Honda City – Optional Multimedia Navigator Review
To date, the Autoworld team has tested the current generation Honda City in no less than four separate occasions. After attending both the pre- and post-launch media drives organized by Honda Malaysia in Thailand and Langkawi respectively, we then had the opportunity to twice put the car under closer scrutiny in the confines of our own garage.
Unlike the previous model’s two-variant line-up, Honda Malaysia now offers the City with a choice of four variants, with prices starting from RM75,800 for the entry-level Grade S model progressively increasing to RM78,800 for the Grade S+ and RM83,800 for Grade E before topping off at RM90,800 for the Grade V model. All variants carry over the predecessor’s 1.5-litre SOHC i-VTEC four-pot mated with Honda’s in-house Earth Dreams CVT as standard.
Our most recent review of the City was based on the second cheapest Grade S+ model, and we concluded at the time that affordable as it may be, you’re really better off stretching your budget for the higher models and enjoy the extra equipment they have to offer.
The S+ is admittedly a full RM12k cheaper than the range-topper, but you also get a number of painful reminders as you sit inside the cabin thanks to the absence of steering-mounted controls and also the fitment of a very bare-faced audio control panel that does not even have numbered buttons for pre-set memory channels. Scrolling through radio stations was a major hassle.
Taking our feedback into account, Honda sent us the same S+ test car for a second opinion but with the original audio system swapped out for a dealer-fitted optional touchscreen system that can be yours for RM3,120; you can additionally top in an extra RM100 to have the unit surrounded by a piano black finish which is not fitted into our test car.
Almost mimicking the Grade V model’s factory-fitted 7″ touchscreen panel, this optional touchscreen comes with features such as satellite navigation, DVD playback, iPod streaming, and Internet browsing. It also supports Bluetooth connectivity that is already available with the standard car.
The inclusion of satellite navigation is less of a selling point these days – the maps require constant updating and Waze has proven to be far more effective in guiding us not only to our destination but around traffic jams as well. The lack of reverse camera integration to be a lost opportunity to give the system more value and make it more convincing to recommend, even if there are inevitable cost implications.
From a features standpoint, the unit does little to convince us that it is worth the asking price, but it does provide a superior user interface compared to the regular system. At the very least, you only need one press of the screen to scroll between channels. Sensitivity of the touchscreen is well-judged too, making it less distracting to operate whilst on the move – a very important trait considering the lack of steering wheel audio controls at our test car’s pay grade.
