Driving the third-gen Honda City, the love of my life

Being a new driver, I was amazed at the smoothness of the engine and the crispness of the gearbox. The handling felt extremely confidence inspiring and the dimensions were surprisingly easy to get used to

BHPian thevtecmerchant recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

The love of my life, Honda City

As this being my first post on team-bhp, I think it only does justice that I dedicate this post to the machine I fell in love with, 2011 Honda City 1.5 S MT.

The Story of the Purchase
For any automobile enthusiast, the search for a new car is always exciting. Same was the case with me and my brother. In the latter part of 2011, my family set out to bring home a new car. The outgoing one was a 2003 Maruti Suzuki Wagon R and our heart was set on the 2011 Honda Jazz Rallye Red. One of the features of the Jazz which me and my brother were very excited about was the flat folding of the second row, which would allow us to sleep during any trip.
Our father enquired about the availability of the Jazz but luck was not on our side, the dealership said that the Jazz was unavailable. However, the dealership did inform us about the availability of the 3rd generation of the Honda City. For us, the car was totally out of budget. But now, the luck was on our side. The facelift of the 3rd generation Honda City was just around the corner, this meant sweet deals on the existing model. We decided to put forward the accelerator towards the purchase of the city. The model chosen was the S variant in the Alabaster Silver Metallic colour. We could not justify the 50k extra for the V variant.

We got a good deal at Landmark Honda Gandhinagar and proceeded with the purchase. The car was brought home by my grandparents accompanied by a driver. In the afternoon on 25 December 2011, my father calls the whole family out of the house to surprise everyone with this beautiful piece of machinery. I was flabbergasted thinking how did this happen? The City came out of nowhere. But I couldn’t care less as it was love at first sight.

The beginning
That day was one that will forever be engraved in my memory. Sitting on the rear seat felt like a throne of a king. My mother even called the city “Raja ni gaadi” translated to “The car of the king.” The comfort of the car was miles apart from the benchmark set by the Wagon R and the Chevrolet Spark. The space was unmatched at the time and the quality was above and beyond what I was used to. One of the first memories was one where we were rear ended by an autorickshaw in bumper to bumper traffic. My father let it go but little me was raging inside.

The first drive
I took the wheel of the city first time on 24 May 2022. Being a new driver, I was amazed at the smoothness of the engine and the crispness of the gearbox. The handling felt extremely confidence inspiring and the dimensions were surprisingly easy to get used to. The one thing I loved the most was the clutch. It was not too light, not too hard, just perfect. The overall experience was nothing short of spectacular. Me and the car felt one.

The Ownership
The car has been used for more than 109,000 kms within 13 years. That has majorly been covered inside the city. The car has outmatched its expectation in terms of reliability. It still is a pleasure to drive and in my personal opinion, there is no perfect upgrade to the car. In fact, from 2017, my family has thought of replacing the car but we couldn’t find a candidate that felt worthy of the upgrade. The city has served us with immense amount of pleasure and hope it continues to do so.

The Things I Love

• The whole combination of the engine, the gearbox, the chassis, the quality of materials, etc. The whole package felt like a premium offering at the time.
• The outmatched reliability. The ownership has been a fuss free one in which the car only goes for regular services from time to time.
• The addicting pull of the i-vtec engine post 3500 rpm. The car just wants to express its raw power and I am all for it.
• The versatility of the second gear which allows speeds from almost standstill to a ton.
• The comfort is still the best amongst the cars we own and the ride quality sure feels top notch.
• The space inside the cabin is good.
• The brakes of the car are very confidence inspiring. One can easily pinpoint where the car will stop due to the linear braking provided with the car.
• The quality of the interiors which has still allowed for the ownership to be rattle free.
• The design feels like a timeless one. One can easily make out that it is a Japanese design. I can admire its beauty forever and ever.
• The predictable and direct nature of the steering wheel. It also weighs up well as the speed progresses.
• The safety rating was 4 star as per ANCAP. It even featured 2 airbags, ABS and EBD as standard across all the variants.
• The instrument cluster with orange backlight appeals to the eyes at night.
• The golf ball textures gear knob is one that gives a nice feel to the one holding it. I personally prefer it to the leather one in the V variant.
• The boot is humongous with a capacity of 506 l.

The Things I do not love

• The headlights are horrendous. They might as well may not be there.
• The suspension noise is evident especially on not so good road conditions.
• The air conditioning feels lack lustre.
• The ground clearance is less as per Indian road conditions. But as a sedan, a consumer has the choice for comfort or ride height.
• There is the issue of rust formation.
• The infamous steering rack issue is also there.
• The CD player was missed greatly in 2011. Not so much now though.
• The absence of rear AC vents is not ideal.


My love for the car grows with each km I drive it. Like any relationship, one has to make do with the other’s flaws. I’m very grateful that I have the chance to experience this exquisite piece of machinery in my lifetime. 

The 3rd generation of the Honda City was one that was the last of the ‘Hondas’. After this generation, Honda lost its quality. The 4th generation of the city was a big downgrade in my opinion owing to it being less fun to drive, the interior quality going down and mainly Honda trying to appeal to a larger audience. Even on the roads today, it is quite evident that the 3rd generation is spotted quite often. That just showcases that the 3rd generation city was one that was built to last unlike the cars of the new age being use and throw. Cars like these are a thing of the past. We must come together and appreciate these beauties especially in an age where the transition towards EVs is increasing.

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