Spec Comparo: Honda City vs. Maruti Suzuki Ciaz

Honda has given a mid-life update to its most successful car in India, the City sedan. The City had a dominating run in the C-Segment and faced a severe competition from the likes of Hyundai Verna and Maruti Suzuki Ciaz. With the update, the Japanese manufacturer has brought in exterior design tweaks and additional equipment to make it more aggressive and modern. The updated City will continue its fray with the current highest selling car in the segment, the Ciaz. Here is how they both compare.

Exterior:

The most prominent update on the City is the refreshed fascia, with a new headlamp cluster. It gets an LED treatment, with a DRL, the horizontal grille slat flows into the redesigned headlamps and the taillights gets a new LED lighting signature. The updates are mild, but give the City a new lease of life until the next-generation arrives. The Ciaz, on the other hand, got a subtle update in 2015. It comes with a projector headlamp unit cocooned inside the sweptback headlamp design and a trapezoidal front grille, with a dash of chrome adding character. The long hood, strong shoulder line, forward leaning stance and lip spoiler give the car a premium appearance.

Both these cars are subtle looking with a distinct flair, but the mid-life update of the Ciaz is due and will follow soon after the advent of the new City.

Interior

The updated City follows the same sophisticated approach as the current car. With silver accents and gloss black finish garnished all around the well laid-out dash. The features and equipment list includes the sunroof, adjustable steering, split and foldable rear bench, start/stop button, automatic climate control and electronic folding rear-view mirrors. The infotainment system comes with smartphone connectivity as well. The Ciaz is simple and clutter-free with the interior reminiscent of other Maruti models. It comes with keyless entry and starts, Aux-in, USB, Bluetooth streaming with telephony, ISOFIX, reversing camera and navigation system (in top-spec), and steering mounted controls.

In terms of safety in the Ciaz, all but the base variant (which only gets a driver-side airbag) get ABS-EBD and airbags as standard. The City comes with dual airbags and ABS as standard across the range.

Engine

On the engine front, the face-lifted City continues with the 1.5-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel engine. The petrol output is 119bhp/145Nm, while the diesel produces 98bhp/200Nm. A six-speed manual is standard for both while the petrol also gets the option of a CVT. Both the diesel and petrol engines of the City are powerful as compared to the Ciaz, but the latter has the SHVS trick up its sleeves. The petrol version of the Ciaz comes with 1.4-litre K-series petrol engine producing 94bhp and 134Nm of torque. The 89bhp, 1.3-litre DDiS diesel gets Integrated Starter Generator (ISG), as a mild hybrid, making it the most fuel-efficient car in the country.  The diesel engine comes coupled with the five-speed manual transmission; the petrol is available with a five-speed manual and four-speed automatic transmission.

Price:

The new City is priced between Rs 8.49 and 13.52 lakh for the petrol variant, whereas the diesel cost Rs 10.75-13.56 lakh. At Rs 10.52 lakh, the top-spec Maruti Suzuki Ciaz petrol is whole three lakh cheaper than the Honda City petrol. While with the diesel, even the top of the line Ciaz diesel costs less than the base variant of the City diesel.