Upgrading from Zen - Civic Manual or Auto?

[iTNerd]

Havin driven the good old zen, I am now planning to upgrade to a sedan.. After researching for quite some time (6-7 months), I decided to opt for the City ZX VTEC, after quite few drives with one my friend's new city. Completely bowled by its performance and trims and I was sure bent on finalizing on that... until Civic came on the horizon..after a test drive of Civic manual, the option for city just vanished... :(..

Now after deciding to pullin the extra 3-3.5 L for a civic MT ( not sure about my rational thought, but after a lot of thinking and consideration, it's civic), I am stuck up in another deliemma... Should I pulling heavy thousands again to opt for the automatic with the paddel shift F1 style.... This will stretch my budget though.. but heard lot about the paddle shift feature... just want to know if that extra thousands for AT is worth it? How does the Automatic match up with the manual in terms of driving pleasure and maintenance? I have never driven an automatic transmission vehicle...


Also, the honda guy offered 14.5% interest with 4% payback on a loan from ICICI of 7-8 Lakhs.. IF ANYONE OF YOU HAD BOUGHT A CIVIC RECENTLY, PLIZ HELP ME OUT WITH the choice between AT & MT variants.. and the finance plan undertaken....

Thanks

I will be driving the car in heavy traffic (Delhi-Gurgaon) up & down..

[manikjeet]

If you are ready and have made you mind
civic is the best car in india rite now in its price range and having driven one for aabout six months i say go for it

[v1p3r]

If you are in bumper-to-bumper traffic all the time, an auto would make more sense. But anything else, the manual will always be option no 1 for drivers' cars. And the paddle shift novelty will wear off in two weeks.

Stay away from ICICI.

[cheap_deal]

go for the manual with your eyes closed. the f1 style auto is useless unless you want to brag to everyone you shift like Schumi.

[vasudeva]

I will be driving the car in heavy traffic (Delhi-Gurgaon) up & down..

Same problem for me, which led to me buying a Corolla Automatic last month. If you drive daily for 34 kms one way, and have to negotiate the chokes at the Border, Rao Tula Ram Marg, and all other unexpected jams, go for the Civic automatic with your eyes closed. You will feel much better, less tired, and less frustrated. The extra cost may be 70 K and the FE penalty of around 1 kmpl. But that is a extremely sensible tradeoff for better quality of life (that is if you drive on your own).

[GeekSrik]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

Same problem for me, which led to me buying a Corolla Automatic last month. If you drive daily for 34 kms one way, and have to negotiate the chokes at the Border, Rao Tula Ram Marg, and all other unexpected jams, go for the Civic automatic with your eyes closed. You will feel much better, less tired, and less frustrated. The extra cost may be 70 K and the FE penalty of around 1 kmpl. But that is a extremely sensible tradeoff for better quality of life (that is if you drive on your own).

personally i get a lot of pain on the left knee due to clutch usages in bangalore, though i leave early to office < 8:30am, so i would recommend an automatic, though its not the kinds which will pump your adrenalin

and vasu, how much did you your corolla cost and what mileage does it give?

[kphilip]

I tell u go for the manual one rather than the automatic..Who'll see u shifting ur gear like schumi inside the car, unless it should be a open car..Manual wont dissapoint you in any sense.

[goldie_malhotra]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

Same problem for me, which led to me buying a Corolla Automatic last month. If you drive daily for 34 kms one way, and have to negotiate the chokes at the Border, Rao Tula Ram Marg, and all other unexpected jams, go for the Civic automatic with your eyes closed. You will feel much better, less tired, and less frustrated. The extra cost may be 70 K and the FE penalty of around 1 kmpl. But that is a extremely sensible tradeoff for better quality of life (that is if you drive on your own).

Totally agree with Vasudeva - the delhi-gurgaon stretch - any way you go at it, whether from NH-8 or via MG road is a headache at peak hours.

You would be much better off in an Auto. And I believe Civic should be the best auto option in this range, offering the best compromise in performance and FE.

[iTNerd]

Thank you for all the responses. I think the consensus seems to be that of the manual here... As I will be the one driving, automatic seems to make sense as Vasudeva pointed out abt the traffic rush.. When I test drove the manual in Noida Expressway ( I got really stuck with the clutch on heavy traffic in sec 18 Noida, and I am just 5'6") .. and had to adjust the seat to the front and elevate it to the maximum height to get a comfortable driving position.. now doin that.. the position of the gear lobe seems to be a bit on the back and changing the gear took a bit of time to get use to.. not a big problem... This usability issue is one reason why I was inclined towards the automatic.. but its quite hard to shell out that extra 70K bucks.. when I had already stretched so much from City VTEC... One part of me says..go for it... the other part says.. you kiddin?

[devarshi84]

go with the automatic. its good to use in congested city traffic. And while the paddle shifters are more for the show, you can use them once in a while on the free road to whet your appetite for manual performance.

Civic a/t is a good choice according to me.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by iTNerd

... This usability issue is one reason why I was inclined towards the automatic.. but its quite hard to shell out that extra 70K bucks.. when I had already stretched so much from City VTEC... One part of me says..go for it... the other part says.. you kiddin?

I know how it feels.
Civic is better than NHC VTEC. With ABS/EBD, its worth the extra bucks. If you can put up old zen for few months, Honda might come up with facelifted Civic (more details here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-c...-facelift.html ). During that time you can save some bucks easily go for it, without straining too much. This is from my experience - I was planning to go for Swift but I postoned for few months and went for NHC.
If isn't much hassle, go for the current model - its good one.

[normally_crazy]

Its a no brainer here - go for the Auto eyes closed. As already pointed out driving in bumper to bumper traffic can be killing. And since you are driving your self , The Auto it is.

The paddle shifts are nothing but a gimmick. The novelty wore off even before I finished my TD. And they are filmsy too.

Well you have listened to your heart and jumped in already , then why stop now ? Go for it.

[csentil]

Originally Posted by GeekSrik

personally i get a lot of pain on the left knee due to clutch usages in bangalore, though i leave early to office < 8:30am, so i would recommend an automatic, though its not the kinds which will pump your adrenalin

Man, it sure pumps my adrenalin when I floor the pedal on my AT. It almost redlines before shifting to 2nd and I'm past 90 by then. And if you put it in Sport mode, it definitely redlines before shifting. And on the Paddle shift mode, you will stay on the redline and it does not shift to second until you do it !!

[vasudeva]

The pricing on road Delhi for various cars (with discounts) you can consider are as follows
Civic manual 11.7 lakhs
Civic auto 12.6 lakhs
Corolla h3 auto 12 lakhs

Since you have decided on Civic manual, I assume that you have been taken in by the Govt's press releases on Delhi-Gurgaon being made signal free! In fact it has gotten worse and looking at the slash and burn policy of the builders and the Haryana Govt policy of not building any internal roads in Gurgaon, and max. revenues from builders, horrible jams are going to be a way of life in Gurgaon. I have been coming to Gurgaon for 1 year and it took me 90 mins for 34 kms (Patparganj to Ericsson via NH-8) in Aug 06, 70 mins in Dec 06. After the opening of new flyovers on Udyog Vihar in Feb 07, the jams have shifted and got worse at some places (Border, Rao Tula Ram Marg) and now it takes again 80-85 mins in the morning. Be assured that new flyovers means new buildings, more population, and new ways to be thought by the builders/govt/traffic police to make our life hell on the road.

Anyway, Civic manual is a good option. By saving 70 K, you can buy Brufen (Rs. 6 per 10 pcs), take 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening for the leg aches you will get. Also some BP medication for the frustration, helplessness, and the certainty of even more jams in the future. Also, some payment for that `maalishwala' on the weekends. And after driving on manual for 5 days on the `signal free expressway', you shall be so tired to go out and spend your money in restaurants.

Happy driving of manual Civic on the Gurgaon `expressway'!.

[Dippy]

Considering todays traffic hassles, the Auto is the best way to go. The 70k spent over the manual with be totally worth it and you will realize that once you drive everyday in the stop go traffic. FE is not an issue as you can get good FE from an auto provided you know the technique to drive it. Even with the manual there is no way you will get to rip it apart ( I dont know if you are a fast driver or a sedate one ) . The F1 paddle shift might not be that exciting but its always there incase you want to drive in manual mode.

I may be called biased since I drive an AT myself but seeing my friends complaining about paining legs from having to use the clutch so often in bad traffic, I consider myself more fortunate that I drive an automatic.

Hope this helps in making your decision.