We have both city vario and xli. If I were you I would go for XLi. My take on City vs XLi battle is:
1. City if you want an automatic car and want to run it on petrol
2. XLi if you want a manual one and want to run it on CNG.
Btw our XLi and City vario are on petrol and frankly I hate both of them. Both of them are really uncomfortable, the seats are hard and their shock absorbers should be renamed shock observers or shock enhancers.
If I have to go for a long drive out of city I prefer my old car Honda City 98: Really comfortable plus its on CNG