Honda City Hatchback Facelift 2024 - Now Available With A Cooler And More Dashing Look

The all new Honda City Hatchback Facelift is now launched in Malaysia. It comes with cooler aesthetics that got the looks and style to be the talk of the town. They now offer five variants starting with the range of four petrol variants and one hybrid variant sitting at the top of the range. The variant ranges are, City Hatchback 1.5L S, City Hatchback 1.5L E, City Hatchback 1.5L V, and City Hatchback 1.5L RS the top of the line of the petrol variant. While the hybrid variant is, City Hatchback 1.5L e: HEV RS hybrid

THE EXTERIOR

The dimension wise there is not much change compared to the pre-facelift. The standard size is 1,488 mm tall, which is 18 mm taller than the pre-facelift model, although it is still 4,350 mm long (+1 mm) and 1,748 mm width. The RS versions' variant-specific bumpers cause them to be slightly longer at 4,369 mm.

The front part of the car carries the same look as of the City sedan. It has a large front grille with a thick chrome slab over the headlamps on either side making it look like it's wearing eyeliner giving a fiercer look indeed. The new mesh insert grille for both upper and lower grille design also look pretty sleek compared to the previous honeycomb mesh design which applies only on the upper part grille. They also redesigned the front bumper giving it more distinct accents and fang like features on the lower part so that it looks more aggressive.

Other than that, you will get a new design sport rim in gloss black for the RS variant. The rear part is what makes this car stand out. It comes with an aggressive looking diffuser with chrome pattern, that is not over but just nice and enough to give it a dashing look for a hatchback.

It comes in 4 colour options which is, Ignite Red Metallic, Platinum white Pearl, Lunar Silver Metal, and Meteoroid Grey Metallic. For the e:HEV variant only 3 colour options are Ignite Red Metallic, Platinum white Pearl, and Meteoroid Grey Metallic.

THE INTERIOR

As you step into the cabin, you will be greeted with its spacious dashboard that is the same as in the sedan version. There are slight differences made by Honda even though it might not look much from the previous launch. It now comes with wireless apple car play,   android auto, and honda lane watch for V and RS variant. They also have enhanced the screen resolution for clearer display for the 4 inch or the 7 inch display depending on the variant. For the V and RS spect it comes with red trim on the dashboard, and red stitching on the dashboard and the seat.

The highlight of the interior is its great practicality! Even though it is a hatchback where usually lack of space is an issue, it now comes with Honda ultra seat feature where you can tumble both of the rear seat, flip it up, flatten the front and lower rear seat and recline the front seat all the way down. So now you can maximise the usage of space in the car with its limitless possibilities. It also comes with a decent size boot space of 289L.

THE MACHINERY

The petrol variant comes with a 1.5 4 Cylinder 16 Valve, DOHC i‑VTEC engine producing 121 PS (119 hp or 89 kW) at 6,600 rpm and 145 Nm at 4,300 rpm. The power transfers to the two front wheels via CVT gearbox.

In the e:HEV, it uses 4 Cylinder, 16 Valve, DOHC i‑VTEC (Atkinson Cycle) engine producing 98 PS (97 hp or 72 kW) from 5,600 to 6,400 rpm and 127 Nm of torque from 4,500 to 5,000 rpm. The lithium-ion battery electric motor on the other hand, produces 109 PS (107 hp or 80 kW) and 253 Nm. The engine can clutch in through a single-speed E-CVT to provide direct drive to the wheels at higher speeds, where it is most efficient, even if its primary function is that of a generator. Not much changes to the powertrain compared to previous launches for both petrol and e:HEV variants.

It uses a ventilated disc brake system on the front wheel while a solid disc for the rear except for the 1.5L S and 1.5L E variant. The e:HEV comes with an electric parking brake with brake hold while the rest uses a brake lever. All of the variants also come with electric power Steering (EPS), and use Macpherson Strut and Torsion Beam suspension system.

THE SAFETY ASPECT

Safety wise, is the least of your concern when it comes to this car. It comes with Honda Sensing feature for all of its variants but for the RS variant it comes with low speed follow (LSF) in addition to all other features. Safety upgrades such as 6 airbags, autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assist, automatic high beam, and lock away auto lock are also added to this latest launch.

The RS variants also comes with Honda Connect technology where you can connect your car to your smartphone via Honda Connect app which can enhance your car safeness, security and convenience.

The prices in Malaysia starting from petrol variant ranges are, City Hatchback 1.5L S (RM85,900), City Hatchback 1.5L E (RM90,900), City Hatchback 1.5L V (RM95,900), and City Hatchback 1.5L RS (RM100,900) the top of the line of the petrol variant. While the hybrid variant is, City Hatchback 1.5L e: HEV RS hybrid ( RM112,900). (Prices mentioned are on-the-road and without insurance.)

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