Comparison: Honda City vs Skoda Slavia

Into its 5th generation in India, the Honda City has seen many rivals arrive with a bang and disappear without a whimper. The City’s long life can be attributed to its legendary reliability and all-around competence, factors that have made it the byword for mid-size, family sedans in India. However, the decision to go for a City hasn’t been as clear-cut since Skoda launched the Slavia. A replacement for the well-received Rapid, the Slavia is based on the Indianised MQB platform and offers competent powertrain options. If you’re in the market for a mid-size sedan and are torn between these two immensely capable cars, here’s a Comparison: Honda City vs Skoda Slavia on on factors that matter in everyday life. 

Honda City vs Skoda Slavia: Dimensions

Dimensionally, the Honda City and the Skoda Slavia run each other close. But save for length, the Slavia trumps the City on width, height, wheelbase, ground clearance, and even boot space. Beyond the spec sheet, however, the City’s wheelbase and width handicap doesn’t lead to a comfort handicap at the rear seat, even with three passengers. That’s primarily down to how Honda has contoured the City’s rear seat and kept the transmission tunnel lower compared to the Slavia. 

That said, the Slavia’s additional height and ground clearance would make it the easier car to get in and out of. The additional ground clearance, especially, might be a boon considering how the City with its traditionally lower clearance has gained a reputation for scraping speed breakers. Overall, even though it’s a close call, the Slavia comes across as the more spacious car.

Honda City vs Skoda Slavia: Engine & Transmission

The Skoda Slavia debuted without a diesel engine while the Honda City’s diesel engine has been discontinued because of BS6 Phase 2 emission norms. This leaves us with just the 1.5-litre VTEC petrol engine in the City and the 1.0- and 1.5-litre TSI petrol engines in the Slavia.

The biggest difference between the VTEC and the TSIs is that the former is naturally aspirated while the latter are turbocharged units. This means the Slavia convincingly beats the City when it comes to pure engine output. However, the City and the 1.0-litre TSI-engined Slavia clock similar 0-100 kmph figures, something you can credit the City’s lighter kerb weight for. 

However, the Slavia’s additional torque would make it much faster during in-gear or rolling acceleration. Rolling acceleration is when you accelerate from a low given speed in the same gear; in other words, the sort of practical acceleration that actually matters in everyday driving. The Honda City offers a practical advantage too as the naturally aspirated engine means there’s none of the Slavia’s turbo lag. This makes for better driveability at lower speeds, especially if you go for the manual transmission variant. 

That’s about the only advantage the City has in terms of the engine, in addition to the greater convenience of a CVT transmission and Honda’s trademark bulletproof reliability. But if you’re a performance aficionado, the Slavia 1.5 in either the manual or DCT guise will run circles around the City. 

That it also outshines the Honda in terms of fuel efficiency is down to Skoda’s cylinder deactivation technology, whereby the engine shuts off one of its four cylinders for better fuel economy. And even if you’re not a performance nut, the Slavia’s three-cylinder 1.0-litre powertrains make for a better overall proposition than the City’s powertrain. 

Honda City vs Skoda Slavia: Features & Comfort

The Slavia is clearly the bigger car here and once you compare its list of essential features with the City’s, it becomes apparent that the Skoda is also the more comfortable and practical one. For instance, unlike the City, the Slavia comes with ventilated front seats. Secondly, the Slavia also gets a 60:40 split rear seat, which just makes its boot space advantage all the more practical when you have awkward shaped things to carry in your car. 

Couple those omissions with the fact that the City gets a smaller infotainment system and you have a valid reason to raise your eyebrows, especially considering the price point these cars retail at. 

Honda City vs Skoda Slavia: Safety Features

Safety is one aspect where the Honda City and the Skoda Slavia are evenly matched. However, you can pick one over the other depending on what matters more to you – ADAS or a safer body structure. 

That’s because the City is the only car here to get ADAS, which includes features such as autonomous braking in the case of an imminent collision and if the driver doesn’t respond to visual/audible warnings, lane assist and deviation warning systems, and auto high-beam.

However, if a safer structure and body matter more to you, there’s no looking past the Slavia as it scored a full 5 stars in a recent test by Global NCAP. Notably, this test was as per Global NCAP’s new protocol that’s more stringent than the previous one, making the Skoda Slavia one of the safest cars in India.  

That isn’t to say the Honda is structurally unsafe. Indeed, it does boast a 5-star rating from ASEAN NCAP. However, that score was based on the older (2017-2020) ASEAN NCAP protocol. Generally, the ASEAN NCAP and Global NCAP protocols are quite similar. But, until and unless the Honda City is tested under the new ASEAN NCAP (2021-2025) or Global NCAP (2022-2026) protocols, the Skoda Slavia walks away with the safety crown. 

Honda City vs Skoda Slavia: Price Comparison

For both sedans, it makes more sense to go for their mid or upper-mid variants as the base variants miss out on a lot of important features such as ADAS and multifunction driver information interface in case of the City and 60:40 rear split seat, auto AC, and rearview camera on the Slavia. 

And while the Slavia 1.5’s higher asking price can easily be justified on account of its much better performance, equipment, and on-par fuel efficiency, the story repeats itself even when you compare the similarly priced City and the Slavia 1.0 TSI variants. 

Whether you go the manual or automatic transmission route, the Slavia 1.0 TSI is the better choice owing to its more practical dimensions, similar performance and fuel efficiency, greater torque, better features and comfort, and higher safety rating. 

Honda City vs Skoda Slavia: Summary

The mid-size sedan segment in India has steadily lost out to SUVs since 2015. The two cars featured in this comparison are unarguably the best shot this segment has at arresting that decline and making sedans great again. And while the City is a wonderful car that’s backed by Honda’s famed reliability and refinement, the Slavia has all but forced it to play catch-up in the mid-size sedan segment for the first time in a long time.