Honda City


The Honda City is a small car which has been produced by the Japanese manufacturer Honda since 1981.
The City was originally a three-door hatchback for the Japanese, European, and Australasian markets. The three-door City was retired in 1994 after the second-generation and replaced by the Logo. The nameplate was revived in 1996 for use on a series of subcompact four-door sedans aimed primarily at developing markets, first mainly sold in Asia but later also in Latin America and Australia. Since then, it has been a subcompact sedan built on Honda's Global Small Car platform, which is shared with the Fit/Jazz, the Airwave/Partner, and the first-generation Mobilio — all of which share the location of the fuel tank under the front seats rather than rear seats. The seventh-generation model launched in 2019 features a significant size growth, offering an exterior dimension on par with the ninth-generation Civic sedan. This generation also marks the introduction of the five-door hatchback model starting from 2020.
From 2002 to 2008, the City was also sold as the Honda Fit Aria in Japan. The City is also sold as the Honda Ballade in South Africa since 2011. The City was reintroduced in Japan in 2014, this time called the Honda Grace up to its discontinuation in 2020. Between 2015 and 2019, Dongfeng Honda sold a remodelled version of the City called the Honda Greiz, and its 5-door liftback counterpart Honda Gienia.

First generation (AA/FV/FA; 1981)

The first Honda City was introduced in November 1981 with the innovative "Tallboy" design; of unusual height, this enabled four adults to fit comfortably in the very short City. Produced as a 3-door hatchback in a variety of trim levels, the City was also available together with the Motocompo, a special 50 cc 'foldaway' scooter with designed to fit in the City's small luggage area ; called a "trunk bike", Honda invented the compound word "trabai" for this scooter. At the time of its introduction, it was Honda's smallest car, while not being in compliance with Japanese government kei regulations. It was longer than the Honda N360 by, but shorter than the first-generation Honda Civic by.
The Honda City Turbo was introduced in September 1982. It was powered by a turbocharged version of the 1231 cc Honda ER engine. A Pininfarina designed drop-top Cabriolet utilised the wider fenders and bigger bumpers of the Turbo II "Bulldog", but was only available with the naturally aspirated engine. There was also a Pro-series of van versions with either two or four seats. A high-roof "R Manhattan Roof" version with a taller roof also appeared.
Exports of the City were primarily to Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Production ended in late 1986 with the introduction of the GA type City.

Second generation (GA; 1986)

Honda replaced the original City series AA in November 1986 with this generation, and again with an update in 1989. This model was produced until 1994. The Fit name also first appeared as a trim variant of the second-generation City. There was no convertible model, with both the convertible and Turbo models of the previous generation continuing on sale for a little while. In most markets aside from Japan, the City's market position was left open until filled by the Honda Logo in 1999.
On 31 October 1986, the second-generation City was introduced with the slogan "City of Talent." in Japan, and was available at Honda Clio dealerships. The Honda Clio dealership chain was being positioned as Honda's purveyor of luxuriously equipped vehicles like the Honda Legend, the Honda Concerto, and the Honda Accord, and this generation City enabled Clio locations to sell economically priced vehicles normally found at Honda Primo.
In this remodel, there are major changes in the appearance of the vehicle Honda called "Crouching form", which consisted of a low and wide design that contributed to lighter vehicle weight combined with improvements in driving performance. The styling reflects a corporate decision to enact a shared appearance with the first-generation Honda Today, the internationally strong seller, third-generation Honda Civic, and the third-generation Honda Accord AeroDeck. This generation shared its exterior dimensions and engine size almost exactly with the first-generation Civic. The Honda CR-X was the only three-door hatchback that adopted a fastback, sloping rear hatch, similar to the Honda Verno products during the mid-1980s.
The engine configuration introduced the Honda D series, in the form of the type D12A, a 1.2 L SOHC straight-four 16-valve unit only available with a single carburetor, and basic level of equipment. The differences between the "GG", "EE", and "BB" were only in the level of equipment. Power is at 6,500 rpm. A five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission were optional.
In October 1988, the main engine was changed to 1.3 L SOHC inline-four, type D13C. In addition to the traditional single carburetor, Honda's PGM-FI fuel injection was also offered on the new 1.3. The 1.2 L "BE" was the base model and had a single carburetor, as did the 1.3-litre "CE" and "CG" variants. PGM-FI was fitted to the sporting "CR-i" and "CZ-i" models.
The "CE" trim equipment with enhanced savings "CE Fit", PGM-FI specification is "CR-i" based only high-trim "CR-i Limited" was introduced, the late "CZ-i" is defined as the minor trim package. The word "Fit" appears as a trim package on the base trim "CE".
At the end of this generation, by trim consolidation, "Fit" is used for all single carburetor vehicles. The trim package "Fit" later became the model name of the successor of the Honda Logo which replaced this car.
The second generation was discontinued in 1993. In Japan, the name "City" was retired at the end of this series' conclusion of production. The replacement vehicles introduced in 1996 on the GA base were renamed Honda Logo, and the Honda Capa with five-door hatchback bodywork.

Third generation (3A/SX; 1996)

The City was revived as a subcompact four-door sedan, slotting beneath the Honda Civic, for developing markets in Asia. The third-generation City, codenamed SX8 but with chassis codes 3A2 and 3A3, was based on the EF Civic platform to cut costs. It was designed for and sold in the Southeast Asian market only, and launched with the slogan "Smart for the new generation" for the 1.3-litre version and "Top-in-class smart" slogan for the 1.5-litre model. First production began in an all-new plant in Ayutthaya, Thailand, in April 1996. The car had a dominant position in the market. From the beginning, the Thai-made City models had more than 70% local content. The bumpers were constructed in three separate pieces to allow for easier shipping from Japan. There were originally a lower trim LXi and a higher-spec EXi available. The sedan also marked Honda's entrance in the Indian market in 1998 and it quickly became a success and one of the top selling cars in its segment.
The City was built in additional markets including: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Taiwan. In Pakistan, the City received a lukewarm reception at first, but the third generation was a massive hit. A revised, facelifted third-generation City was released in 2000, called the "Type Z" in some markets. By 2001 a model powered by Honda's 1.5 L VTEC engines appeared, with a rear-stabilizer for better handling. The facelift model received new front end tail lights, as well as one-piece bumpers.
The third-generation City had fuel-injected SOHC 16-valve D-series engines, namely variations of the D13B and D15B. The original D13B produced at 6,400 rpm for a claimed top speed of 171 km/h and 0–100 km/h in 11.3 seconds. This was later complemented by the 1.5-litre D15B, which was reduced in power for the Asian markets where the car was sold. The D15B engine also arrived in a version with VTEC.

Fourth generation (GD/GE; 2002)

The fourth-generation City made its world debut at the Thailand International Motor Expo in Bangkok in November 2002. Development of the vehicle continued to be handled by Honda Thailand. It was launched in Japan as the Fit Aria on 20 December 2002, as a captive import sourced from Thailand. The word "aria" is a type of expressive melody, usually heard in opera. Honda chose the word, continuing its musical naming tradition used with the Honda Prelude, the Honda Accord, the Honda Ballade, the Honda Quint, and the Honda Concerto. It was offered as a four-wheel drive version.
The City was initially launched with a twin-spark, lean burn ‘i-DSI’ engine producing 88PS that was primarily designed to provide outstanding fuel economy. The VTEC version was unveiled late in the fourth-generation City's lifespan in 2004. The VTEC variant of the City is offered with 15-inch alloy wheels compared to the 14-inch offered in the i-DSI and the rear brakes are solid discs on the VTEC variant instead of drums in the i-DSI. Also, the VTEC model uses a 7-speed Multimatic CVT automatic transmission.

Facelift

In September 2005, a facelifted version of the City was launched in Thailand, in October 2005 in Malaysia, and in November 2005 in Indonesia. In Thailand, it is known as the City ZX. The most significant changes are a new exterior. The front end has been extended forward by while the rear has been extended by. The side mirror is electronically foldable. Both the i-DSI and VTEC trim levels have 15-inch alloy wheels as standard equipment. The changes in interior are minor but it does include an armrest for the driver and additional map lights. The interior colour tone of the VTEC variant is now black.
The L-series engine remained but the intake manifold has been repositioned, resulting in a 6 °C drop in the intake air temperature, the suspension has been upgraded as well.
The City in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand uses the CVT gearbox for both i-DSI and VTEC variants. The CVT gearbox for the VTEC simulates a 7-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic style override using paddle shift buttons on the steering wheel itself.
The fourth generation was resurrected in China as the Everus S1, a new budget car brand for Honda models discontinued elsewhere. The S1 stopped production in 2014.
;Models
City/Fit Aria:
  • GD6: 1.3 L L13A i-DSI I4 2WD
  • GD7: 1.3 L L13A i-DSI I4 4WD
  • GD8: 1.5 L L15A i-DSI/VTEC I4 2WD
  • GD9: 1.5 L L15A i-DSI/VTEC I4 4WD