2020 Honda City RS turbo-petrol under consideration for India

Team OD Published: July 07, 2020, 12:44 PM IST

OVERDRIVE has learnt that Honda Car India is evaluating the possibility of introducing a sportier RS version of the new Honda City set to debut in India on July 15. This comes in the wake of turbo-petrol engine options being offered in the City's rivals such as the Verna and Rapid.

The Honda City RS is already available in Thailand where it is powered by a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo VTEC that makes 122 PS at 5,500 rpm and 173 Nm between 2,000 to 4,500 rpm. This is mated to the seven-step CVT available in the petrol City in India. The City RS also gets upsized 16-inch tyres.

The RS version also gets quite a few cosmetic and feature upgrades over the standard car. There is a blacked-out grille with RS -badging and a honeycomb pattern, a sportier bumper with slatted fog-lamp inserts, a unique Ignite Red paint option, new alloy wheel design, a different rear bumper with faux diffusers and blacked-out mirrors and rear spoiler.

On the inside, the RS version comes with an all-black interior, aluminium pedals and red contrasting stitching. The Thai-version gets red-accented physical dials unlike the Indian car, but a similar change can be expected here. Other than this many of the features of the Indian car is available, Safety is taken care of with six airbags.

It must be noted that the decision to bring in the City RS is not a foregone conclusion. Also under consideration is the option to bring in just a cosmetic package and no mechanical changes. Honda had also considered an RS version for the Civic but dropped the plan due to a lack of customer interest. Also, the Mobilio RS that was introduced here didn't fare too well. Anyway, if the City RS does make it to India, it will sit at the top of the line-up and charge a Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh premium of the regular CVT petrol.