Welcome back to the on going road test of the New Honda City i-VTEC. Yesterday we spoke about the engine and gearbox, today we touch upon another section, the section that matters to Indians – interiors.
Interiors
The well designed exteriors seeps on to the inside too with a well sculpted dashboard. The steering feels good to grip though it is small. The instrument cluster is pleasing on the eyes – the orange backlit with the orange needles and aluminium bordering enhances the sporty feel.
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As we mentioned yesterday in the initial impression, Honda makes the best petrol engines and this one is nothing less than a gem in their stable. The earlier City was criticized for being underpowered and if there are one group of people who love a challenge more than anyone else, it has to be the Japanese.
The New City Honda has a very powerful 1.5litre i-VTEC engine that makes a maximum of 118PS. Honda says the Intake valve timing and valve lift settings switch to meet both low- and high-speed driving requirements. Optimized valve overlap in the low, mid and high speed ranges enhance intake and exhaust efficiency for excellent performance with plenty of torque throughout all speed ranges.
Takara has added one more toy to their Alternity toyline which consists of transforming cars. The first two models were the Nissan GT-R Convoy and the Nissan Fairlady (350Z) Megatron, which frankly would not suit our blog. The newest addition will – Introducing the Suzuki Swift Bumblebee
Over the years a tremendous amount of Transformer toys have come about, and the Bumblebee model is anything but new. You’ll have to observe the attention to detail Takara has given to this toy.
The Bumblebee Swift comes in two colours, the Champion Yellow Bumblebee colour and the Pearl Red Cliffjumper colour.
Our pal Dean explains the Transformers sequel in the shortest possible manner -
For those of you that have not seen Transformers, Bumblebee is originally an Autobot that disguises him self as a fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro. Bumblebee was the star-bot of the first movie where he had to voice his opinions with short radio, or song clips due to his voice failing.
In Transformers 2, Bumblebee took stand next to the new Chevrolet Volt named Jolt, as well as the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Concept named Sideswipe. Anyway, if you haven’t seen the movie we’d rather not spoil it for you – so check it out when you can.
With a few days remaining for the Indian launch, the Indonesian market has received the automatic transmission variant of the Toyota Fortuner, which has been on sale in Malaysia for six months.
Previously all diesel Fortuners were mated to a manual tranny.
The Toyota Fortuner 2.7V (petrol) is targeted at those who value performance while the 2.5G (diesel) is for those looking at fuel economy.
With this, there are now 4 variants of Fortuner sold by PT Toyota Astra Motor -
2.5G 4×2 MT diesel, 2.5G 4×2 AT diesel, 2.7G 4×2 AT petrol and 2.7V 4×4 AT petrol.
A kitted up TRD Sportivo Limited Edition version is also available for those looking for a little bit more style.
The 2.5G AT Fortuner is equipped with 2-DIN audio visual system, automatic and dual air-conditioning, and a gated type shifter.
The Fortuner is also a market leader in its segment – between January to June 2009, Fortuner controlled 30% of the 4×4 Medium segment and 26% of the 4×2 SUV High segment. In the month of July, it extended its market share in the 4×2 segment to 33.7%.
Honda has reached this stage of importance here in India solely due to the City, this being its smallest offering until the Jazz was launched. Right from day one the City has evoked a lot of interest among buyers looking for the latest technology and others who intended to take their ride to the next level with alloys, body kits, ECU remaps and other fitments.
This week we’re driving the new Honda City which shares its underpinnings with the Jazz. Does the latest City iVtec have what it takes to be branded as a mini Civic? We’ll tell you by the end of our stint.\
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Behind closed doors, the Tata Nano Europa is getting prepared to face rigorous competition and challenges the West has to offer. The preliminary crash tests have been positive and the Nano is confident of acing all the emission and crash test requirements both in America and Europe/U.K.
Coming to the heart of this story, we previously posted information on Skoda’s new small car dubbed Joyster, that will take form on the VW Up!’s platform. Autoblog NL reports Skoda’s version of the Up! will be priced in the same league as the Nano Europa (around 4,500-5,000 Euros).
Skoda Indian management back in March announced two small cars one each from Skoda and VW was planned for 2011. That report said the target price was approximately 4 lakh rupees. According to the new report, 5,000 Euros (Joyster) would convert into 3.5 lakh rupees.
Are they both talking about the Joyster? If they are, then the Joyster would be manufactured in India.
Tata Motors had also confirmed during the Geneva show that the Europa, if launched in Europe, would also be available in India.
If you want to travel in a more comfortable vehicle with extra leg room and seats, might as well buy a mini van or a bus.
Stretched an extra five feet along its wheelbase, this Toyota Innova is easily the worst innovation of 2009. We would like to know what Toyota thinks of this idea.
And check out the make shift grille and Benz-like planted logo on the hood.
Why would anyone want to travel in a stretched Toyota Innova? Who would have such a fantasy?
This part by part display of the Hyundai i40 is agonizing. First we found just the bumper, then the headlights along with it, and now we have the whole front fascia.
The nearing Hyundai i40′s front fascia was exhibited in what looks like a science and technology fair. The “active air flap system” on the i40′s grill is likely to bust some fancy moves to help the engine or the cooling system.
If you would like to know more about the Hyundai i40, consider visiting our Hyundai i40 category page.
