Honda City VTEC versus the Ford Fiesta 1.6 SXi

I spent the last 3 weeks driving a Honda City VTEC (the car in the picture is the lower version, the ZX), through expressways, city roads and village tracks, with and without passengers, with or without good music, in the night and in the day, through lonely streets and crowded places. And with over 10 months in my Ford Fiesta 1.6 SXi in similar conditions, here's my verdict...

Steering & Road Handling: The City has slightly lighter steering, even while the thin grip makes it a little more difficult to handle. The Fiesta though has absolutely perfect road grip and is absolutely stable on high speed curves. I did manage to extract a few squeals and drifts with the City, but the car skids and loses grip if the road is slightly rough and unstable, and I almost managed to crash the car once while trying a S curve on a loose-gravelled road at around 100 kmph. Braking with the City is suspect too, and the car seems to lock brakes and skid on, while even without ABS, the Fiesta is always ready to stop at the drop of a dime. All in all, if you want to take those high speed thrill rides, the Fiesta is the car for you. Don't even try it with the City, which is best left to the city!

Acceleration and Power: Again, the Fiesta wins hands down. The City is almost sluggish, and trying those high speeds manouevers in and out of multi lane traffic and those quick bursts of speed on the highway to edge in front of slow moving trucks are best avoided with the City. Bear in mind that the VTEC is the high power version of the City - my experience with the lower end versions have been worse!

Drive Quality and Suspension: This is one point where the City scores better. Both cars are better suited to take the rough roads at higher speeds, and drive quality deteriorates sharply if you try to take the rough at slow speeds. The City though is much more comfortable on bad roads.


External Looks: This one is completely personal, and I love the rounded, muscular look of the Fiesta compared to the flattened, straight lines look of the City, which looks more like a vehicle from one of those futuristic movies.

Interiors: The SXi has a very good 6-speaker audio system with 6 CD in dash changer, whereas the City's sound system has 4 speakers, and much less audio quality. The City though comes with support for MP3, which is a big minus for the Fiesta. The Fiesta's leather seats and trimmings are also much more refined, and it also has more reading lights in front as well as in the back, while the City has only the single central light panel. Many of the City's controls are found in non-intuitive locations, like the reverse foglight which is situated near the handbrake! The City seems to provide little more interior space and is very comfortable to get in and out of. The double glove compartment of the City is nice!

Fuel Efficiency: This is a big let down for the City, and a car which was expected to give well over 15 kmpl, barely seems to manage 11-12 kmpl, unlike the Fiesta (which turns out an impressive 13-14 kmpl). Maybe it's the VTEC engine that sucks up fuel, but compared to the much more powerful Fiesta, this is definitely a big negative.

Value for Money: This is the biggest killer for the VTEC. At almost 1.25 lakh more than the Fiesta, with it's low fuel efficiency and bad ride quality, and not-too-impressive interiors, the VTEC is definitely not value for money!

Overall: No doubt about it.. whether it is swanky interiors, the external look or the fuel efficiency, the Fiesta more than matches up to it's much more expensive rival. And of course, if you drive with your heart, and if you love those squealing tires and drifts, if you love to see your competition fade in the rear view mirror, buckle up in the new Josh, and Go Fida!


Disclaimer: This is not necessarily an unbiased view, coming as it is from a die-hard Ford loyalist, so City-lovers, if you are reading this, please understand! :)