2026 Honda City Short Review: What We Liked & What Needs To Improve

I can relate to the Honda City quite well. We’re both millennials in a GenZ world, trying to fight the feeling that age is catching up to us. However, while the internet moved from Bad Luck Brian to brainrot and music concert headliners may move from artists to AI slop, I still feel relevant because I made an effort to stay up to date. And apparently, so has the City. 

Honda City Looks

The City isn’t the slender slicker it was in the 1990s. This is after all the facelift of the 5th generation City which continued the rounded theme of its predecessor with a bit more sharpness. There’s now more of the latter with a sharper droop to the fascia, a connected LED light bar, sharper bumpers and new LED projector headlights.

Honda’s also thrown in dual-tone alloys but they’re still 16-inch wheels and a car like this would be better off with 195/60 section tyres as opposed to the 185/55 section rubber it currently wears.

The rear end gets smoked effect LED tail lights and pulls a hard switch on the personality of the City. Generally, I’m firm in the belief that Honda doesn’t really take risks but this kind of is a big one. They’ve actively taken a step away from the more elegant tone it had before so younger people can see themselves in one. It may work but then there’s a lot more work due inside to make that a stronger call to action.

Honda City Space & Quality

Absolutely no change on this front. There’s loads of legroom and knee room for users up to 6ft in height with comfortable seats all around. It is, however, not a cabin that’s friendly to the vertically gifted. Front seat headroom isn’t good even for someone who’s 5.8ft tall while rear seat headroom is only marginally better.

Cabin design and quality see no changes either and it's appreciable. The ivory and black interior looks notably brighter than the previously offered beige and black. Tactile physical controls for the air-conditioning, smooth but hard plastics and a few leatherette touches to the trim make the City still look and feel like one of the classiest cabins you can be in. 

Honda City Tech 

Two key additions to the features list come in the form of ventilated front seats and a new 10.1-inch touchscreen with support for wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Had the standard 8-inch touchscreen just supported these wireless phone software, there’d honestly be no need for this bigger screen. 

The thickness makes it impossible to integrate into the dashboard seamlessly making it an eyesore in an otherwise beautiful design. The view angle also makes it unnatural to look at and the glare from the sunlight hampers usability in a significant manner. All in all, it looks and feels like an after thought. I’d call it aftermarket but even there cleaner integrations exist.

Other Features

Honda City Boot

At 506 liters the standard petrol Honda City’s boot scores exceptionally big on usability. The aperture is wide, and the load lip is reasonably low, allowing you to slide in heavy full-sized suitcases with ease. The interior wheel well intrusions are minimized, leaving a squared-off space that makes packing multiple bags easy.

Should you opt for the City e:HEV strong hybrid, there’s a notable physical compromise. The lithium-ion high-voltage battery pack is mounted under the rear cargo floor (with a cooling vent inside the cabin), and it cuts directly into the available luggage capacity. That said, you can still fit a full sized suitcase and some soft bags or 3 cabin-sized trolley bags with some soft bags in here. Under the boot floor you get some more space for a soft bag, next to the space-saver spare tyre.

Honda City Drive & Ride

Smooth, effortless and perfect for daily cruises. By nature nothing has changed in the City. Ride comfort is still a strong point as it’s soft enough to deliver good and silent bump absorption while staying planted at speeds above 100kmph. It also offers the jekyll and hyde nature in its handling, being light to maneuver in the city and surefooted through corners and curves. 

Some notes:  

• The standard petrol engine offers smooth performance with even the manual transmission’s controls being light enough to manage daily commutes easily. 

• Chauffeur-driven owners should definitely get the CVT for the smoothest experience and maximum convenience for when you drive yourself. 

• With either transmission, you need to dial in a few extra revs to access the performance needed for anything more than steady cruising. As long as your driving style is relaxed, this won’t be an issue.

• On the highway, the City is happy to sit at 80-100kmph. Overtakes will require a downshift or two, and the engine will get vocal especially with a full passenger load/if you’re driving uphill or both.

Honda City Safety

The features list includes 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, tyre deflation warning and a new but average quality 360-degree camera. Honda continues to offer the indicator-linked lane-watch camera but it only shows the left mirror camera view, which in itself, takes up the full display of the touchscreen when you use it. The City also gets rear parking sensors and ADAS, including lane-keeping aid, adaptive cruise control and auto emergency braking.

To Summarise

Even with its sportier and slightly techier intent, the Honda City is still comfort food in car form. While SUV alternatives are loading up their semiconductors with more things to do, the City asks do you really want more?

With value-for-money lower variants and Honda’s proven dependability, the City is still one of the easiest cars to recommend even if it isn’t the one that makes the loudest headlines.