Honda SIEL introduced ZX- GXi on India Road. Every aspect of the city styling is very functional; it has short overhangs, both front and back. It has a short roof and a steeply raked bonnet, the angle being followed by the windscreen. Adequately big rear window, ample glass area all round and very well designed interiors.

 

The bonnet of the city is so short that it makes the car easier to drive in the city; the short overhang means that you don’t have to constantly keep a check on the where the other end of your bumper is. The turning circle radius is just 4.9m. The short boot also follows the same principle, it helps when you are reversing. The engine bay, though pretty small is able to house the engine, transmission, and compressor and so on, but the clever bit is that these components are so placed that they liberate a lot of cabin room. The high rake front and rear windscreens mean that glass area is very high and hence the cabin feels very airy inside.

 

GXI version comes with a single CD in dash Alpine MP3 player and 4 speakers as standard. Interiors are very impressive, the steering wheel which is now height adjustable and comes clad in leather with prominent chrome Honda ‘H’ at its wheel. The wood panels along the doors also match well with the overall make up of the car. The front seats are 3 way adjustable, heights included.

The power mirrors are extremely helpful and neatly designed, the beige interior stretches all the way to the floor, and is very pleasing to the eye. The top of the dashboard is black; hence no reflections off the dashboard on the glass, even on sunny days. The 3 dome meter console is beautiful, especially at night when the dials are orange and the needle is red, it lacks a temperature gauge which gets replaced by 2 warning lights, one for high and another low engine temperature. Though the interiors may seem very plush and comfortable, lumbar support is bit lacking and thanks to the color of the interiors, maintenance may prove expensive.

 

The relationship between the c-pillar and the boot of the city was rather odd in the outgoing model and seemed to make the city look rather different, this has been worked on and now the lines flow a lot smoother. A new look bumper and tail lights make the rear end of the car look far more desirable. Boot space which was always very good is further increased (from 490 to 500liters).

 

The Engine here is a 1497cc 4 cylinder naturally aspirated petrol, with muti-port electronically controlled fuel injection and iDSI (intelligent dual spark sequential ignition). It is mated to a 5 speed synchromesh manual gearbox. This engine develops 77ps of power at 5000 rpm and 12.8kg-m of torque at as low as 2700rpm. The engine has been designed keeping in mind tough city conditions, where speeds hardly climb above 60kph. Torque is readily available just above idle and just like the CR-V; this car is very comfortable in fifth gear doing just 40kph.

 

The transmission is also designed with an eye on fuel economy, trying to minimize the gearshifts during city runs by keeping the engine at low revs. The transmission is neat and clunky though the gear lever. The clutch requires a little bit of getting used to and does not really like getting burnt. As long as one is in sedated mode, the Honda never ceases to impress and loves every inch of urban road, soaking in the dirt, the heat and the grime like an elephant chews grass, but shift into cheetah mode and the Honda disappoints slightly.

 

The city comes with 175/65 R14 tires mounted on 14×5 1/2JJ steel wheels. Bumps and humps are absorbed with a neat thud, letting you know that you went over it but not letting you feel it. Ride is quite nice even at very low speeds and gets better in the 40 to 60kph range. Corners are handled quite well at low speeds; the suspension is not exactly old city style, so under steer is quite easily provoked at three digit speeds or during hard cornering.

Filed under: Honda Cars in India