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By Dylan Afuang
IN ITS MORE recent forms, Honda’s subcompact has captured some of the substantial feel and performance of its larger cars. Today, it now even boasts the Honda Sensing safety features first seen in the car maker’s luxury models. And once standard across the City sedan range, the suite of advanced and effective safety gadgets made its way to the refreshed City Hatchback.
Motoring media and content creators recently experienced how Honda Sensing keeps people in and around the vehicle safe during a drive with Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) officials, on twisty roads and highways up north while dropping by local Honda dealerships aboard the new City Hatchback in lone RS trim (P1.189 million) and the City sedans (P973,000 to P1.148 million).
By equipping its vehicles with Honda Sensing, the car maker expects motorcycles and cars will not get involved in accidents by 2050. Below is the bevy of features, which work thanks to radar and sensors found in the Sensing bundle.
Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS)
Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC, with Low-Speed Follow on selectHonda cars)
Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS)
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)
Road Departure Mitigation System (RDMS)
Auto High Beam (AHB)
Lead Car Departure Notification System (LCDNS)
With Sensing activated, the City sedans and Hatchbacks stayed within the lane markings and at a safe distance from other vehicles. Our journey began at Honda Cars Manila Bay, then led us to Honda Cars Angeles-Clark in Pampanga and Honda Cars Baliuag in Bulacan, and so we crawled through workweek traffic on the Skyway Stage 3 and cruised along NLEX.
CMBS applies the brakes when it senses an impending collision in the car in front, and the driver fails to stop the car in time. ACC works when traveling on highway speeds, keeping the vehicle running at a preset speed, and by automatically accelerating or decelerating the car, maintaining distance from the vehicle being followed.
LKAS, LDW, and RDMS, meanwhile, use sensors and radar to scan lane markings and road borders ahead to ensure the City stays in its lane. These systems inform the driver that the car has veered out of the lane or road either by sending subtle input or vibrations to the steering, or flashing warning lights and audible prompts in the driver display.
Once the sun sets or the City enters a tunnel, the subcompact’s headlights automatically illuminate its immediate surroundings. AHB, however, intensifies the brightness of the headlights upon sensing total darkness, but dims the lights in the presence of oncoming traffic to prevent them from being dazzled.
Finally, LCDNS works when the car is stopped. The system detects whether the vehicle in front has sped away, then flashes warning with accompanying sounds on the instrument cluster to prompt the driver to accelerate.
Located along MA Roxas Highway in the Clark Freeport Zone, Honda Cars Angeles-Clark boasts a panoramic window display that allows natural light to filter inside the outlet, and for the selection inside to be better seen from the outside. The outlet aims to serve customers from the Freeport Zone and Angeles, officials of the dealership said.
Honda Cars Baliuag, meanwhile, is located on the Doña Remedios Trinidad Highway of Bulacan. Beyond the usual vehicle display, customers, while enjoying coffee and sweet treats, can rest in a lounge that features a Japanese-inspired aesthetic. The lounge is set around greenery, torii gates, a fountain, and a pond.
Aside from ensuring safety in every journey, another reason for getting a Honda City (or any model from the brand) is the unique customer experience that comes with the purchase.