2023 Honda City facelift in India – 1.5L petrol, hybrid powertrain; reduced diesel engines; Honda Sensing with ACC
The fifth-generation Honda City facelift has finally launched in India, where it’s available with petrol and hybrid powertrains – the diesel option offered with the pre-facelift model has been scrapped. Prices for New City start from 1,149 million rupees (11.49 lakh) rupees (RM62,273) and peak at 2,039 million rupees (20.39 lakh) rupees (RM110,486).
In terms of visual changes, the facelift introduces a slimmer chrome slat to the grille, which itself has a new honeycomb mesh insert. Further, the front bumper has been redesigned to incorporate a black border connecting the fog lamp sections to the lower air intake.
Unchanged are the LED headlights and side panels, although the rear does benefit from a new design for the alloy wheels. As for the rear, there’s an updated bumper with a black diffuser-like unit, repositioned reflectors and a small spoiler on the trunk lid.
For India, there’s also a new Obsidian Blue Pearl paint color to choose from, along with Radiant Red metallic, Platinum White Pearl, Golden Brown metallic, Meteoroid Gray metallic and Lunar Silver metallic.
Like the outside, the internal modifications are also minimal. The dashboard layout and controls are virtually unchanged, with a beige and black theme for the petrol variants, while ivory and black are for the hybrid options.
Additionally, Honda has added new variants to the lineup, including the entry-level SV joined by the V, VX and ZX. The City Hybrid also gains a more affordable V trim level as an alternative to the back-to-back ZX specs.
Depending on the variant, available features include a 7-inch full-color TFT instrument cluster display, an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system (with Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay support), six airbags, rain-sensing wipers, ambient lights, wireless system. charger, eight speakers, automatic air conditioning (with PM2.5 filter and rear vents), engine and keyless start, power sunroof, sunshade Manual rear wind and tire pressure monitoring.
Driver assistance systems that are part of the available Honda Sensing suite include automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, automatic high beams, adaptive cruise control with low-speed tracking as well as low-speed traction. such as vehicle departure warning – the last two systems are new additions. There’s also Honda’s LaneWatch and a host of passive safety systems.
As for the powertrain, the previous 1.5-litre i-DTEC turbocharged engine has been dropped, with the only pure internal combustion (ICE) engine being the 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol engine returning with The DOHC delivers the same power of 121 PS at 6,600 rpm and 145 Nm of torque at 4,300 rpm. For the SV variant, a six-speed manual transmission is the only transmission, but all other petrol-only variants (V, VX and ZX) can be optionally fitted with a CVT.
The City Hybrid is powered by a 1.5-litre Atkinson 4-cylinder i-VTEC DOHC petrol engine with VTC that produces 98 PS and 127 Nm. This acts primarily as a generator via an accompanying electric motor to the hybrid battery, powering another electric motor coupled to the wheels with a capacity of 109 PS and 253 Nm.
While the ICE primarily acts as a generator, it can also directly drive the wheels via a locking clutch and electronically continuously variable transmission (e-CVT) at higher speeds when does so more efficiently – the system’s total output is 126 PS The City Hybrid also comes with an electronic handbrake and rear disc brake instead of the standard handbrake and rear drum of the petrol variants.
