The Honda City has been the undisputed leader of the C-Segment, so much so that it has been a benchmark in itself. However, when the market shifted its preference from petrol to diesel, the City lost out on its dominance to the Hyundai Verna.
The fourth generation model of the City aims at making a comeback with a diesel engine under the hood. But because Hyundai knows that the City will be coming back in full force they have been working on the Verna by giving it a mid-life upgrade. The Honda City redeems itself with a sunroof, cruise control and rear AC vents.
The fluidic design has been the forte of the current generation Verna; the headlights now have projected beam lamps and wear a string of LED lamps that have a daytime running function. The 16-inch alloy wheels have a diamond-cut design like the ones seen on the Grand i10.
The City on the other hand has alloy wheels like that of the Amaze and the tyres look a bit skinny for the car. The car looks narrower and tall, especially with the leaner tyres. On the looks of it, the City has more cuts and curves and projects a more sharp and edgy design while the Verna is curvier. The City has creases above both the wheel arches and the prominent shoulder line is the highlight of the car.
On the inside, the Verna continues with a symmetrical design flow. The combination of leather upholstery and fake leather trim adds a hint of an old-school design. The Honda City on the other hand takes a futuristic approach; the dashboard is asymmetric and tilted towards the driver. It gets a combination of gloss and matt black surfaces with satin finish inserts.
In terms of features both cars are closely benchmarked. The top variants of both cars get keyless entry and go, powered mirrors, parking cameras, leather upholstery, Bluetooth connectivity and steering-mounted controls. While compared to the City, the back seat of the Verna is a bit cramped, legroom is less and under-thigh support could have been better. The headroom is generous, though. With a 510 L boot space, the Honda car has more boot space than the 465 L Verna.
With the diesel 1.5 i-DTEC unit, the fuel consumption of the City is as high as 26 km. The petrol City variant has a 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine. The Verna has petrol and diesel variants with a VTVT of 1.4 litre and a CRDI of 1.6 litre, respectively. Both promise impressive mileage with the petrol claiming 17 kmpl and the diesel, an even higher 22 kmpl.
