SUVs own our streets, and in today’s times, most impractical vehicles have had their sales cannibalised by their SUV brethren. Yet somehow, these three sedans have prevailed and outlived the purge. Of course, they’ve had to get with the times and, unlike past sedans, have lost the attitude and proved more practical. Be it in terms of dimensions, usable space and ground clearance while still maintaining their driver-focused essence.
The Honda City has been around for quite a while now, with little sprinkles for updates now and then, including a variant with a proper hybrid system. However, we’ve picked it and the others in their petrol manual guise for an appropriate comparison. The Skoda Slavia made a name for itself last year and has only seen fierce competition from its German counterpart. The Slavia is well put together and minimal. Relatively fresh in this segment. It is the spiritual successor to the Rapid, yet it is closer to what Laura used to be.
Meanwhile, the Hyundai Verna is a fierce competitor and has been battling it out in this segment for quite a while now. It’s the newest kid on the block and packed with new styling and tech; it intends to be the king of the hill again.
Verdict
All these three sedans have grown not just in dimensions but also in stature, and so has their price. Take a good long look at the price tag, and you will realise that the Honda City is quite a bargain for anyone simply looking for a trusty and reliable package wrapped in simplicity and comfort. The Honda City makes an excellent case for itself and is a good entry point for anyone looking to buy a sedan that’ll give them a decent chauffeur-driven experience.
The Skoda Slavia being the most expensive in this test, needs to catch up on many fronts. It has little to no special features and even misses out on any advanced electronic aids or driver assistance tech. It’s pretty simple and barebones in a lot of ways. However, for everything it lays, it certainly makes up for it in terms of its driving experience. It’s definitely the most fun to drive a car in this test despite not being the most powerful and being only held back by its tyres. The Skoda Slavia is a purchase that only a true petrolhead would make that wants the finest build and most agility.
The Hyundai Verna, the newest kid on the block, has had the advantage of studying its competition and preparing itself against it. Well the Verna has managed to do precisely that. It’s the best equipped, freshest feeling and most suave in every way possible. It finds a delicate balance between what the City and Slavia hope to achieve and does so without breaking the bank. It costs a bit more than the City and a lot less than the Slavia and manages to deliver an experience that’s the best of both worlds. If you can get past its look, quirky styling and gimmicks, the Verna is a stellar package and does a fantastic job justifying it’s asking price. And if you haven’t guessed it already, it wins this comparison.
Performance & Handling
Honda City
The Honda City has a rather sombre approach towards performance, and its figures reflect the same. It produces adequate power and focuses more on comfort than downright performance. The gearbox isn’t as slick as I imagined and tends to have a somewhat hollow feel to the gearknob.
The clutch tends to feel a tad too sensitive, and combined gearshifts can be a bit jerky and can take some mastering and getting used to. The City is the only naturally aspirated vehicle in this comparison and tends to make its power linearly. You really have to rev the engine to get some poke out of it, and fortunately has enough surge to keep things exciting. However, this excitement isn’t nearly as accessible as the other two, which can disappoint any enthusiast.
The brakes feel surefooted and do an excellent job of bringing the City to a halt. The suspension of the City is on the softer side, and its handling lacks the precision that the City’s of the Old possessed. The Honda City is by no means the performance bargain we remember it to be and has become a lot more mature about its approach to luxury and focuses more on catering to the back seat than it does to the driver’s seat.
Skoda Slavia
The Skoda Rapid was always known to be a driver’s delight, and the Slavia takes that up a notch, promising better performance and handling. Skoda has over-delivered on that part, and the Slavia performs closer to the Laura than it does to the Rapid. The Slavia is eager off the line from the moment you let go of the clutch, and this eagerness can be a bit scary in bumper-to-bumper traffic, but on an open road, this can be rather enjoyable.
The Slavia is a relatively easy car to drive, and that ease continues when you decide to kick up the pace. The gearbox is quick and has short and surefooted throws. The clutch can be heavier, but this takes a little getting used to. The Slavia is immensely fun to drive and accelerates with much vigour.
The brakes have a solid bite and can quickly stop the Slavia on a dime. My only gripe is with the tyres that screech and squeal each time you brake, accelerate or turn too hard. With a good set of tyres, the Slavia would perform even better and be even more fun to drive. The handling on the Slavia is precise, and it’s easily the best handling car out of this bunch. The steering is responsive and has good feedback to keep you engaged.
Hyundai Verna
The Verna is the newest kid on the block featuring the most power and torque in this comparison. From the moment you floor it, the Verna pulls ahead with more than an adequate amount of poke and will keep things exciting. The in-gear acceleration with the new Verna is quite impressive, and in our testing, it managed to beat the Slavia in a straight line. As impressive as the straight-line performance, its ability to turn leaves something to be desired.
The Verna also gets a soft suspension to tackle our poor roads. This does hamper the overall ability of the Verna to hold its own and be as agile as the Slavia. The Verna treads the balance between comfort and handling better than the Honda City and is the best in balance. However, when you drive it back to back with the Slavia, you realise that it has the edge over the Verna in terms of composure around a sharp bend.
The gearbox is quite a bit of fun and the easiest to use of the lot. The gear knob has long throws, but the light clutch and ample power on tap make this combination enjoyable, even in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The brakes on the Verna, too, are impressive and, along with the tyres, do a great job at cutting down all that momentum.
Backseat & Ride Quality
Hyundai Verna
The Verna features the most extended wheelbase in the segment, and despite that coupe-like roofline, it still manages to feel spacious and comfortable enough. There is a decent amount of legroom and knee room on offer, and even under-thigh support seems adequate for shorter passengers. However, I found the recline angle relatively upright, which takes away from a certain amount of comfort.
Hyundai has provided a sunshade for the rear as standard, whereas the ones for the rear windows can be had as an accessory. The Verna’s ride quality is soft and supple. Gobbling up most potholes and undulations in a composed manner. At times the suspension can feel a bit too soft, but, for the most part, it does a great job treading the balance between ride quality and handling.
Honda City
Despite having the shortest wheelbase in this test, the Honda City still has enough room to comfortably accommodate someone as tall as me. The seats are by far the most comfortable in this test and do a fantastic job of being supportive and well-cushioned. The legroom on offer is more than sufficient, but the headroom is a bit too tight, and I’d reckon anyone over 6 feet would feel a bit stuffed.
As lovely as the seats are, the rest of the available materials leave you wanting more. The scratchy plastics feel cheap, and I wish Honda had added some flamboyance to this rather plain-looking back seat. The NVH levels are a letdown, and I often found wind and tyre noise creeping into the cabin, at which point blasting the music was the only way to omit it. The soft suspension can sometimes feel too soft, making the ride feel too bouncy for my taste.
Skoda Slavia
The backseat of the Slavia, too, feels underwhelming, with little to no flamboyance or flare added to it. The plastic quality is better than the Honda, but it’s loaded with plastic nonetheless. Somehow this feels even more underwhelming than the backseat of the City, and that’s saying something. Skoda should have added some more features in the back, especially since this is the most expensive car in this comparison by a considerable amount.
The Slavia is also set up soft but much less soft than the other two. So each time you go over sharp bumps, you tend to get a loud “thud” creep into the cabin, which can be jarring. All in all, the backseat of the Slavia won’t wow you; if anything, it’ll make you wish you were in the front seat instead because it’s the place to be with this enthusiast machine.
Honda City
The Honda City has one of the oldest-looking interiors in this test, and it most certainly feels due for an update. The cabin is riddled with scratchy plastics and one of the only cars that still adds wood to its interior. The City has a certain old-world charm, and Honda has done its best to keep this cabin up to date. Focus solely on the functionality, though, and you’d be hard-pressed to find any fault.
Honda has added a new TFT that works well in tandem with the analogue speedometer. However, Honda could have made the speedometer a TFT instead of the tachometer since the car always tends to digitally display the speed. That being said, the TFT works quite well and is clean and smooth in terms of functionality. The animations are swift, and you wouldn’t even notice that the tachometer is a TFT until you try to notice.
The seats on the Honda City are by far the best in comfort and do a fantastic job providing support. The buttons feel decent, and although the beige interior looks far too corporate for my taste, Honda has done a decent job adding some spit and polish everywhere they could. Another thing worth mentioning is the sound system in the City. That sounds surprisingly good and even the best in this test. All in all, the interiors of the City aren’t something that’ll genuinely wow you, but it’ll not let you down either.
Skoda Slavia
The Slavia has been around for a year, and despite that, its minimal interior still looks bright and classy. The Slavia removed most of its buttons and switchgear and tried to integrate as much of it into the TFT as possible. The centre console is well done and emphasises the sense of space inside the Slavia. The two-spoke steering wheel looks clean and is relatively easy to use.
The Slavia also gets ventilated seats but needs to catch up on powered seats which seems like a sore miss given its price tag. The music system on the Slavia does a decent job at playing your tunes, and I doubt you’d want an aftermarket unit. The TFT speedo on the Slavia could have been a bit more customisable, but that’s just me knit-picking. Overall, a good interior that blends functionality and tech quite well.
Hyundai Verna
The Verna has the freshest feeling interior of the trio and is riddled with tech. Featuring a large TFT for the centre console and a large TFT for the speedo that’s taken inspiration from the layout in the IONIQ 5. The Verna has an all-black interior with little bits of red thrown in to add to its sporty aesthetic. I am not a massive fan of the new steering design; to me, it looks a bit toyish.
Even though the Slavia also has a twin-spoke steering, the execution of the Slavia has been done better. The speedo, too, seems to lack any customisation, and you’re stuck with a digital speedo and tachometer. I don’t like cars that tend to describe the tachometer to me instead of giving me one, and I didn’t enjoy the speedometer on the Verna.
Hyundai has also thrown in far too much piano black, and within hours of our shoot, it was covered in dust and ruined the entire look of the inside simply due to how prominent it tends to make dust or smudges. The seats are relatively comfortable, and I like the ambient lighting that Hyundai has included in the Verna. It’s got the sportiest-looking interior of the three and is also the most feature loaded. It’s also the only car in this comparison to feature a powered seat for the driver.
Honda City
Even though you see the 5th generation of the Honda City, the design looks ever so familiar to the eye, and one could recognise this to be a City even if it were de-badged. Unlike its competition, the City has been receiving slight tweaks as opposed to the complete overhauls the other two have received in terms of a makeover.
A brand new front grille adorns the front along with a bumper that’s quite aggressively styled and doesn’t yell “Family Friendly”. What adds to it is that it’s wrapped in faux carbon fibre, and I have no idea why Honda would need to throw in such a random design element. The lines in the City remain clean and coherent. Come to the rear, and you notice a rear splitter wrapped in carbon fibre, and to me, it starts to look a tad too pretentious, especially when you consider this makes the least amount of power in this comparison.
The wheels are diamond-cut alloys that don’t look nearly as flashy as the ones on its competitors. Nevertheless, despite little sprinkles of modern technology thrown into the mix, it has a certain old-world charm. I think the City comes with the smartest-looking paint job of the trio, a rather beautiful shade of midnight purple. All in all, the Honda City’s design isn’t offensive or in your face; it’s simply one of those designs that have the potential to go under the radar until it catches your attention.
Skoda Slavia
The Czech carmaker has taken influence from their German brethren and adopted a rather elegant yet minimalist way of designing a car and the Skoda Slavia. Despite being around for a year now, its elegant yet understated design is handsome and refreshing to the eye. It’s not aiming for downright flamboyance, yet it looks flamboyant in this shade of blue.
I prefer the Volkswagen Virtus design due to its more sporty approach, but I must admit the Skoda Slavia is the more mature looking one if that’s your taste. It’s based on the MQB platform, like the Virtus and shares nearly all its underpinnings with it. It’s got a handsome-looking front design with a rather big moustache for a grille, and it gets chrome surrounds to make it even more prominent.
The headlamp design is minimal and smart looking and goes well with the muscular design of the car. The Slavia has a strong shoulder line further accentuated by the classy twin-spoke five-spoke design of its wheels. The rear is done minimally and looks brilliant, like a well-tailored suit. My only gripe with the Slavia is the excess use of chrome, and I would have liked it if there was a de-chromed variant available on offer.
Hyundai Verna
The Verna has always been known to have an outlandish design, going back to the Fluidics’ curvy lines that challenged the traditional looks of its competitors. This generation of the Verna does precisely that and makes a comeback with a somewhat polarising design. Love it or hate it, the Verna certainly makes a statement and looks like nothing else currently on the street. If muscular was a styling element, then this Verna is on steroids because the number of cuts, creases and haunches will make the Terminator turn back into Arnold.
The front bumper looks minimal and has a light band running from one DRL to the other. The headlamp is mounted under and does look a bit odd, but I suppose that’s just something that would grow on you in time. Overall the front looks plain and minimal, while the rest of the Verna looks far too cutting. Come to the side, and you can see many lines making it seem busy from certain angles.
The sporty wheel design finished in black adds to the menacing look of the Verna. The rear of the Verna is something I quite liked and captivated me with its coupe-like roofline and aggressive rear lines. The tail lamp, too, features a light band, and the Verna is quite the looker from the rear, even when the sun sets.
Hyundai Verna
Engine – 1.5 litre GDI
Power – 158 bhp @ 5,500 rpm
Torque – 253 Nm @ 1,500 rpm
Gearbox – Manual, 6-Speed
Fuel Tank – 45 litres
Boot Capacity – 528 litres
Wheelbase – 2670 mm
Price – 15,98,900
Skoda Slavia
Engine – 1.5-litre TSI
Power – 148 bhp @ 5,000 rpm
Torque – 250 Nm @ 1,600 rpm
Gearbox – Manual, 6-Speed
Fuel Tank – 45 litres
Boot Capacity – 521 litres
Wheelbase – 2651 mm
Price – 16,99,999
Honda City
Engine – 1.5 Litre i-VTEC
Power – 118 bhp @ 6,600 rpm
Torque – 145 Nm @ 4,600 rpm
Gearbox – Manual, 5-Speed
Fuel Tank – 40 litres
Boot Capacity – 510 litres
Wheelbase – 2600 mm
Price – Rs. 13,59,150
