May 2022 - Honda City Diesel Variants Explained - Which One To Buy?

Updated (May 23, 2022): This update of the Honda City diesel variants explained article includes the latest prices of the 5th gen Honda City after the recent price increase.

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Honda City Diesel?

The pros or advantages of Honda City diesel are:

• D-segment length for a C-segment car. It remains the longest car in its segment even after the introduction of the Skoda Slavia, although the gap is negligible.
• 3 engine transmission combinations to choose from: petrol-manual, petrol-automatic and diesel-manual.
• Reasonably-priced and very well-equipped V variant should suffice for most sedan buyers as it has the features to compete with the top variants of some of its rivals and is the most value-for-money variant of the City diesel.
• Good number of standard safety features (ESP, TC, HSA, 4 airbags, ABS).
• Good fuel efficiency of 24.1kmpl.

The Honda City diesel has the following shortcomings or problems:

• High entry price of almost Rs. 13.0 lakh (ex-showroom) for the base City diesel variant makes it inaccessible for many sedan buyers.
• Very low torque output for a 1.5L turbo diesel engine. Other car manufacturers are squeezing out much higher torque from diesel engines of the same displacement. It’s only 10Nm better than the Grand i10 Nios diesel.
• 185-section tyres are too narrow for a car of this size and price. Even the Baleno has wider tyres.
• The diesel variants command a premium of Rs. 1.50 lakh to Rs. 1.60 lakh, which is very high considering the diesel engine’s unimpressive specifications. Verna’s petrol-diesel price gap is narrower and it also has better performance and fuel efficiency.
• No diesel-automatic. The Verna is the only other C-segment sedan with a diesel engine and the only one with a diesel-automatic.

What Is The Price Of Honda City Diesel Variants?

The 5th gen Honda City diesel is available in 3 variants - V, VX and ZX. The diesel-manual variants cost between Rs. 12.83 lakh and Rs. 15.18 lakh. These prices are Rs. 1.50 to Rs. 1.60 lakh higher than the City petrol-manual.

Honda City Diesel V - Base Model Features & Review

The base V variant of the 5th gen Honda City costs Rs. 12.89 lakh. The notable standard features of the 5th-gen City diesel are:

• 2 front and 2 front side airbags
• Traction control
• Hill-start assist
• Electronic stability control
• Day/night inside mirror
• Rear defogger
• Halogen projector headlamps
• Tyre pressure monitoring system
• 3-point seatbelts for all occupants
• Fog lamps
• 8-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple Carplay
• Steering-mounted controls
• Power mirrors with folding
• Tilt & Telescopic Steering
• Auto AC w/ Rear AC Vents
• Keyless Entry w/ Push-button Start/Stop
• Front Armrest w/ Storage
• LED DRLs
• Rear Armrest
• Cruise Control
• 15-inch Alloy Wheels
• Telematics (5-year subscription)
• Paddle Shifters (CVT)
• Fixed Rear Headrests
• Fabric Upholstery
• Remote Functions w/ Alexa Voice Assistant
• LED Tail Lamps

As you can see, it has a very long list of features for a base variant. It clearly doesn’t look like a base variant and has enough features to hang with the top variants of its rivals, which cost about the same. This is a great option and worth buying. This variant is a great value offering too and is our top recommended variant of the Honda City. Now, let’s see if the higher variants justify their incremental asking price.

Honda City Diesel V vs VX Variant

The VX variant of the new Honda City diesel costs Rs. 14.25 lakh. This is Rs. 1.36 lakh more expensive than the base V variant. For this additional sum, you get the following notable features:

• 2 Curtain Airbags
• Auto Headlamps
• Electric Sunroof
• 7-inch full-colour instrument console
• Auto-dimming IRVM
• 4 Speakers
• 16-inch Machined Alloy Wheels
• Walk-away Auto-Lock
• Rear Reading Lamps
• Leather-wrapped steering and gear knob

This variant comes very close to justifying its asking price. However, most of its features are good-to-have and may have a higher perceived value for some buyers. While value-wise, the mid variant sits at the bottom of the list, it’s still worth considering if you want some of these features in your car.

Honda City Diesel VX vs ZX Variant

The top-spec Honda City ZX diesel-manual costs Rs. 15.24 lakh. It’s almost Rs. 1.0 lakh more expensive than the VX diesel and it adds the following additional features:

• LED headlamps
• LED cabin lights
• LED Turn Indicators
• Lane Watch Camera
• Remote Open/Close Power Windows & Sunroof
• LED Fog Lamps
• Ambient Lighting
• Rear Windshield Curtain
• Leather Upholstery
• Soft-touch Interior Elements

The top variant too mostly adds good-to-have features with high emotional value. This variant also doesn’t quite justify spending the additional sum. Since it has a higher ratio of functional features, this is a better option to consider than the VX variant. Strictly from a value perspective, the ZX variant is not worth buying but we still think that it’s worth a look if it fits within your budget as it is a better option overall than the mid-spec VX.

Which Variant Of The Honda City Diesel Should You Buy?

The V variant of the Honda City is so well equipped that it’ll suffice for most buyers. It’ll feel like a top variant of a typical C-segment sedan. And it should. After all, it’s priced like one. The base variant of the new, 5th gen Honda City is the most value for money variant and it’s also our top-recommended variant.

The VX variant is not worth upgrading to from a value perspective. But, this variant is not too expensive either for the additional features and is worth considering. Most of its features are good-to-have and style-oriented. So, we’d recommend that you instead jump to the ZX variant and go all in. The ZX variant also has some more useful features like rear curtains, LED headlamps, ambient lighting and you’ll appreciate these during the ownership.

What Are The Engine Specifications Of The Honda City Diesel?

The 5th gen Honda City diesel retains its 1.5L turbo diesel engine with a 6-speed manual transmission. It still makes 100PS of power and 200Nm of torque. Unlike the City’s petrol engine, this diesel engine doesn’t rev much and makes good torque at low RPMs to help with the drivability. 

The 5th gen City diesel has acceptable performance but just like its petrol engine, the diesel engine isn’t a cracker either. It has only 10Nm better torque than the Hyundai Grand i10 Nios diesel, which has a 1.2L diesel engine, by the way. The Verna diesel offers far better torque output and torque-to-weight ratio. So, it won’t have a similar in-gear acceleration as the Verna diesel.

The Honda City diesel’s fuel efficiency figure is about 1kmpl lower than that of the Verna diesel manual. In the diesel C-segment sedan space, there’s not much competition and your only other option is Hyundai Verna, which also has an automatic transmission.

*Estimated

Let’s assume that you will get the same fuel efficiency in the real-world and that the current fuel prices remain more or less static in the foreseeable future. With these assumptions, you’ll have to drive the Honda City diesel more than 85,000km just to recover the Rs. 1.5 lakh premium you’re paying upfront in ex-showroom price over the City petrol. With the Hyundai Verna diesel, this km-to-breakeven figure is a shade over 60,000km.

You can use our Fuel Cost Calculator to see how much any petrol, diesel or CNG car will cost to run based on the latest fuel price in your city.

V3Cars Fuel Cost Calculator

What Are The Dimensions Of The Honda City?

The 5th gen City has very impressive dimensions. The new City is considerably larger than the Verna and you won’t need a measuring tape or the spec sheet to validate this fact if you spot the 2 cars on the road.

It has a larger boot than the Verna but its 185-section tyre size seems too small for a sedan big enough to be in the D-segment.

Find out how you can get the best mileage or fuel efficiency from your car:

10 Tips To Get Better Mileage From Your Diesel, Diesel Or CNG Car

What Are The Colour Options Of The Honda City Diesel?

The 2022 City diesel is available in the following 5 colours:

• Red
• Silver
• White
• Grey
• Brown

Note: Here is a quick look at our length-based segmentation of cars to give you an idea of how we classify cars based on their size.