Archive for 2009 Honda City

Honda Malaysia has officially announced that the new 2009 Honda City will be launched in mid-December 2008! They are also having pre-launch competition where you’ll be able to win passes to the launch and the latest generation iPod Nano.

For everything you need to know about the new Honda City (except for driving impressions of course… that’s to come later), please check out my related posts below.

Related Posts:
2009 Honda City: in-depth details and specifications (must-read!)
2009 Honda City set to hit the European market
2009 Honda City officially unveiled in Thailand
Modified Australian Honda City “Concept”

The Honda City is now in its third generation, and has been launched in countries such as Singapore, Thailand and India. In line with the global economic outlook as well as global fuel prices, manufacturers have been downsizing their cars and the new City makes a perfect compact sedan in the Honda line-up slotted in under the Civic for world markets. It is considered to be a world car now, as it has also been recently revealed that the City will also be sold in Europe. Look after the jump for an in-depth look at the new City.

Click here to read the rest of 2009 Honda City: in-depth details and specifications!

Click for hi-res photo

A new set of photos of the new 2009 Honda City have been released, this time a left hand drive version as a preview to the car’s official European unveiling at the Istanbul Motor Show this October 2008.

The European market Honda City will be fitted with a 100 PS 1.4 liter i-VTEC engine mated to a 5-speed transmission, and apparently the new City - like its European Jazz and Civic hatch siblings - will feature a 6-speed i-SHIFT automated manual transmission with steering-mounted paddle shifts will serve those who do not want to bother with a manual clutch on a daily basis.

The 5-speed manual transmission has been improved over the previous version, now featuring a carbon synchromesh for smoother gear changes as well a new set of gear ratios optimised for the new engine.

Other than the left hand drive interior, something new shown with this new set of photos is the fact that the car features an automatic climate control system with digital display instead of the three-knob manual air conditioning controls that were shown in the previous set of photos. The exterior also looks a little different, with some extra side strips somehow giving the car a more stout look. Frankly I prefer the Asian version’s exterior.

Look after the jump for the new set of photos.

Click here to read the rest of 2009 Honda City set to hit the European market

Displayed together at the official unveiling of the new Honda City in Thailand was a version of the City with a Modulo bodykit. The Modulo kit features a new front bumper and grille together with side skirts and new alloy wheels. While it loses its Optimus Prime look, the Modulo front grille still has a very techno design theme to it and features alot more chrome. Look after the jump for one more photo of the new Honda City Modulo.

Related Posts:
2009 Honda City officially unveiled in Thailand

Click here to read the rest of Honda City Modulo with bodykit and grille

Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd. has started selling the all-new Honda City in Thailand today. It will be sold in Thailand for between 524,000 to 694,000 Thai baht. We don’t have much details on the wheelbase and some other details yet.

The new Honda City is powered by solely by a 1.5 liter i-VTEC engine mated to either a 5-speed automatic or a 5-speed manual It is 4,395mm long, 1,695mm wide and 1,470mm tall, so it is slightly longer (+5mm), slightly wider (+5mm) but not as tall (-25mm) as the previous model. Making it wider and not as high reduces the whole hatchback with a boot tagged on look that the City it replaces had.

It’s quite an attractive car and the lines flow alot smoother than the model it replaces. I hope that for those who don’t fancy the grille at the front all that much (as expressed in some previous posts), there will be a replacement Modulo grille that they can opt for. This was an option that Accord owners who preferred not having an “empty” grille - they could opt for a Modulo grille that had a little bar running through it.

UPDATE: More photos including high resolution photos of the new Honda City have been added after the jump. The new City is sold in Thailand in three variants: S, V and SV. The S and V variants come with a beige interior while the top of the line SV model comes with a dark interior and all 3 variants also come with different alloy wheel designs.

Six colours are available - Habanero Red Pearl, Deep Lapis Blue Metallic, Alabaster Metallic, Polished Metal Metallic and Bold Beige Metallic and Crystal Black Pearl. Sadly white is not available but maybe it will be in Malaysia if Honda Malaysia deems it as a potentially popular colour, which I think it would.

More details to be updated soon, for the moment please have a look at a collection of photos of the new City after the jump.

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Honda Thailand has put up a teaser TV commercial for the new Honda City up on their website.

Nothing much is revealed except the new “Optimus Prime” front grille of the car, inspired by the Honda FCX Clarity.

Watch the video after the jump.

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UPDATE: 2009 Honda City: in-depth details and specifications. Click the linked text to find out you need to know about the upcoming new Honda City in Malaysia.

It’s confirmed - the car we’ve been seeing in China and India is indeed the new Honda City. Reader xstan pointed out this flickr page with photos of the new Honda City - fully uncovered including photos of the interior!

It’s not known at the moment which country these photos come from. As expected, the interior is no longer based on the one in the Honda Jazz but instead uses a design that is perhaps cheaper to cast and manufacture.

Look after the jump for full images and details!

Click here to read the rest of New Honda City i-VTEC fully undisguised exterior and interior revealed!

The same car that we saw on test in India and was presumed to be the new Honda City has now been spotted in China. These photos from sohu show the same car finished in a nice white paint. Unlike the previous shots, we can now see the tail lamps in full glory.

What is this mysterious car? If it is truly the new Honda City it will definitely sell like hot cakes, it looks really good! It will have a winning formula of good looks, above average fuel economy, a price of under RM100k (under 70K is a dream but maybe possible with 1.3 manual?), and a Honda badge!

If you look closely at the ceiling of the interior through the windows, there is something that looks roughly like a sunroof, but oddly shaped as its not very clear. I could be mistaken. Can you see what I am seeing? The City may be an economical model to us but in countries like India where it is high-end, it is available with a sunroof.

The current generation Honda City one of the Honda cars available in China and have also been used as Chinese police cars in the past.

Look after the jump for more shots of the car.

Related Posts:
New Honda City spotted on test in India
Artist’s impression of the new Honda City
Photoshopped Honda City found on Thai forums

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Reader Simon wrote in with a pointer to a thread on pantip.com that is discussing what is supposed to be a product shot of the new Honda City that is expected to be unveiled internationally sometime in the late third quarter or early fourth quarter of the year.

The rendering looks similiar yet different from what Autocar India came up with. The Autocar India rendering (based on internal sources and spyshots) looked like a sedan version of the European Honda Civic and was much sleeker.

This image shows a rather high roofline, making it much more similiar to the current generation City. It is more proportionate though. The front end is inspired by the design of some more recent Hondas such as the Honda FCX Clarity.

What do you think of the new Honda City?

Click to enlarge

This month’s issue of Autocar India carries computer generated images of the fourth generation Honda City (code 2PS) that’s due to be launched soon. We previously saw images of the City on test in India. Autocar India claim a November 2008 launch, which should mean the new City will find its way onto our local showrooms by early 2009.

Honda R&D India was quoted to have issued a statement stating that the car is indeed a prototype belonging to Honda that is currently being tested to collect on road and climatic condition data, but declined to comment further on what it is or any possible launch dates.

The 2009 Honda City bears little resemblance to the second generation Honda Jazz, unlike the previous generation which looked like an awkward 3-box Jazz with a boot stuck on. This time the City looks more like a sedan version of the European market FK/FN chassis 5-door Honda Civic hatch, which coincidentally actually has much more in common with the Jazz than its FD chassis Civic sedan brother. Hint: chassis built to take i-DSI engines and a torsion beam rear suspension.

The current generation City we have here in our market has a wheelbase of 2450mm which was equal to the first generation Jazz’s 2450mm wheelbase. The second generation Jazz’s wheelbase has grown to 2500mm, but since Toyota’s rival Belta/Vios sedan’s wheelbase has grown to 2550mm, expect the City to have a longer wheelbase than the second generation Jazz and set new best-in-class interior space records following the footsteps of its Civic sibling. Something closer to the FK/FN Civic’s 2635mm wheelbase could be possible.

In the engine bay you will find that the i-DSI engine has been discontinued for the latest generation of Hondas, instead a 1.3 or 1.5 liter i-VTEC SOHC engine is offered, with power outputs of 100 PS and 120 PS respectively.

One more rear shot of the new City after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Unmarked car confirmed to be new Honda City (2PS)