Recce and roll

Torture testing the upgraded Honda City ZX.

If you are a regular reader of Business Standard Motoring, you will have noticed that we think pretty highly of the Honda City. It was our Car Of The Year for 2004 (in its new form and with a new engine), and its predecessors were, if anything, even more well thought of by all of us.

We've loved the revvy, refined engines, the ultra-slick gearboxes, the high quality of fit and finish, the sure-footed handling and the resale values, to name but a few (and I'm not even getting into the magic "VTEC" badge, which is another kettle of fish altogether).

Yes, you could say we're rather partial to our Citys at BSM... except, perhaps, for one glaring chink in its otherwise formidable armour. For reasons known only to the suits at Honda Siel, the public has had to buy their excellent sedan without any active safety features all these years "" that's right, no ABS or airbags, not even as optional extras.

This when a whole range of other cars have been available with one or both of these features as either standard or as options "" the Swift, Wagon R, Estilo, Logan and Fiesta, for example. If there was a proper reason for this anomaly, well, we haven't figured it out yet.

However, that's all in the past because at long last, Honda has taken the commendable decision to equip the City with ABS and dual airbags. Or perhaps that should be "commendable with a few reservations", because they're only available on the top-of-the-line City VTEC "" no, you still cannot buy a City EXi or GXi with these features, even if you're willing to pay extra for them.

Still, small mercies and all that, so let's get on with the task at hand, which is to tell you about the fully loaded City VTEC. The first piece of information relevant to the proceedings is that the primary reason for this largesse is the 10th anniversary of Honda Siel's operations in India.

To celebrate, they've upgraded all their City models to various degrees, mainly in terms of interiors and audio. The VTEC, being the big gun, gets the whole range of upgrades.

To look at, it's still the exact same VTEC we know, except that now there's a discreet spoiler on the boot to set it apart from its brethren, and a couple of 10th Anniversary badges on the outside. It also gets a couple of new colours (Heather Mist and Carbon Bronze Pearl), although the car I had wouldn't look anywhere near its original hue by the time I was through with it, for reasons you will shortly discover.

Anyhow, as I slipped inside the car, it felt simultaneously familiar and new. Familiar in that it had the same quality feel that we've come to expect from Honda "" impeccable fit and finish, high-grade materials throughout and the feeling that you've spent your money well; different because of the leather seats, sportier steering wheel, wood panelling, 10th Anniversary engraving near the gearshift and the new 2-DIN, 4-speaker stereo system.

It was the sort of interior that instinctively made me want to run a hand over it a couple of times, which I duly did, plus it had that wonderful new-car smell, which is one of the true pleasures of motoring. I started her up, listening for a moment to the almost imperceptible engine note, and then I was off.

Where exactly was I headed? I could, theoretically, have taken the car for a quick spin around early-morning Delhi, where I was, and used some of that city's magnificent monuments as backdrops for photos; after all, this is a vehicle that we've tested quite thoroughly already.

However, that wouldn't be BSM at all, would it? No, I was driving to Himachal Pradesh, to a little village 70 km beyond Shimla called Rukhla.

I had it on good authority that the first stage of the Raid de Himalaya would pass through Rukhla, and besides I had wanted to visit the place for a while now. What better vehicle to do a Raid stage recce than a Honda City? Er, actually quite a few come to mind, but again, what the heck.

The blast to Shimla was dispatched with consummate ease by the City. Although it's slightly grumpy in slow traffic, due to the VTEC's inherent high-strung, high-rev nature, it's in its element once shown an open stretch of road. I won't go into unnecessary detail about the engine's characteristics, since they're already well known, but I will tell you that it was an intensely satisfying drive.

The highways on the plains up to Chandigarh flew past, with the engine growling in muted fashion, but certainly baring a discreet fang all right. In that sense, it's funny how this Honda is almost embarrassed to give full and unfettered voice to its performance pedigree "" a Ford Fiesta 1.6 is that much more of an involving, vocal drive, for example.

Nevertheless, I suppose results are just as important, and the Honda certainly made double quick time up the hills to Shimla, displaying its neutral, confidence-inspiring handling to full effect.

It was after Shimla that things got interesting. Rukhla doesn't appear on most road maps, and as I asked my way towards it, the road disappeared altogether, to be replaced by an endless dirt track. "Right, here we go," I thought.

The dirt, of a talcum powder consistency, meant that if I wanted, I could judiciously use the throttle and slide the car, but of course I didn't really want to have to call Honda and say I'd landed on someone's roof, so I kept it down to a minimum. I did, however, kick up an unbelievable amount of dust, hence the car's less than pristine colour in the photos.

The fine dirt then gave way to a rocky, cratered surface that would have tested most SUVs, and as I gingerly coaxed the car through I thought I might have to call Honda after all, only about a busted strut, but it went through all right.

In fact, it went through everything that 12 km stretch of road (and I traversed it twice) threw at it, without really missing a beat "" dust, rocks, craters, some deep slush, the works. I was probably the worse off for wear, frankly, covered as I was with a fine layer of mountain dust and with my nerves a bit on edge from all the clangs and crunches that had emanated from under the car.

There's no doubt about it, then. This is a car that loves the smooth (and with its plush new interiors, it's a real smooth place to be), and, if push comes to shove, it can take quite a bit of the rough stuff as well.

Thankfully, I didn't have occasion to fully test either the ABS or airbags, but I certainly felt safer knowing they were there in case things literally went downhill.

Honda now has a car with which to throw some punches at the rapidly selling Suzuki SX4, its chief rival, even though the Suzuki still trumps it on price, at Rs 7.65 lakh to the Honda's Rs 9.07 lakh (both ex-showroom, Mumbai). Given Honda's rock-solid brand strength, however, the ensuing scrap should make for interesting viewing.