New Honda City, Not Just a New Look

The small sedan market is arguably empty of players. But amidst the thirst for a model that competes in this market, there is consistent competition between the Honda City and the Toyota Vios, despite having had a "rival" from Suzuki Ciaz who later took his leave of this compact sedan battle.

Honda City, is increasingly strengthening itself with what is now being done. Namely a change in appearance, aka a face lift in March 2017. Of course, this method provides some interesting new things for consumers. In addition to a sporty design with more dynamic lines and curves, the headlights and grille also show a striking difference in design compared to before.

The lights are narrower but have a firm angle, equipped with projectors with LED technology lamps, plus a Daytime Running Light with LED at the bottom of the headlight, being the main changes, which are side by side with a chrome grille with a minimalist grille.

This new grille is more sporty than the chrome stacked grille like its predecessor. In addition, the grille on the lower bumper also compensates for the sportier design of the spoiler. While the fog lamp still seems to have similarities with the previous one.

Things are a bit different when looking at this new City from the side, there are no significant changes besides the different rim motifs, as well as the rear view mirror with LED turn signal which can now be folded electrically.

The two-tone concept of the wheel circumference is still applied, like the Honda City before the face lift. However, this time it is no longer a fan model, but a diamond-cut motif and a larger rim, now 16 inches in diameter and wrapped in 185 / 55R16 tires. Whereas previously using 15-inch rims.
Then at the stern, there is a new difference that will appear at night, when the tail light which now uses the LED lights up brightly as a means of communication with other riders behind. While the overall design has not changed much compared to the previous model.

What's interesting, is when you enter the Honda City cabin. Although the 'face lift' frills should only focus on the 'face' appearance, in fact inside the cabin there are quite significant changes.

Changes to the dashboard are the first things that everyone who sits on the front seats will see. The AC grille has changed, as the dashboard panel is now fresher with gunmetal garnish on the left side. Then most noticeable is the 'floating' head unit which is arguably the trend in the Honda lineup here.

This 8-inch touch screen head unit replaces the old 6.1-inch version. However, there are things that are a little bumpy with this new head unit. When going to insert a CD into it, it takes some procedures that can be considered "troublesome". 

The user must unlock the fastener behind the screen, so that the screen can be lifted and the CD slot can be seen and then the CD can be inserted into the slot.

It's not as easy as the head unit with a non-floating model with the CD input gap visible in front of the head unit. Just insert the CD into the slot and just press the button if you want to remove it again.
New air conditioner grille, distribute cool air more.

Passenger comfort in the cabin is also supported by an AC outlet for rear passengers. The outlet that transmits cool air is located at the back of the center console, and can be directed or even closed completely, when the rear passenger doesn't need it.

However, there are more things, there are things that are lacking, even though the rear seat back can be folded, it can only be done when the seat back folding lever is pulled from the trunk. So, passengers cannot pick up items from the luggage from the cabin.

Although, for the driver the facilities are quite complete. The steering wheel is equipped with tilt and telescopic steering, then adjust the seat height. This makes the various postures of the driver easily adjust the position to drive the Honda City.

Yes, that's a bit of an update to the Interior of the Honda City which is marketed in Indonesia. Somewhat different from the Thai market. In the White Elephant Country version, it is equipped with a sunroof and 6 SRS Airbags in its highest type. Meanwhile in Indonesia this is not the case. Just two airbags and without a glass roof that penetrates the sun.

However, the safety features carried by Honda City are quite good in its class. Control is maintained to be more stable with Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) which became the standard. This prevents wheel slippage and makes the car turn, when maneuvering quickly over slippery road surfaces, also guarantees better wheel traction, when accelerating on skid-prone road surfaces. 

Plus, Hill Start Assist (HSA), which guarantees the car will not reverse when it will move back, after stopping on a steep incline. This is especially helpful for junior drivers with manual transmissions. Although for automatic transmission there is also this facility. 

Still related to the braking system, Honda City has a Brake Override System, which prioritizes the brake function, when the brake pedal and gas pedal are pressed together. This is to anticipate a panic reaction from the driver who accidentally steps on the brake and gas pedal together. Guaranteed, the car will be ordered to stop, rather than the wheels keep turning using engine power, against the lock on the brake system. 

Then, what is the performance like, does it match a sportier look? Of course you have to try it right away. The engine used by the Honda City has the largest maximum power in its class, 120 PS / 6,000 rpm with 145 Nm of torque which has been achieved at the engine motorbike of 4,600 rpm. Of course this makes this car quite fun to drive, especially when stop and go in urban traffic.

The engine, which is paired with the CVT transmission, has been “built-in” since the emergence of the City, but continues to experience improvements, until now operation can be done via paddle shift on the steering wheel, with manual mode up to 6 speed.

With the combination of engine power and transmission intelligence, the Honda City accelerates in 11 seconds, when the sprint is from rest to 100 km / hour. While the fuel consumption of the i-VTEC engine it uses is quite economical.

CVT transmission with Earth Dreams Technology, makes the engine speed quite low when cruising or driving constantly, even at medium and medium speeds. This is what makes fuel consumption efficient.
In addition, on the downhill road, there is no need to worry about the “barking” effect, the car will drive without being restrained. The effect of the engine brake like a manual transmission is still present in cars with this CVT transmission. Continuous use of the brakes on less steep descents can be reduced.

The engine is quite powerful in its class, also still relatively economical In the city, with an average speed of 22 km / hour, the fuel consumption is 12.6 km / liter, while when used on toll roads with an average speed of 90 km / hour the fuel consumption is 17 km / liter.

The facilities provided for the driver, namely Cruise Control, are a feature of the Honda City that no rivals in their class have. The driver can set a constant speed, so there is no need to step on the gas pedal.

It's really fun, not only driving 'relaxed' with Cruise Control, when maneuvering fast, Honda City has enough suspension to make this sedan run agile and stable, but as a consequence of this increased stability, suspension swing feels harder, when the wheels meet the surface. bumpy road.

The fun of driving is reduced a little when parking. There is no assistance in the form of a parking sensor and no camera view on the head unit monitor when reversing, as if in contrast to the more modern design in this face lift version. Although of course the driver's skill when parking is preferred, so there is no need to rely on this feature.