It has been a while since Honda has used the City name in Australia – the 1980’s if my memory serves me correctly – on a boxy looking beast with round headlights goggling at you. That has all changed with the new-for-2009 Honda City, fully redesigned from the ground up and all the better for it.
The exterior has a chiselled appearance, with decent proportions for a tall sub-compact. While quite tall, some of this impact is reduced by the long sloping windshield and swooping roofline. Our top-of-the-range City had, attractive 16-inch alloy rims and bits of extra chrome all over – all adding to its somewhat premium look.
The interior is simple and yet it manages to look good. Instead of a sea of black, there is a light two-tone theme going on, with smatterings of fake chrome spicing up the console. Indeed, the gauges, stereo-face and metal pedals would’ve been right at home in a car costing twice as much. However, it becomes evident that the car is firmly stuck in the economy-car category, no-thanks to the exclusive use of hard plastics all over the cabin. There isn’t even one piece of soft-touch trim anywhere, but at least it all looks like high-quality matte-finished plastics.
Indeed, all the money goes into building possibly the most spacious sub-compact car on the market. The stretched wheelbase offers enough rear legroom to beat larger cars like the Ford Focus and the Peugeot 308, both one class higher than the City. There is no shortage of headroom either, and the cargo area is long and deep enough to trick people into thinking this is a larger car that it really is.
The City features power windows, dual front airbags, electric mirrors, keyless entry, CD/MP3 player with steering-wheel controls, trip computer and a little cubby that hides premium features like an AUX port and a USB jack and not to forget cruise control.
The truly class-leading piece of this entire package is the 1.5-litre 4-cylinder engine, with i-VTEC variable valve timing, no less. It manages to be sprightly in first-gear driving around parking lots and traffic jams. On top of all this, our as-tested fuel consumption only came to 6.7 litres per 100 km.
But battling the highway is not its strongest suite. Its short wheelbase makes the ride a bit bumpy at times. Wind and road noises are moderate, but get annoying quickly at speeds over 100 kph. The engine is noisy under full throttle, but quiets down fine when cruising. All this is about average for the class, and no other small car in this category does any better than the City.
While the City is built in Thailand, it boasts build quality as tight as any Japanese car. It looks like Honda chose to leave any sporting aspirations to the Jazz, as the City seems to target more conservative commuters, although still injecting it with reasonable handling and a class-leading engine.
‘Pimp’ Your Accord Euro with Modulo
The Honda Accord Euro, Wheels Car of the Year 2008, is now complimented with the Honda Custom Performance brand, ‘Modulo’.
Already a huge success in Japan, Thailand and Malaysia, Modulo was first introduced in Australia with the all-new Honda City and allows owners to personalise their Honda with a range of racing-inspired accessories, designed in parallel with each new model to ensure total design integration and the highest levels of quality and fit.
The Modulo Sports Pack for the Accord Euro consists of:
• Front and Rear Aero Bumper
• Side Skirt Set
• Sports Grille
• Rear Boot Spoiler (Wing Type)
• Fog Light Set (for Euro model only)
The Modulo brand is synonymous with Honda’s sporting heritage and provides Honda owners with a selected range of accessories tailored specifically to enhance the vehicle’s look without compromising on design quality, safety or reliability – characteristics you expect from a Honda product.
A Modulo Sports Pack is now available for the Honda City, Odyssey and Accord Euro from all Honda dealers throughout Australia.
Honda Recycles for a Cleaner Future
Honda Motor Co., a leader in sustainability and alternative fuel technology, is expanding its recycling of end-of-life products and the recovery of parts.\
Since 1998, Honda has sold highly functional recycled parts to customers in Japan and in July 2001 began marketing its reused parts, expanding the operation known today as Honda Recycle Parts.
Through the use of recovered parts and efforts to recycle materials, Honda has achieved an outstanding re-use rate of 84 per cent.
In 2007, Honda also succeeded in recovering approximately 27 per cent of oil filters sold in Japan and plans to make further efforts to increase the number of end-of-life filters collected.
More recently, Honda recovered an extraordinary 260,090 used bumpers from Honda dealers, service and repair companies.
From these bumpers, 1,378 tonnes were recycled into resin and made into new Honda products including splash shields, splashguards, bumpers for repair and the undercover of Honda motorcycles.
Honda customers also benefit from this global vision right here in Australia.
Over the past 12 months, Honda Australia has recycled over one tonne of food scraps from its head office canteen – the equivalent of nearly three boot loads of a Honda Civic Hybrid – which is used in agricultural areas including flower farms and market gardens.
The company implemented a new recycling program for the destruction of its annual obsolescence parts. Approximately 3,000 lines of vehicle componentry that was previously sent to landfill is now 96 per cent recycled. This is made up of cardboard, plastics, textiles (i.e. seat covers and mats), rubber, electronics (including wiring) and metal.
The nickle/metal hydride batteries from the popular Honda Civic Hybrid are also disposed of or recycled in an environmentally friendly way through a specialised external company.
Honda dealers also get involved in recycling, with 98 per cent using eco seat covers, floor mats and foldaway carry bags made from non-woven polypropylene recyclable material.
AUTO FACTS
Price: $20,490-$22,990
Engine: 1.5-litre petrol
Transmission: 5-speed manual and automatic
Power: 88Kw, 145Nm
Fuel: 6.3-litre/100kms
CO2: 148g/km, 156g/km
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