2023 Honda City: 8 honest observations shared by an old City owner

Engine sounds rough at high RPMs and is way more audible inside thanks to very poor sound insulation.

BHPian hellraiser_yank recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Have had Hondas in the family since the first gen in the 90s. have owned every generation besides OHC. this latest generation is the most disappointing. my review of my current City is a bit overdue and will cover in detail the cost cutting and rather stingy-ness which is very apparent in the latest gen.

To list a few glaring issues in my examples:

• Exposed wires with no fabric sheathing in many places. People with rat infested garages beware.
• Engine sounds rough at high RPMs and is way more audible inside thanks to very poor sound insulation.
• Under tyred as always but with the bigger size seems even more apparent when driven enthusiastically.
• Being a C2 segment which is the size that used to be the D segment without a proper independent rear suspension (same for all in this segment) combined with the very soft setting inspires no confidence when driven at highway speeds.
• Still no rear disc brakes.
• Absolutely potato quality of rear camera, does not even compare to OEM cameras from many budget brands from 10years ago.
• Infotainment is probably still the worst in segment.

• Seat belt does not go back in position since second month of ownership. have to coax it back. Multiple niggles in the first year of ownership. never had any in any previous Honda products.

Switched back to the city for my father after a very eventful but very engaging ownership of a Vento TSI for about a 1,20,000kms. as long as im in the rear seats being driven by a chauffeur at city speeds its acceptable that too only in the hands of a competent driver as the CVT combo gets noisy.

The new City after my experience of about 90k kms in a 2011 VMT and further 1k kms in a 2020 ZX CVT leaves a lot to be desired. always had been a big fan of the L15b1 engine and used to look for swap options in my days owning the 2011 VMT but the state of tune and probably not the best intake solution its a big disappointment.

The only car I consider worthy of this segment at the moment is the Virtus, no experience with a Slavia (heard the suspension is softer) or the new Verna yet.

TL/DR- New City not made like they used to. glaring cost cutting. tech seems extremely outdated already. Do not recommend for enthusiasts. would rather get a Virtus.

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