Honda City Hybrid facelift 2026: stylish, sorted and stress-free | Drive Review | evo India

The Honda City has been facelifted again — and this time the changes are more noticeable than the last. New front face with a full-width light bar, a redesigned set of 16-inch alloy wheels, subtle changes at the rear, a 10.1-inch touchscreen that sits on top of the dash, ventilated seats and a 360-degree camera. The Honda City facelift 2026 arrives with a longer features list and a slightly higher price — ₹12 lakh at entry level, ₹17.5 lakh at the top, and ₹21 lakh for the Honda City e:HEV hybrid. The engine is unchanged. The 1.5-litre i-VTEC carries over in both the standard and hybrid variants — and that is genuinely not a bad thing. The 1.5 is a smooth, refined, rev-happy motor that is a pleasure to drive in the manual, especially. It cannot match the 1.5 TSIs and TGDIs of the world on outright performance, but it does not need to. The Honda City has never been about that. The Honda City e:HEV hybrid is the most technically interesting car in this segment. An electric motor powers the wheels at low speeds with the petrol engine acting purely as a range extender. Above 80 kmph the engine connects to the drivetrain directly through a single-speed transmission. The result is a system of ridiculous complexity that feels completely seamless from behind the wheel — quick off the line, responsive in traffic, and genuinely fuel-efficient in a way that makes the ₹21 lakh price easier to justify every time you fill up. The only criticism is the engine note under hard acceleration which drones in a way that sounds CVT-like despite the system being nothing of the sort. Ride quality remains one of the Honda City's strongest suits. Honda has tuned the suspension specifically for Indian roads and it shows — comfortable, composed and never scraping despite the lower ride height of a sedan. The seats are among the best in the segment with excellent lumbar support. The only thing missing is an electric adjustment. Handling is neat and natural without ever threatening to set your heart on fire. The Honda City facelift 2026 is not the enthusiast's first choice in this segment — the Volkswagen Virtus GT has that covered. But for someone who wants a sedan that is stress-free, comfortable, well-built and genuinely pleasant to live with every day, nothing in this class beats it. Sometimes a car that just works is exactly the car you need. #evoIndia Want more #ThrillOfDriving videos? Subscribe to the evo India channel: https://bit.ly/2VfzioP Read our stories here: https://evoindia.com/ Buy #EvoIndiamagazine here: www.evoindia.com/magazine Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evoindia/ Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evoindia/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/evoindia Official merchandise on 100kmph: http://www.100kmph.com/evoindia