The Honda City

Those of you who are thinking that this review is about the City being sold presently are encouraged to leave this blog right now. If are asking for a reason, I am not offering one. Now back to the job at hand.

This car really begs to be punished. A real sadist, she comes into her own when you hoist the Taco above 4000 RPM and hold on for dear life (the car's road holding abilities are questionable). Razor sharp steering means that it permits you to be ridiculously stupid at high speeds. Extremely light weight translates to almost zero understeer.

And that is where the good bits end. You ended up paying a premium price considering what you got for your money. Grey interiors, bad stereo and a gear knob straight out of 80's Datsun. The airconditioning is over engineered, with reports of frostbitten drivers in June heat quite common. But hey, who cares when the service cost rivals the Marutis, the service quality beats the Mercs and the running costs put Santros to shame (read fuel economy).

The driving experience is - shall we say - enjoyable. You sit low with the steering right in your lap. Add to that an 8/10 gear shift plus a happy go slippary clutch, and you can for sure practice those snappy gear throws in real life. At any RPM, the engine is free revving, but comes into its own beyond the 4000 RPM, at which point the HC starts to behave like a crazed rottwieler. Put in a decent set of tyres, and this car will always put a smile on your face on a gloomy Monday morning.

HCs tend to be well taken care of, with Honda maintained central service records. The flux of new cars and a new model (and revision thereof) have brought down the prices. Planning to buy that 4-5 lac car? Stop right there.

Spend 3 lacs to pick up an old VTec, put in good tyres, A turbocharger, air filter and performance exhaust system. I am not proposing NOS, coz I love cars and am not an avid fan of blown gasket or dead drivers. The above mods will give you about 20-30% extra power plus faster take off from lower RPMs.

Long live the HC, I will sign off now, for all this writing has put me in the mood to do some driving.