Honda Cars India has revealed preliminary
details of the 2020 Honda City that is set to be launched in the country soon,
confirming many of the things we saw in a leaked brochure that surfaced back in
April this year.
The kit list certainly looks quite
attractive, and it even contains items not found on the Thailand-spec City, so
we’ll start with those first. On the inside, the India-spec City comes with a
semi-digital instrument measuring seven inches diagonally in place of analogue
dials and a small multi-info display.
Another feature found on the India-spec
City is Honda’s LaneWatch system, which consists of a camera on the
passenger-side wing mirror that relays a video feed to the centre screen,
providing drivers with a better view of the left side of the vehicle. This is
mounted on the arm of the side mirror, likely to suit the local traffic
environment.
The system, which is also found on the
Civic and Accord, was previously mentioned in ASEAN NCAP’s safety report for
the model released in end-March. This isn’t offered for the Thailand-spec and
neither is an electric sunroof, Alexa support or a tyre pressure monitoring
system – reports also hint at rear air vents and an ambient lighting system.
Another area of difference, albeit
unconfirmed, is in terms of engines, with IndianAutosBlog reporting the City
will be offered with two 1.5 litre four-cylinder engines. The first is an
updated version of the naturally-aspirated L15A (known as the L15B) i-VTEC mill
with 121 PS at 6,600 rpm and 145 Nm of torque at 4,300 rpm, mated to either a
six-speed manual or CVT. The L15B also comes in turbocharged guise, fitted to
the Civic, CR-V and Accord.
The second engine option is a i-DTEC
turbodiesel with 100 PS at 3,600 rpm and 200 Nm at 1,750 rpm, available
exclusively with a manual transmission. This two-engine line-up is pretty much
the same as what was offered for the outgoing fourth-generation City, and
differs from the 1.0 litre turbocharged three-cylinder VTEC Turbo (122 PS at
5,500 rpm and 173 Nm of torque from 2,000 to 4,500 rpm) used in Thailand.
Beyond these differences, the India-spec
City shares a lot of the same equipment as its Thailand counterpart, including
LED headlamps and taillamps, keyless entry, remote engine start, leather upholstery,
an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system, six airbags, Honda Connect
telematics system, VSA and hill start assist.