Spec comparison: All-New Honda City Vs Maruti Suzuki Ciaz

The mid-size sedan space has always held a special place in the heart of millions in India. Comfortable seats, good boot space and a host of modern convenience features defined the mid-size segment. Honda’s popular selling model in the segment, the City is all set to be launched in an all new avatar and called the All New City. Over the years, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz has been one of the strongest opponent for the Honda City. Read below to learn more about the key differences between the two popular names in the segment. 

Exterior

Honda’s All New City borrows design cues from the Honda Civic and the Accord. The fifth-generation model features bold chrome grille that blends with the full LED headlamps. For the first time in the segment, the headlamps get nine LED array inline shell, integrated LED DRL and L-shaped LED turn signal. In profile, the All New City features a coupe-like silhouette with a prominent character line. At the rear, it gets Z-shaped 3D wrap-around LED tail lamps with uniform edge light and LED side marker lamps. 

Comparatively, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz has modest exterior highlights in the form of a honeycomb mesh grille with chrome highlights on the top and bottom line. The wide and bold headlamps house the LED DRLs. The bumper looks sharp and houses the sporty fog-lamps. The vehicle rides on multi-spoke alloy wheels that give it a premium feel. At the rear, the sedan gets wide tail lamps and added bits of chrome. 

Interior

The dual tone black and beige interior in the All-New-City looks fresh with a soft pad dashboard. The sedan gets an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system and leather upholstery with a contemporary seat design. Interestingly, the new-generation Honda City also gets a seven-inch HD full colour TFT display with driver information interface. 

The top-end variant of the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz features wooden trim inserts in the dashboard along with leather upholstery. The rear passenger row in the Ciaz gets separate AC vents and a 12V socket. The standard feature list includes accessories socket on the front and rear, tilt steering, Bluetooth audio system with four speakers and two tweeters, USB connectivity, steering mounted audio controls and steering mounted calling controls.

Engine

At the time of launch, the All New City will be available in petrol and diesel engine options. The 1.5-litre i-VTEC DOHC petrol engine produces 119bhp and 145Nm of torque. This engine comes mated to a six-speed manual transmission and CVT option. The manual version returns a fuel efficiency of 17.8kmpl, while the CVT version has a fuel efficiency of 18.4kmpl. The diesel version is powered by a 1.5-litre i-DTEC engine that generates 98bhp and 200Nm of torque. The diesel version gets a six-speed manual transmission that returns a fuel efficiency of 24.1kmpl.

The Maruti Suzuki Ciaz is powered by a BS6 compliant 1.5-litre petrol engine with SHVS mild hybrid technology that produces 103bhp at 6000rpm and 138Nm at 4,400rpm. This engine comes mated to a five-speed manual and four-speed torque converter automatic option. The manual version has an ARAI fuel efficiency figure of 20.65kmpl, while the automatic option returns a fuel efficiency of 20.04kmpl. 

Conclusion

Both the cars are available with their own set of pros and cons. The All New City is due for launch in India in July. The upcoming new-generation Honda City definitely offers more set of modern and convenience features as compared to the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, but then, the former will also command a considerable premium price at the time of launch. On the other hand, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz is not just priced lower, but it also offers the SHVS technology.