All-New Honda City Bloggers Driving Experience

It’s so cool to drive a new car especially those sporty and stylish ones, right? Last weekend I had a fun day out at City Bloggers Drive organized by Honda Malaysia. Yeehaa!!! We all get to test drive the All-New Honda City. Well, I have joined Honda road trips and tested a few Honda cars before such as the Honda Civic and Honda Jazz but this road trip gives me more than driving experience…

Yes this road trip was more than just driving and testing the car, we had a sort of mini food trail, coffee tour and lastly taking the city for a spin at Malaysia Agro Exposition Park in Sedang (MAEPS). Alright let’s get it started! We all gathered at the Rondaevoo Café in Ativo Plaza, Bandar Sri Damansara for our breakfast, briefing session and break into groups before taking the car.

Briefing session by Ivan Khong, experienced Honda instructor & racer

The briefing session kicked start with Ivan Khong, the experienced Honda instructor and racer. According to Ivan, if you would like to buy a car for your children get them a City; because the City fit in perfectly and last for a long time from their college days to work, starting a relationship and setting up their own family. The first Honda City was introduced in 1996, this All-New City is the 4th generation city the highly anticipated sedan in the B-segment.

A closer look at the All-New City’s features

After the briefing we went out to take a closer look at the City’s features. Thumbs up to the All-New City safety features that prioritized the driver and passengers; that comes with 6 airbags all round with multiple safety features such as the Emergency Stop Signal, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA), Hill Start Assist, ISOFIX for child safety seat and many more.

1.5L SOHC i-VTEC engine 

The City is powered by the improved 1.5L SOHC i-VTEC engine (maximum power 120PS @ 6,600 rpm and maximum torque 145Nm @ 4,600 rpm) coupled with the advanced new Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT) that was developed under Honda’s Earth Dreams Technology to provide the perfect combination of driving performance and fuel economy.

Flag off by Jordhat Shrithra, Assistant Manager Public Relations Honda Malaysia

Alright we can’t wait to drive the City… Yes finally Jordhat Shrithra, Assistant Manager of Public Relations Honda Malaysia flagged off and kick start the City Bloggers Drive! 

Team A - Wilson Ng, Isaac Tan & Kelly chin 

Guess who is in my group??? None other than the two chatty Wilson Ng and Isaac Tan and yes we got the cool Brilliant Sporty Blue Metallic. Vrooomm…. I am the first driver, so how’s my driving skills?

I tested the on highway, bumpy and also the pot holes roads, well the drive was smooth and the car is stable. There is no shaking or much movement throughout my drive. The acceleration and pick up rate is consider good for the B-segment car category. 

Hey get your hands off the phone and hands on the wheel please. The advanced Steering Wheel Hands Free Telephone Control and Steering Wheel Voice Recognition Control are connected with the vehicle’s infotainment system to provide convenience at the driver’s fingertips.

ISO FIX for child safety seats

I feel comfortable driving it, although the sun is blazing outside but we feel cool and shaded inside with the 8 speaker audio system, 7” Display Audio with MirrorLink function, 2 USB Jacks, 3 Power Sockets, 8 Cup Holders and smart storage compartments. For the first time, the ECON mode is now a standard feature in the All-New City across all variants to further improve the vehicle’s fuel usage with the push of a button. Push start and keyless entry have become the standard package.

My certificate from Barista Guild Asia

Our first stop was at the Barista Guild Asia in Ara Damansara for our Coffee Tour. Yes! I need my coffee fix. After the briefing we get to learn and experience the different coffee aromas from different regions. 

Sniff, sniff, sniff then moved on to brewing our own cuppa, trying the latte art and etc… All in I drank about 2 cups of coffee, 1 latte and 1 espresso at Barista Guild Asia ~ definitely caffeine overdosed ouchhh I can’t sleep so I went out partying and attended Wonderland Fantasy Tour 2015 at KL Live on Saturday night. I am happening or not?  

Lunch at Crave Café, Oasis Damansara

Next we stopped over at Crave Café in Oasis Damansara for our scrumptious lunch, take a short break and update our social media. You can check out all our photos and video on Instagram, Facebook, Google+ or Twitter by #CityBloggersDrive and #HondaMalaysia

Ahh!!! Thanks for the cool pressed fruit juice on a hot hot day 

Next head over to Malaysia Agro Exposition Park in Sedang (MAEPS) for some serious test drive. This time we are going to test the VSA feature. Hey don’t play-play with this feature, by default the VSA is ON when we drive. Why we need VSA? When driving in unexpected situations such as skidding or if you lose control of your car under unforeseen circumstances or during tight cornering, the VSA system stabilizes your by reducing under / over steering.

Testing the All-New City with and without the VSA

It’s time to accelerate to the max and then turn the steering to let the car spin and drift without using the brake. I personally have tried it with and without the VSA. When the VSA is on the car will sway to the left and right but no drastic then it stabilized, I feel like there is something gripping the wheels and make it slow down at the point of time. 

Check out my video about our Honda All-New City driving experience with and without the VSA mode. You can see the difference when there is no VSA the car is out of control, please don’t try it without professional supervision. Value your life and your love ones, safety first. Remember every safety features is important to keep us safe and alive when accident or unforeseen things happens.

Car Boot Challenge

Are we ready for the car boot challenge? The group that can arrange all these items in the All-New City 536L car boot with the fastest time neatly will win awesome merchandise from Honda Malaysia.

All-New City car boot - 536 litre capacity

The All-New City also offers the largest boot space in its class at 536L and is able to fit bulky items of up to 3 large suitcases or 4 small ones, golf bags and a baby pram. Planning for a road trip with family or adventure trip with friends is not a problem anymore; everything can fit in nicely so convenient.

The 4 variants of the All-New City

There are 4 variants of the All-New City, namely the City S, City S+, City E and City V. It is available in 5 colours namely Modern Steel Metallic, Alabaster Silver Metallic, Taffeta White, Crystal Black Pearl and a new attractive colour of Brilliant Sporty Blue Metallic. The prices inclusive of 6% GST start from RM71,400.87 for the 1.5L S variant to RM86,447.77 for the V variant.

Awww!!! I love my Targus trolley bag
thanks Honda Malaysia Team!

Thank you Honda Malaysia for the fun day out, not only experienced the All-New Honda City driving and performance but also learnt about coffee and had scrumptious meals. The Honda City is an overall package vehicle that provides affordable value for money combining the sporty stylish look, exciting drivability, comfort and spaciousness with class-leading safety features and uncompromising fuel efficiency. 

The All-New Honda City

For more information about All-New Honda City, spec, features or book your test drive session please call Honda’s Toll Free number at 1-800-88-2020 or visit  Honda Malaysia website at http://www.honda.com.my/model/specifications/allnewcity