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Honda Malaysia scores highest monthly sales ever thanks to new 2009 Honda City

Paul Tan — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:29:34 +0000

The Honda City seems to be defying the current financial downturn as it has helped propel Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd achieve its highest monthly sales ever in history, bringing Honda market share up to 10% of the Total Industry Volume, in a market that has shrunk by 17.5% year on year. Honda scored 1,693 units of the Honda City in January 2009, which is nearly 50% of total Honda sales of 3,815 units. The Civic, Accord and CR-V scored sales of 734, 803 and 413 units respectively. Honda dealership traffic has also doubled ever since the City’s launch. Honda Malaysia has bumped up production for the City by 20% to shorten the waiting period and the Pegoh Plant in Malacca is running at full capacity on two 10-hour shifts and even the occasional runtime during holidays. Read our past coverage of the 2009 Honda City linked below.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

2009 Honda City: first drive impressions review

Paul Tan — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:51:19 +0000

The Japanese B-segment market is indeed a hot one and is dominated by the H and T badges, despite honest efforts by other manufacturers such as Suzuki to make an impact with cars such as the SX4 sedan. The City and the Vios remain the champions of the under RM80k non-national sedan market and are the target of many people who long to break out of what they feel is the curse of Proton ownership, so naturally the launch of the new Honda City this year was very eagerly awaited. The new City is blessed with good looks and now that the launch and fanfare are over, it’s time to take a good look at the car and see if it is indeed as good as it looks.

Read my full driving impressions after the jump.

Design

While the design of the City is not perfect, it’s way better looking than the odd hatchback with a boot slapped previous generation City. It’s also got a more classic sedan look to it with none of that A-pillar triangular window stuff. A sports sedan to be exact. I still like the shape as much as I did when I first saw it on the spyshots on the internet, especially the white one transported in China. It’s just too bad Honda isn’t offering the car in white here, in fact there are no white Hondas on sale except for the Type R, but I was told white is being added to the CKD paint process soon.

The top of the line model gets foglamps but I kind of prefer the bumper without the foglamps as somehow it helps make the car look wider and shorter. Chrome for the door handles are a nice touch, while the fuel lid opens up with just a touch much like more pricey European cars.

Interior

With the new City, you no longer get that airy feeling that was present in the old City. This is the result of the seating position being much more car-like rather than mini-MPV-like, thanks to Honda distancing the City from its boot-less Jazz sibling. While the Ultra Seats are gone, things like using the bottom of the rear seats to store an umbrella is a great idea. Never again do you have to place it in some random area on the floor of your car and get your whole carpet/mats soaked more than necessary.

Being someone about 181cm tall, I was quite happy in the driver’s seat of the City. Everything was quite ergonomic, from steering position to seat height and position. The storage compartments are also easy to use and the little storage area under the driver side air cond vent is quite usable for your Touch N Go card as its slant prevents the card from sliding out of the compartment. The fuel tank is located under the front seats so there’s not much room for you to install your aftermarket ICE amplifiers there.

The raised floor caused by the fuel tank also juts out a little when you push the front seats nearly all the way back as I needed to do because of my height, so you are quite limited in where you can rest your leg if you want to fold it inwards towards you instead of placing it on the footrest.

There is enough headroom at the rear and decent leg space. Nothing to complain about there. You could definitely seat 3 adults in the rear bench with reasonable amount of comfort, as it is wide enough. The rear bench is reclinable in the top spec model so that adds a bit more comfort for long journeys as you don’t have to sit too upright.

The instrument panel looks good and is easy to read, and there is a multi-information display that can show you various data such as fuel consumption in real time. Well, not exactly fuel consumption but more of fuel economy as the reading is in km per liter, so the higher the bar goes the more km you are getting from each liter according to your driving style.

The CD player slot is hidden behind the radio display, which is rather neat and I liked how the paid attention to how the radio display actually flipped down – it doesn’t just snap down like how a cheap metal pencil case made in China would open, if you get what I mean.

The USB interface is hidden in front of the gear lever in the storage compartment. You can load MP3s and WMAs from a USB device, and because the USB port is powered, if your PDA uses a USB cable for charging you can just plug it into the USB port and juice up. The radio LCD display is a very low resolution one with limited text display capabilities so it doesn’t do much to show your full song title or CD ID3 text completely.

Despite refinement in certain areas, Honda could really have done better with the choice of colour for the whole center dash area. It seems poorly styled compared to the rest of the vehicle. Sure, it’s functional, but choices of material in certain areas especially the center dash makes it look rather toy-like. It’s got nothing to do with the quality of materials as I am sure they could have pulled this off within budget and not look cheap at the same time. A case of good intentions but misguided styling perhaps. While you may be put off by it at the showroom, this is something that you will get used to and forget after a while.

The boot is cavernous at 506 liters, and to achieve this space there is no full-size spare tyre but one of those thinner emergency ones. One nice touch is how Honda has neatly hidden away the wheel jack and other tyre change tools under a plastic part with a wheel jack logo on it.

Driving Experience

The City handles Malaysian roads quite well, absorbing road irregularities to a level that is expected from a car like this, and striking a good balance between comfort and handling which is what a Honda buyer would expect. The steering and pedals are light and easy to use for a beginner driver. The City can take corners with confidence and even when you start sliding out of control it is very easy to correct. The combination of the electric power steering accuracy, weight and the lack of any excessive bodyroll except in the extremes makes the City a car that’ll keep the driver happy, that is until he is joined by passengers.

Honda’s media drive to Malacca assigned 3 of us to a car and I began to understand why Mainland China consumers get a 1.8 liter motor in the City. The City may feel sluggy at times and it was made worse by the really hot day. While the engine boasts 120 PS of output, this is only achievable way beyond the 6,000rpm rev range so none of it is actually usable when you are in a hurry but exactly in a hurry enough to slam the pedal to the metal and let the car rev to the redline in all gears. It’s enough power to get going but not enough for the whole gutsy feeling that Honda likes associating the car with. So yes, it’s best to drive gently and smoothly whenever there are maybe 2 or more passengers in the car to keep both yourself and the engine happy, otherwise you’ll be looking for air filter, exhaust and all sorts of mods to extract more power from the car.

You also don’t get to keep the revs up as often as you’d want because despite having 5 gear ratios, the last 2 are overdrive gears with one extra tall gear for more silent and economical highway cruising (for this purpose it works rather well), so during City driving and acceleration it performs identically to a 4-speed auto. While this works well for a car like the Civic 2.0 where the engine is meaty enough, perhaps Honda could also have taken the opportunity to provide more closely-spaced ratios instead to improve acceleration, and have just one extra tall overdrive gear (instead of one very tall one and one not as much) for high speed cruising?

The feeling of a stepped gearbox is nice, and contributes to giving the City a more sporty feel, rather than the rubberband-ish feeling of a CVT, no matter how much more efficient a CVT actually is. The engine doesn’t seem as smooth as a Honda should be, getting a little loud and rough (and slightly Campro-ish metallic raspy reverb) from the high-mid revs onwards. But under normal and relaxed driving conditions, none of these characteristics are noticeable.

I eagerly wait for the day Honda decides to phase out this stuff and replace it with a 1.4 liter i-DSI Turbo or something. 120 PS and 180Nm of torque from at low as 1,400rpm sounds nice. They already have an i-DSI turbo for the Honda ZEST.

The high spec car’s paddle shifts are easy to work and just plain works, but this isn’t a quick shifting DSG box so there is a noticeable lag between you pressing the paddle shift and the gearbox actually doing something. If you engage paddle shift mode in the S mode, you will be in the M mode which means the gearbox will not shift even if you go past the redline, after of which the revcut will kick in and prevent you from over-revving the engine. The gearbox will also never downshift on command if it detects that the engine will be over-reved on a downshift.

The car was quite stable and planted (some would say it feels “solid”) at most speeds until you reach about 160km/h where in a straight line you could feel a little nervousness in the car, like your tyre contact patch to the ground wasn’t very large. It was only present in the lower spec car, which at first we attributed to the smaller wheels but once we gave this feedback to the Honda engineers he said the difference should not have been that big. This could have been an alignment issue with the test cars which we were told were prototype cars, so I hope to have this tested again in another drive.

If you keep to the brand values that the average Joe on the street associate Honda with, this new City seems much more like a “Honda” than the previous City ever was but at the same time loses what made the previous City unique. The previous City was something more like a Citroen or any random wacky European manufacturer in its concept, it did what it was supposed to do really well and was nice and airy on the inside but its looks suffered because of the good interior dimensions.

This new City on the other hand has a traditional sporty forward-shooting wedge design, and has the driving position to match. I’ve tried my best to give you a detailed report of my day with the car, the rest is up to you to feel the car yourself and do a little more research on (if there are) any potential problems early adopters might be encountering, and how to go around them.

While there are 2 airbags and the standard anti-lock brakes, nowhere in the world is the Honda City available with any form of stability control, which is a concern at the moment if Honda wants to bring the car to Europe, unless it is only thinking of the poorer Eastern Europe countries. They are working on this, so it may be a feature that will debut with the facelift model.

Next up I will try to get the City again for a fuel consumption test as well as another high-speed stability test. To learn more about the new City, read the two stories below. There’s alot more to read and know other than the driving impressions in this report.

GALLERY: 2009 Honda City Test Drive Review Photos

GALLERY: 2009 Honda City Product Photos

GALLERY: 2009 Honda City Launch Event

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

2009 Honda City 1.5 E and S launched in Malaysia!

Paul Tan — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:52:16 +0000

Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd finally brought us the 2009 Honda City. For those that already know pretty much everything about the car thanks to this blog’s detailed coverage in the past, let’s quickly get down to what’s important, the price!

The 2009 Honda City comes in 2 variants, the Honda City 1.5S and the Honda City 1.5E. The 1.5S is the lower end variant, priced at RM84,980 OTR with insurance while the top of the line is the Honda City 1.5E priced at RM89,980 and includes full specs such as larger wheels and paddle shifters.

The City comes with a 3 year warranty and 6 months free servicing. For the full scoop on the Honda City for the Malaysian market, continue reading this story after the jump.

The City 1.5E and the City 1.5S are both powered by the new 1.5 liter SOHC i-VTEC engine producing 120 PS at 6,600rpm and 145Nm of torque at 4,800rpm. No manual option is available. The sole transmission is a 5-speed automatic with two overdrive ratios. Strangely, the Japanese engineers at the Honda City launch claims only one overdrive gear with no specific gear ratio data available, but a quick check from the specs in other countries shows the following gear ratios for the City: 1st – 2.995, 2nd – 1.678, 3rd – 1.066, 4th – 0.760, 5th – 0551. Perhaps they have a different definition of overdrive, or they’ve re-geared it for the Malaysian market.

Anyway, if the data I obtained is correct, the City has two overdrive ratios with an additional one designed to lower engine RPM at highway for a quieter and more economical cruise. This transmission is equipped with a paddle shift feature for the 1.5 E model which allows you to swap gears using the left side paddle for downshifts and the right side paddle for upshifts.

Click to view detailed 1.5 E versus 1.5 S specs table

Unlike the previous City which differentiated the i-DSI and VTEC models on the interior via different colours, the new City has an all-black interior across the variant range. I love black dashes, and although the plastics on the interior aren’t really soft touch as expected in a B-segment car, it has a slight rough texture to it so it doesn’t really look or feel cheap until you decide to rub around the dashboard. It’s definitely better than some of its competitors (you should know what I’m referring to) so it isn’t the worst in class.

The City 1.5 S base model’s interior lacks some nice features that the 1.5 E has, such as the compartment under the rear seats (which Honda constantly suggests you put your umbrella there), 60:40 split rear seats with a reclining feature, a rear armrest with cupholder, and it only has fixed rear headrest. Both models have water repellent seats.

CD player slot is hidden behind flip-down panel, aux-in and USB port is located forward of gear shifter

The audio system also only has 4 speakers compared to the 1.5 E model’s 6 speakers but both variants get the new audio system which features nearly every connectivity method you’d possibly want – CD with MP3 and WMA support, USB input with iPod control support, and an aux input. The only thing you could want is Bluetooth audio streaming.

For those who have seen the nice automatic climate control system that was shown on the European Honda City, unfortunately both variants are not available here in Malaysia. We get the three-knob control design which kind of cheapens the interior.

The meter panel is designed with a triple-gauge design and features a multi-information display that show various “vital statistics” of the car. The two most important features would be distance to empty, which shows you how many km more you can travel on the fuel remaining in your fuel tank, and real-time fuel consumption which shows you how many km you can go per liter of fuel according to your current driving style. You can use this meter to control your driving behavior as it shows you whether your current style is fuel economical or not in real time.

Interior storage includes a glovebox, a tray for small items under the handbrake, a storage area in the center armrest with a cardholder, a pocket for small items such as maybe your Touch N Go card under the air cond vent on the driver’s side, a coin pocket below that, a cup/bottleholder and a storage area in the front door pockets, a cupholder between the two front seats, a cupholder in front of the shift lever, and cupholders in the rear armrest. The boot is best in class with 506 liters of capacity.

The exterior between the two models can easily be differentiated by the front bumper and the alloy wheels. The 1.5 S has smaller 15 inch alloy wheels with 175/65R15 tyres while the 1.5 E has larger 16 inch alloy wheels with 185/55R16 tyres. The front bumper of the 1.5 E model has fog lamps while the 1.5 S does not. The 1.5 E also gains power retractable door mirrors (though both are electronically adjustable).

I believe that one of the City’s best advantages over its competitors is the telescopic feature of the steering wheel that is available on both the Honda City models in Malaysia. This allows the driving position to be optimum for tall people. I have always had a problem with finding a comfortable driving position in the City’s competitors. I am relatively tall but what makes it worse is that most of the height is thanks to long legs. Some B-segment sedans and even one C-segment sedan won’t even allow me to push the seat far back enough for me to reach the pedals comfortably. I had no problems in the City.

The telescopic steering allowed me to pull the steering towards me until my wrist could touch the top of the steering wheel, I was taught that if I could do this, the steering wheel was near enough to me for the best steering control. In another B-segment car, I was either stretching my arm out to the maximum to hold the steering wheel, or adjusting the backrest angle to a very straight and uncomfortable angle to get close enough to the steering wheel.

However note that when this blog’s regular contributor Harvinder Singh got into the car, his optimum driving position found his left knee sometimes hitting the dashboard (not sure why that part juts out unnecessarily), so be sure to check for these important details like whether you fit properly into the “cockpit” when you test drive the City. A comfortable driving position will allow you to control the car properly, and avoiding accidents is always better than relying on airbags and your seatbelt to save you when accidents happen.

Coming to the safety features point, both the models are equally equipped. Both the 1.5 E and the 1.5 S has dual SRS airbags for the front passenger and driver, ABS brakes, EBD, Brake Assist, and a driver’s window that automatically stops when something is in its path while it is winding up.

Only five colours are available, but sadly no white or red! I asked Honda why did they omit these colours as the red seems to be the new City’s flagship colour while white seems to be quite a popular choice lately, but they said according to customer surveys and the past Honda cars sales colour mix, red wasn’t very popular so they decided to leave it out. The five colours are: Deep Lapis Blue Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl, Polished Metal Metallic, Alabaster Silver Metallic, and Bold Beige Metallic.

I’ve only covered the equipment and prices of the Malaysian Honda City in this story, but there’s just so much that has gone on under the skin of the City compared to the outgoing model. For more information please read my previous detailed technical brief of the 2009 Honda City. That’s pretty much all I can cover right now, stay tuned next year for a test drive report!

Related Posts:
2009 Honda City: in-depth details and specifications (must-read!)

GALLERY: 2009 Honda City

GALLERY: 2009 Honda City Launch Event

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

New Honda City transported on trailers in Malaysia

Paul Tan — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:18:01 +0000

A few readers have spotted the new 2009 Honda City being transported on trailers on the highways in Malaysia. They don’t have much disguise on them, just some white cloth or some other material covering up the front and rear of the car, and even that is a little translucent so we get to see the tail lamps peeking through.

From the shots, we are able to gauge some minor details on how the new Honda City will be offered here in Malaysia. For one, we are getting the Asian design for the City which features a sleeker-looking side profile. The European version has some strips on the side of the car which makes the car taller than it really is, and that kind of messes up its sporty profile. There will be at least two variants for sure as there are two sets of alloy wheel designs featured on the cars being carries. One is a more traditional 5 spoke design while the other is the Y-spoke alloys belonging to the more expensive model.

The colour variants we are able to observe here are only two colours – the blue City and the black City. There will of course be a silver City looking at how popular that colour is in Malaysia, but no sign of the delicious red one at the moment. A white coloured Honda City would look good too (white is very popular now), as demonstrated by the white coloured unit spotted in China way before the City was unveiled.

The new Honda City will be launched before the end of this week. Look after the jump for more shots of the new Honda City. Photos thanks to Kevin Lee and Stephen Loh.

Related Posts:
2009 Honda City: in-depth details and specifications (must-read!)

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

2009 Honda City launched in China with 1.8L engine

Paul Tan — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:52:34 +0000

The Honda City has been unveiled in China by Guangzhou Honda at the 2008 Guangzhou Motor Show, but it will only make a showroom debut with official prices on the 12th of December 2008.

What’s most interesting is in the Chinese market, the City will come with two engine options. One is the new 1.5 liter i-VTEC that we’re also going to get, but the other engine option is the R-series 1.8 liter SOHC i-VTEC from the Civic 1.8.

A lightweight Honda City equipped with a 140 horsepower 1.8 liter engine could be loads of fun. China always gets special deals such as this, for example the current generation Toyota Vios sold in China is equipped with a 1.6 liter Dual VVT-i engine while the rest of the world have to make do with the 1.5 liter 1NZ-FE family engine.

I’m not sure if this is what Guangzhou Honda meant by developing a Civic competitor (the Civic is sold by another Honda-linked company in China).

A previous report said a 1.8 liter engine was going to be plonked into the City to create a C-segment competitor, but an engineer quoted in the report also mentioned that the new 1.8 liter City-based car would have Civic proportions and a new name and shape.

Related Posts:
2009 Honda City: in-depth details and specifications (must-read!)

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

2009 Honda City to hit Malaysia in mid-December!

Paul Tan — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 07:33:20 +0000

Honda Malaysia has officially announced that the new 2009 Honda City will be launched in mid-December 2008! A date has been set for the 18th of 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.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

2009 Honda City: in-depth details and specifications!

Paul Tan — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:45:49 +0000

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.

Design

The first generation Honda City (not including the old little car that also came with a turbocharged engine) was designed as an ASEAN car that came with engines such as the 1.5 liter SOHC VTEC engine. It was quite a popular choice as a budget and “boxier” version of the Civic.

The second generation is the City that is currently sold in Malaysia, and while it was a solid offering in terms of drivability, fuel economy and performance, it had one major problem – its looks. Being a sedan version of the Honda Jazz subcompact, the Honda City ended up looking like a steam iron. Some even called it a flowerhorn.

Many customers could not get over its looks and opted for the Toyota Vios instead, but most of those who put their money on the City were quite happy with it, especially the buyers of the i-DSI version which offered superior fuel economy. It also allowed customers to enjoy a smooth CVT that always keeps the engine in its peak powerband.

Now for the 2009 model year, while the City is still somewhat based on the Jazz especially with its underpinings, there is no resemblance on the outside at all. Instead, the City now looks like a sedan version of the European Honda Civic hatch with a nice roofline instead of the previous City’s steam iron roofline. In fact, since the European City is based on a platform with a rear torsion bar, the Euro Civic may have more in common with this new City than we think!

Honda calls the design concept of the new Honda City the “arrowshot”, as you can see from the sketch above. The car seems to concentrate all its forces on a point at a front, while the rear has a raised deck lid for a more upright stance. This makes the City look like its ready to release energy even when it is static. As with the Honda Accord, there are some hints of BMW-like design with the new City, especially with the rear end and that Hoffmeister kink at the C-pillar.

The front end of the car looks like it was lifted off the European Civic hatchback, with the grille from the Honda FCX Clarity. It looks quite concept-car-like, and I would say Honda was quite brave to have pulled this one off. I think there will be quite a few people who will be turned off by the Optimus Prime futuristic look on the front end – but they can look at the aftermarket “solution providers” if they dislike it. I think the rest of the car looks good – the rooflline does not flow as sleekly as the Civic, but its a huge improvement over the previous City.

As for the wheels, you get either a 5-spoke wheel for the 15 inch size, or those funky Y-shaped 5-spokers for the 16 inch size. For markets that call for a low-cost City (maybe we will get one to compete with the Vios J?), there is a 3-piece 5-poke design wheel cover on steel wheels in 15 inch size. The tyre sizes are 175/65R15 and 185/55R16.

Interior

Firstly, the doors open 80 degrees for easy access to the interior. In the interior, you get an instrument panel that is traditionally positioned behind the steering wheel. Good for those who dislike centrally-mounted instrument panels. There are two colour schemes – one beige and one black. Both will likely be used by Honda Malaysia, with the black for a high-spec or sports-specced version of the car and a beige one for the other. The black interior uses black for all the plastic parts while the fabric is in a purplish-black colour. The beige interior uses a grayish-beige tone for the plastic parts while the fabrics are done in beige with yellow overtones.

To reduce the previous City’s odd looks, Honda has made the car 45mm lower, but to maintain a good amount amount of headroom, they’ve changed the seat rail design and reduced cushion thickness (though they claim comfort is maintained) to reduce the driving position by 15mm. This allows a lower roofline for a sleeker shape while keeping a decent amount of headroom.

The front quarter window has been removed and the A-pillars have been made thinner by 14mm for better visibility. In addition, the mirror area for the wing mirrors have been made taller but slightly slimmer for a more square shape, compared to the previous generation’s more rectangular side mirrors. This results in an increased mirror size by about 15 percent for better rear visibility. The front wipers have also been repositioned to have reduced front windscreen protrusion by 20mm.

The air-conditioning system is available with both manual and automatic controls, and the center dash area looks significantly better with the automatic controls are the design of the manual controls end up making the dash look cheap. The air conditioning blowers have their noise reduced by 4dB while increasing airflow capacity by 10%. Honda has added better filter to reduce outside odors from entering the cabin. In addition to the front air outlets, Honda has attempted to design the airflow to hit the rear bench via the bottom blowers which travel under the front seat to cool the rear passenger area.

There are a few storage areas around the interior – a glovebox in the dashboard, a storage tray for small items underneath the handbrake, a storage area in the center armrest with a cardholder, a pocket for small items under the air conditioning vent on the driver’s side, a coin pocket below that, a cup/bottleholder and a storage area in the front door pockets, a cupholder between the two front seats, a cupholder in front of the shift lever, and cupholders in the rear armrest.

The instrumentation panel features a trip computer that can display fuel consumption in kms per liter in real time, as well as average fuel consumption and distance in km remaining until the fuel tank is empty. With an instant fuel consumption meter, the driver can teach himself how to drive fuel efficiently by monitoring how much fuel he is using in various driving scenarios.

The rear seats have a little storage space underneath it and Honda has suggested you store your umbrella there in the product photos they have shot. The rear bench splits and folds 60:40 and has an armrest integrated into the center with two cupholders in it. The Ultraseats feature seems to be gone now – these are probably just regular split-fold rear seats, though there is an option for a version with a 2-position recline system.

The driver’s seat features a ratchet-operated seat height adjuster to adjust seat height by up to 50mm. Something that is quite rare for a B-segment sedan is the ability to adjust the reach of a steering wheel in addition to the usual tilt. This means the steering wheel can move towards and away from you as well as having its tilt adjusted up or down. However, there is also a tilt-only steering wheel option for the City, which means each country’s product planners will have to decide which spec level gets the tilt-and-telescope (rake-and-reach) and which one gets the tilt-only.

Dimensions

Click for enlarged image

The extended wheelbase (100mm longer from 2450mm to 2550mm) allows for a larger interior space. This increases legroom by 25mm. Other changes to the interior include a floor that is lower by 20mm, and 15mm more footroom for the rear passenger. A more comfortable footrest has been installed thanks to the space made available by moving the accelerator and brake pedals 15mm to the right.

While the wheelbase is longer, the wheels are nearer to the edges of the vehicle, resulting in an increase of length of only 5mm, which means its not much harder to fit into side parking spaces compared to the previous City. The trunk exceeds the 500 liter mark slightly at 506 liters, however it seems that the width of the entry into the boot space would be better if it was wider.

	Old City	New City	Vios
Length	4390	4395	4300
Width	1690	1715	1700
Height	1485	1470	1460
Wheelbase	2450	2550	2550
Weight	1090kg	1155kg	1045kg
Power	110 PS@5,800	120 PS@6,600	109PS@6,000
Torque	143Nm@4,800	145Nm@4,800	141Nm@4,200

New 1.5L i-VTEC Engine

The new L-Series SOHC i-VTEC engine in the 2009 Honda City is the same unit as found in the 2nd generation Honda Jazz. It produces 120 PS at 6,600rpm and 145Nm of torque at 4,800rpm, making it one of the most powerful 1.5 liter units today.

Unlike the SOHC VTEC unit in the previous Honda City VTEC which only switched between opening and closing 1 of 2 intake valves per cylinder, the new i-VTEC engine actually varies the valve timing and valve lift, though this is not a continuously variable system like in the K-Series i-VTEC, but instead switches over at pre-set RPM points.

Interestingly you can see a small dip in the torque curve at around 3,300 to 3,500rpm before it picks up again immediately, which is probably just about before the i-VTEC engine switches to a more aggressive cam profile.

Honda actually acknowledges this and claims the torque dip provides a smoother drive, whatever that means! The good news is this engine is compatible with RON92 fuel which should allow you to save on your fuel bills a little.

There are quite a few other improvements in this new engine. The new engine now features 4 valves per cylinder, with larger 28mm diameter intake valves.

Valve area is increased by 4%, and this reduces pumping losses and improves maximum output. The throttle is controlled via Drive-By-Wire which transmits accelerator pedal position via an electric signal.

The engine switches from the use of two oxygen sensors in the previous City VTEC engine to a new air-fuel ratio control system that uses one oxygen sensor and one Linear Air-Fuel Ratio sensor (LAF sensor). This allows a higher level of precision.

The conrod is made of hot-forged, high-tension steel which has an improved fatigue strength of approximately 50%. This allows a 17% reduction in the conrod cross-section area to reduce weight by about 1kg. This also allows the engine to rev higher because of reduced inertial force.

A combustion chamber shape that would suppress engine knock was also developed, which features a more compact piston head thanks to thicker piston edges to prevent residual gas accumulation. The coolant flow in the water jacket has been redesigned from a dual-flow structure to a single-flow structure which flows into the block ahead of the cylinder head. This allows a concentrated coolant flow that improves cooling efficiency, further improving knock resistance.

As a result, engine knock is reduced, which means more aggressive ignition timings can automatically be used, which can be felt with an increase in low-end torque. Torque is further enhanced with the adoption of a resonator chamber in the intake manifold.

In addition, the rocket arm is stronger by 20% thanks to stronger aluminium. Another 1kg is shaved off via the use of a lightweight plastic head cover. The cylinder head has an integrated exhaust manifold which helps bring the high thermal resistance catalytic converter closer to the engine. This allows the catalyst to warm up faster and also reduces cost because there is less precious metal needed in the catalyst.

NVH is improved with the use of an auto-tensioner for the auxiliary belt drive system so that belt tension is stabilized, with the variations in tension automatically regulated in accordance with load. The engine also has a new patterned piston coating is claimed to be the first in the world and a proprietary Honda technology. The shape around the piston skirt is modified to reduce both piston slap noise and friction. The pattern also improves oil retention which reduces friction even more.

Transmissions

Both the manual and automatic transmissions available for the new Honda City in our region are 5-speed units. Other markets such as Japan will likely get the CVT transmission while Europe gets a 6-speed i-SHIFT automated manual transmission.

Honda says the ASEAN market prefers the feel that a 5-speed automatic transmission gives, hence the switch from the CVT gearbox in the previous generation City. The CVT also had alot of bad talk going around about being expensive to maintain/replace, which has put off some people I know from considering used Citys.

As shown from the graph above, the 5-speed auto is less rubber-band-like when you hit the throttle from a standstill. It kicks in faster and harder, but soon after the CVT takes over while the 5-speed auto slowly catches up… and you can see towards the right of the graph that performance is similiar after the initial take-off.

There is the option for paddle shifters on the steering wheel – left to downshift and right to upshift. In D mode selected on the gear lever, you can use the paddles to quickly downshift or upshift whenever you need it to, but the transmission returns to fully automatic mode after awhile with no shift activity.

There is another mode – S mode, which at first puts you into a sporty automatic mode that keeps the revs up higher than usual, but if you start using the paddle shifters it goes into a manual mode that stays in the gear you have selected even after the absence of shift activity after awhile. Who knows, you may want to use your 2nd gear for your entire journey for some particular reason – the transmission will let you.

The 5-speed manual has a new carbon synchromesh for smoother shifts and an optimised clutch pedal stroke. The following are the ratios for both transmissions:

0.809

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
Manual	3.461	1.869	1.235	0.948
Auto	2.995	1.678	1.066	0.760	0.551

Ride and Handling

The 2009 Honda City features a MacPherson strut setup at the front and a torsion beam at the rear. There are a few enhancements over the design used in the previous generation City. For the front suspension, the kingpin axis has been rotated rearward for an enlarged caster angle and increased caster offset. This improves straight-line stability. The ride is also made more supple via larger capacity compliance bushes.

The torsion beam has a reduced spring lever ratio (reduced from 1.54 to 1.11) and an increased trailing arm bush capacity for a more supple ride comfort. Roll steer and roll camber has also been improved for better handling. The rear suspension attachment points have been reinforced as with the rear damper attachment point structure. The rear bulkhead also has increased rigidity.

The car’s Electric Power Steering now has an increased motor capacity (from 40A to 60A) and a modified gearbox mount for a more steady and direct feel, leading to a more enjoyable and confident driving experience.

In-Car Entertainment

Now this is quite interesting, by default the Honda City does not come with a CD player. It does support WMA and MP3, but these have to be loaded from USB instead of being loaded from a CD. There is also aux support for analog sound input. Honda probably thinks all the young urban buyers of this new City will have forgotten the CD already, instead preferring to use their portable media player (such as the iPod) or MP3 or WMA files whenever possible, whether burned on CD or stored on a USB drive.

You can either connect your iPod or a USB drive to the USB input. If you connect an iPod, the center rotary selector on the head-unit performs the same functions as the iPod’s clickwheel.

For those who absolutely need CD support, the little storage area accessible when you flip up one panel of the head unit that is meant for you to store your MP3 player is also a 1-DIN slot for you to install your own CD player. Honda’s product planners for each country may also choose to equip their offering with a head unit that has a CD player already built-in.

The 2009 Honda City now also has an option for a premium sound system, though I am not sure whether Honda Malaysia will put this in one of the trim levels of their local offering. The premium audio uses a 45W x 4 channel amplifier sending sound to four PP cone speakers with neodymium magnets and two hard-dome tweeters. The head-unit’s DSP equalizer is tuned to match the interior sound characteristics.

Safety

Thanks to the European homologation processes, the new Honda City has increased safety, especially for pedestrians. The engine hood, hood hinges, front fenders, front bumper, front windshield support structure and even the wipers are designed to absorb energy easily and bend out of the way whenever possible for better pedestrian crash safety. All of this also helps the passengers in the cabin as all the energy is absorbed instead of being channeled into the cabin into the legs of the front passengers.

The brake discs at the front are of a larger diameter compared to the outgoing model and the brake master cylinder has been made longer but with a smaller diameter. Honda says this allows a more powerful brake booster performance while offering a lower pedal ratio for a more linear brake pedal feel.

Other safety features include SRS airbags, active headrests to prevent whiplash injuries for the front passenger and driver, and the usual combination of ABS and EBD. There is still no traction control offered though, not even on the European model as far as I can tell.

So there you have it, the new 2009 Honda City explained to you in-depth together with comparisons with its rival the Toyota Vios and the previous generation Honda City. Next up: a test drive review of the new Honda City!

But for now, enjoy more photos of the new City including live photos from the 2008 Singapore Motor Show.

Video: Honda City at the 2008 Singapore Motor Show

PHOTO GALLERY: 2009 Honda City
Click thumbnails to view high resolution photo

PHOTO GALLERY: 2009 Honda City – European Spec
Click thumbnails to view high resolution photo

PHOTO GALLERY: 2009 Honda City – LIVE Photos
Click thumbnails to view high resolution photo

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

2009 Honda City set to hit the European market

Paul Tan — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:40:24 +0000

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 for hi-res photo

Click for hi-res photo

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

Honda City Modulo with bodykit and grille

Paul Tan — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:03:47 +0000

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.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

2009 Honda City officially unveiled in Thailand!

Paul Tan — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 05:35:33 +0000

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.

Click for enlarged image

PHOTO GALLERY: 2009 Honda City
Click thumbnails to view high resolution photo

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

2009 Honda City Teaser Video from Thailand

Paul Tan — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:36:58 +0000

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.

Video: Honda City Thai TVC

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

New Honda City i-VTEC fully undisguised exterior and interior revealed!

Paul Tan — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:32:43 +0000

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!

The front is definitely inspired by the likes of the European Honda Civic and the Honda FCX Clarity. The headlamps feature reflector lense instead of the more expensive projector type, which is expected at this price range.

This new alloy wheel design has been seen on the previous rendering. It may differ from country to country. This shot of the rear wheel shows the use of disc brakes on the rear.

Another shot of the grille, headlamps and the 4 cylinder SOHC i-VTEC engine in the background.

A light interior. Some markets may get a dark interior, hopefully. Our current City i-DSI and VTEC come with either a dark interior for the VTEC or a light interior for the i-DSI.

The 4-cylinder i-VTEC engine is expected to be the 120 PS 1.5 liter unit from the newly launched Jazz.

A clean and simple interior featuring integrated audio and the new design Honda steering wheel.

The meter illumination at night. Notice the paddle shifts behind the steering spokes.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

New 2009 Honda City spotted in China?

Paul Tan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:27:33 +0000

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.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

New Honda City: new image appears on the net!

Paul Tan — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:30:03 +0000

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?

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

Unmarked car confirmed to be new Honda City (2PS)

Paul Tan — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:29:28 +0000

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 to enlarge

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.

SPYSHOT: Is this the new Honda City?

Paul Tan — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:17:44 +0000

A barely disguised car was spotted on the roads of Pune in India a few days ago, sporting a front grille that features cues from Honda’s latest front fascia styling book (ref: Honda FCX Clarity, Civic Euro hatch). Apparently the red plates on the car are similiar to those that Honda have used on their Indian test cars in the past, so there is a good possibility that this car is the due replacement for Honda’s compact Honda City sedan.

However, a little peek into the car’s interior showed a dashboard design that is very different from the second generation Honda Jazz, and the car has no triangular A-pillar window either. So this isn’t really a 100% guess. If this is indeed the new City, the car could be using a different dashboard design that is easier and thus cheaper to mould and produce, as compared to the new Jazz’s complicated dash design cues.

Expect an Indian and Thai launch soon, with a Malaysian launch to come some months later. View a few more photos after the jump.

FOLLOW UP UPDATE: Unmarked car confirmed to be new Honda City 2PS!

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sat, 21 Nov 09 21:34:59 +0800.