for wallets I guess. On the right side of steering wheel, there is a small flip down compartment that and hold loose change / toll tickets etc. The boot is quite large and well-shaped and can easily swallow 5 people's luggage and a full size pram with still some room for holiday shopping for a weeklong roadtrip. The rear seat is not foldable but it seems from the user manual that some markets do get fold down seats which would've increased the utility factor even more. Large, well shaped, 510L boot can gobble up more luggage than you need. Although folding seats would've improved it further. Look up and you'll find 4 cabin lights and latest craze – Sunroof! Sunroof with some clouds thrown in On the topic of sunroof, I would like to touch upon the hazards of letting kids or even adults stand through the same while the car is moving that somehow people just don't realise. Even the salesmen sell the feature as one that is meant for kids! I've seen countless such examples and I'm sure you must also have seen/experienced. I'll just list the ways people have been hurt grievously or even died doing this: 1. Since you aren't wearing seat belt, you'll either fly out of the car in a strong impact (read anything more than 25-30km/h) or have your rib cage crushed, worse sliced by all the impact force being transmitted through the thin roof width 2. You could get hit by small or medium sized rocks thrown up by the vehicle in front of you, compounded by the relative velocity of you and the rock, resulting in death or serious injury. 3. I can distinctly remember at least 2 cases of kids getting their throats slit and dying because there was a stray "maanjha" hanging over the road after Sankranti festivities. If even these reasons are not convincing enough for someone, then I'll let Darwinism run its course. Now coming to the most irritating thing and the feature that I think was the result of a "Oh shit! How did we forget that!" moment – the fuel filler cap release lever position. It is placed at the bottom of the A pillar, near the floor almost and right above the bonnet release button (you get the drift). Reaching that place from my position of driver's seat pushed back all the way, steering telescoped to the max and then lowered, is stuff yogis dream of. You level up when instead of opening the fuel filler, you pop open the bonnet to disapprovingly judgmental, taunting smiles of petrol pump staff. Why can't they have just placed it next to the boot release lever, in its natural habitat? The fuel filler cap release lever, placed out of coverage area. Oh I just remembered another ergo failure, the centre tunnel trim sidewall, where your left leg rests, has a very strategic ridge line which will inadvertently perform a slow stab of your calf muscles on longer drives. Although, I think my calves are used to it now. Among interior accessories, I've installed: 1. Aukey Dashcam that came with a dual USB port 12V charging adaptor (~49GBP off Amazon.uk via friend returning from UK) Aukey DR02 Dashcam
All have been very satisfactory purchases and are working flawlessly so far. 3. Safety The car satisfies my requirement of at least 2 airbags and ABS with EBD. Apart from this, being a sedan, I get decent amount of crumple zones at the rear and front and Honda's ACE architecture for the chassis. As mentioned, adjustable seatbelts would've been good. While I couldn't find any Global NCAP or any other crash test ratings for the Indian City, I did come across a Latin NCAP test for a 2015 Honda City with 2 airbags and ABS and it had a 5-star rating for adult and 4-star for child occupant. That gives some confidence and satisfaction. Collapsible electric power steering is standard.
Last edited by iamgyan : 26th April 2020 at 00:48. |
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