D R I V E N
July 1999 : Honda City LXi
By Jason Ang
Photos By Jason Ang and Ulysses Ang
Originally Published in the July 1999 Issue

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Life is good at the top of the Japanese automotive ladder.  Sitting behind the leather-clad wheel of an Accord or a Cefiro, pampered by push-button everything, one cannot have much reason to complain.  But what if we go a few steps down to the bottom rung?  Would we find that driving, if not a sheer pleasure, is at least something still to look forward to?

This was precisely our question when we test-drove the Honda City LXi.  The City is Honda's stab at the entry-level car.  With prices ranging from P414,000, it's not exactly a people's car. (A cheaper P369,000 model with less electric features is available.)  It's within the range of other 1.3-1.4 liter cars with larger bodies like the Sentra, Corolla, Lancer and even the Polo.  Yet at less than half the price of an Accord, we wondered if the City would still be pleasant to drive, responsive, well-built, reliable and comfortable.  In other words, would it still be a Honda?

The engine is certainly of Honda caliber.  It's a 1.3-liter sohc 16-valver with fuel injection.  Its being fuel injected cannot be dismissed as standard fare, since two of its rivals, the 1.3 Corolla and 1.3 Lancer are still living in the carburetor age.  Indeed, the fuel injection and multi-valve design make this a spirited engine. You'll experience a reaction delay of a few beats when you floor the accelerator at 2500 rpm, so for spirited driving the revs have to kept at 3000 or more.  From there, it lives up to its "Hyper" badge as it revs willingly to its remarkable 6800 rpm redline. 

We're glad then that our car had the 5-speed manual for keeping those revs where we wanted them.  It was easy to select our gears, but shift feel was rubbery, somewhat like Nissan gearboxes from 10 years ago.  We sorely missed the usual click-click Honda manual in this car.

Contrary to what its name suggests, the City is not merely for chugging around to work or the supermarket.  Its engine-gearbox combination is capable of powering the car to a comfortable 130 km/h with speed still to spare.  The only drawback of running fast is the high tire and road noise, which takes out some of the satisfaction of passing even 2.0-liter cars on the highway.

Though unreflective in its unradical (dull) exterior, the Honda City is one of the best people's car available on the Philippine market.

Hard plastics ruin City's interior. Nonetheless, only thing lacking is certain additional indicators such as 'low fuel warning' lamp.

1.3 16V inline-4 gives reasonable performance. Lifeless below 2500 rpm, lively above 3000. Has enough power for speeds up to 130 km/h (carburetted Corolla doesn't). Fuel injected too!

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