Mar 02, 2005 01:17 PM
11014 Views
(Updated Mar 02, 2005 01:17 PM)
A lot has been written about this car. I will try not to duplicate the specs etc. I bought this car in Jul 04. I had earlier possessed the City 1.3 Exi and the Baleno (now Vxi).
Personal experience is that car is smoother than both the earlier cars I possessed, sounds more refined and suspension is as good if not better than the Baleno suspension which was streets ahead of the previous City models. It feels a bit underpowered when accelerated hard with AC on, otherwise in city driving there is no sweat.
In highway action overtaking at speeds about 100 kmph with AC on can be a problem unless one is prepared to downshift.
As others have said the lack of a clock is glaring.
Inside the car looks very nice. Unfortunately, the cream upholstery has a price to be paid. It collects all sorts of dust and cloth fibres particularly from the sweaters. This is very difficult to clean properly. Honda charges Rs. 1500 for steam cleaning the upholstery.
A bit expensive but probably needs to be done unless one puts on covers. If one puts on covers who cares what the original upholstery looked like. A painful decision and costly as well. The front passenger seat belt buckle does not automatically go to its position between the edge of the seat upright and the body panel.
It sticks there and makes a knocking sound till released to go back to its position. This is not a good design!! Secondly the front left and right air vents when shut make a noise which might be a rattling from the damper when it is shut. Again not a good design given Honda's experience.
A major drawback is the low level of the supports for the front bumper or the dampers. Car even when half loaded hits the bottom when taken over many of the badly designed bumps in Delhi.
Mileage - I am getting around 12.6 to 13.5 km per lit of Speed in city driving. Some of this is with AC on and some with AC off. Though I use the AC quite a bit even in winter to avoid condensation on the glass windows etc. In highway driving it is over 18 km per lit.
Overall a good car though a bit expensive when compared with the Baleno Vxi.
