A matter of the heart - VTEC Motor

A matter of the heart

Petrolheads rejoice - Honda bungs a VTEC engine into the City. SRIRAM NARAYANAN tells you more

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The VTEC motor is never guilty of unwanted noises - it produces only music that makes your hair stand on thrilled end

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There's this thing with Hondas, especially in India. It's something very subtle, and at the same time, prudent. And this would need a keen eye to notice it in the first place. Whether it's their cars, their bike or their scooters, Honda always has the simplest of purchase deals for you if you are buying one of their products. Go to the showroom, see the car or bike for yourself, drive it about and if you like it, pay the money and it's yours. No free plasma TV, no free holiday in Goa, no celebrity endorsements, no freebies and no fine-print. Come, pay money and take delivery, as simple as that. It's not the sign of a company being 'consumer-unfriendly,' it's more the sign of a company that's confident of its products; the kind of confidence which springs from the fact that you wouldn't buy a car because you could get your family a holiday in doing so. You buy a car because it's the one for you. And Honda, with its decade-long tenure in our market, seems to know exactly what you want.

However, it didn't look like the manufacturer had read the customer that completely, a short-ish while ago. You see, when Honda pulled out the iconic, old City for the 'MPV squashed to the size of a car' version, I and others of my ilk thought of it as blasphemy, or dare I say, over-confidence. The old City did have its quirks, but at that time, there was nothing that could come close to it in terms of performance at its price, not to forget the fact that it was fun to drive, efficient and reliable too. It also came in a VTEC guise too for those who wanted keener performance.

No, we don't like the idea of VTEC just because it sounds, well, cool. VTEC, better described and lesser known as 'variable valve timing and lift electronic control' is Honda's proprietary technology that makes a difference to the performance and volumetric efficiency of an engine. You could directly skip the next few lines if you aren't interested, but for the interested ones, here's the point behind a VTEC.

TUMMY TUCK With a nose and boot job, the City is sleeker to look at today. A 100 bhp VTEC mill under the hood completes the new picture of pur

Tech to the max

Now, you may have come across words of wisdom like, 'a constant speed of 60 kph will deliver optimum fuel efficiency.' True, because at lower speeds, you would simply be left with unburned fuel and at higher speeds, you would be burning too much fuel. What the VTEC system does is to finely regulate the opening and closing of the inlet valves according to the engine's revolution. At low revolutions the valves open just a little, allowing only a trickle of fuel to flow in. At higher engine revs, the valves open nice and wide, allowing more fuel to flow through. In other words, the engine is fed only as much fuel as is needed at any given engine speed. This is the reason you never burnt too much fuel in slow, city traffic and when the prospect of an open road lay ahead, the Honda City VTEC never held itself back. The figures speak for VTEC - while the old 1.5 City gave you 10.4 kpl in the city, a 1.5 VTEC returned 11.9 kpl. This, despite offering you 6 bhp more power that the 100 bhp 1.5!

So there, VTEC is not just a cool-sounding name; it works as well. With such credentials around, the new City with its love-it-or-hate-it looks and a comparatively feeble, 77 bhp non-VTEC engine was a bit of a wet blanket for Honda aficionados. You could simply say the new City did not carry through much of its predecessor's peppy charms. But it did bring in some new ones - yes, this was Honda showing they understood customer feedback. And therefore, unlike in the older City, we got great interiors, more cabin space, slightly better fuel-efficiency, better ride and build quality and a lower sticker price - all very welcome. Now, we get a slight cosmetic freshening-up, a new ZX nametag and a VTEC mill as part of the line-up. Frankly, the City ZX VTEC is a car a lot of buyers have been eagerly waiting for.

So, what is new? For one, there's been a conscious effort to wean the car away from its MPV looks. Viewed side-on, you will see less rake at the front and rear windshields. The bonnet seems slightly more elongated and is 65 mm longer. The front bumper juts out further from the body and the rear is less bulky. While the wraparound tail-lamps remain, additional units have been added to make them wider, making the rear appear fuller. On the whole, the changes to the exterior of the City are very subtle. You may find it difficult to pinpoint specific changes, but these minor specifics make a difference - yes, the City does look better today.

More horses for the course

Honda surely must have come across many people hanging on to the old City, just because the new one wasn't much fun to drive. And a new VTEC powerplant sorts just that out now. While driving the new City around, we found at 1,500 rpm, the power, unlike a typical petrol, doesn't come on strongly. This is where the VTEC is budgeting its valves and sensibly rationing fuel for you. At 3,500 rpm, the motor slowly gets into its groove, while 4,800 rpm brings on a motor which is ready to respond to every command of your right foot, the valves generously feeding the engine with petrol. This is great when you need a surge of power to overtake slow-moving traffic. The hallmark of the VTEC is that the motor never feels thrashy and is never guilty of unwanted noises - it produces only the kind of well-oiled music that makes your hair stand on thrilled end. Even at 160 kph, you won't feel any coarseness or signs of a car telling you it's reaching the end of its tether.

One complaint with the City was the plastic feel of its electric power steering system. And that has now been tackled, extra feedback being dialled into the equation. If you have been an avid City driver, you will notice this new one feels sharper and is more than ready to change direction than the current version. What's admirable is that Honda have bought in the best-loved bits of the earlier City and further beefed up an already excellent package - the athletic performance of the old City VTEC mated to the enhanced practicality of the current one.

Since we haven't thoroughly road-tested the machine as yet, there's more to the City ZX we are yet to discover. Interestingly, this Honda has come up at a time when most of India's first-generation of new cars are going through a generation change. Ford is almost out with the new Fiesta. Hyundai is readying the next-generation Accent for our roads. Mitsubishi and Skoda have new things up their sleeve with the Lancer Cedia and the new Octavia respectively. At any other time, we would have unhesitatingly told you that the City VTEC is the best mid-size car you can buy. But after having driven the new Ford, we feel the City, with the VTEC has upped its game by just the right amount to tackle the Fiesta. Their locking horns would be a spectacle and a good one at that... but that's another story. Watch this space!

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TECHNICAL DATA

HONDA CITY ZX VTEC

How much?

Rs 8.41 lakh

(ex-showroom, Mumbai)

How big?

Length: 4,390 mm

Width: 1,690 mm

Height: 1,485 mm

Kerb weight: 1,060 kg

Wheelbase: 2,450 mm

Fuel tank capacity: 42 litres

Luggage volume: 500 litres

Engine

Layout: 4-cylinder 1497cc VTEC,

petrol

Max power: 100 bhp

Max torque: 13.50 kgm

Installation: Front, transverse, front-wheel drive

Steering

Electric power-assisted