FIRST IMPRESSION: 2014 Honda City !

Being a owner of the 2nd generation Honda City VTEC Facelift, I anticipated greatly the arrival of the latest 4th generation Honda City i-VTEC in Malaysia. More striking styling, larger cabin, loaded with more comfort creatures and safety features are the unique selling points of the City, along with a lower price tag (for the entry level variant) compared to its predecessor. Yes, the cheapest City S is selling at RM75,800, while S+ variant at RM78,800, E variant at RM83,800 and the top-of-the-line V variant at RM90,800, all on-the-road with insurance. 

No doubt it's a much better looking car now, especially when compared with the older generations. Checking out the dark blue City V in the showroom which attracted me with the sharp looking 16-inch alloys (S comes with a 15-inch steel cover while S+ and E wear 15-inch alloys) and the sleek profile. The best view angle of the all-new City must be the 3/4 rear view.

Platinum grille on the V variant (silver finishing for S while chrome for S+ and E). It attracts and make unwanted oily fingerprints more apparent than chrome in my opinion. 

Open the door and you'll be greeted with 3 striking blue rings in the instrument panel. Love this setting, it offers a sporty and distinctive characteristic to the cabin in the dark. My 2nd gen's instrument panel will also light up in red when the door is opened too, which is one of my favourite features in the cabin. Shown here is the most expensive V variant, which comes with 5-inch touchscreen, push-start button and touchscreen air-cond control, so expect the lower variants have lesser equipment loaded in the cabin. 

Material used for this City has improved, with nice texture on the plastic and smooth leather finishing on the steering wheel and gear knob (for V variant only). However, I still feel that Vios has a little advantage in this area, thanks to its slightly better built and stitch-like moulding on the dashboard. 

Since the wheelbase has grown for 500mm to 2600mm (identical to Nissan Almera), it provides a spacious cabin to the occupants especially at the rear. With the front seats positioned to suit my height of 180cm, I still have ample legroom at the back seat, however the rear headroom is a little restricted for me. The City offers more space than in the Almera, since the cabin of the City is wider than the latter. One of the largest B-segment cabins in the market. 

Eventhough the boot space is measured at 536 litres, a D-segment sedan boot size, somehow it doesn't look as long and deep as in my 2nd gen City. One good innovation - There are two levers in the boot that you can pull to fold the rear seats, a nifty and convenient feature. 

Can't comment any further on the 1.5 litre i-VTEC powertrain and CVT gearbox until I have a chance to test drive it. Hopefully Honda has made some changes to the CVT gearbox to make it more durable and smoother in operation. 

The question is - Should I get one? Yes you should if you are looking for a fuel efficient (17.5km/l) and spacious family car or a young executive who want a stylish B-segment Japanese sedan. Which variant? E variant would has the best value for money, which comes with VSA, keyless entry with push-start button and rear air-cond, to name a few. If you are safety conscious, go for V.

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