battle of the tip-tronics

[devarshi84]

Two tip-tronics. two of my most favouraites(see sig.)

both 1.8 ltr
both produce 120+ horses
both have manual controls on the automatic gearboxes
both have power lag in shifts


ladies and gentleman

The first ever tip-tronic in India- the lancer invecs. only 4-speed and Dated design

The first paddleshifters in India- The civic AT. Costs explicitly high and still untested.

Our own Bhpian Mr. Rishi kapoor Owns one- the lancer invecs. our own bhpian ST has booked on- the civic AT

while designwise both lie in a different segment, the engines are completely competitive.

lightweight is a lancer advantage while more power is a civic advantage.
Older lancer costs less while newer civic costs 1.5 times more.

which turns out to be a better car?

How about a test-drive of both to do the analysis?

[Boom Shiva]

Heh heh. Good one. Any other contenders out there?

[amit]

The Lancer is extremely dated and unless HM decides to get in newer and better cars from Mitsubishi, I really don't see any point in giving them my hard earned money. Besides, the Civic I believe comes with a 5 speed automatic compared to a 4 speed in the Lancer. Paddles are a bonus too. This is a no brainer. I trust Honda more then HM and Civic is light years ahead of the Indian Lancer. I'd pick the Civic anyday.

[condor]

I'd go with the Civic, like Amit says. Even if the Lancer came with a 5-speed ..

[killjoy]

well OT but the Hyundai Sonata V6 came with Tip tronic.

[goldie_malhotra]

As complete cars, they cannot be any comparison, unless HM comes out with a design that belongs to this new generation, or maybe fits the same tiptronic into the Cedia.

Have not driven the Civic yet, but what I remember from the lancer invecs was that it was very pleasing to drive - by far one of the better automatics of its day, and provided quite a bit of punch compared to the weak 1.5, though revving the engine high was a bit of a task (or maybe I didnt know how)

[normally_crazy]

There is no question of a contest out here - CIVIC all the way. Why would anyone go for a Lancer , we all know about it - dated design , HM Backup..blah blah...

[Shan2nu]

Invex is outdated. Looks like a normal Lancer with an engine swap (which it is).

Civic hands down (unless HM plans to get the "Evo X" lookalike, Invex with 5spd)

Shan2nu

[Jay]

Not driven either of them, saw the invecs yesterday and my neighbour has a civic ( manual ), Would choose the Civic anyday over the invecs...

[rishi_kapoor]

Well I own an Invex, bought in March this year (yeees! brand new), driven to it's max speed (170, which is electronically limited, comes at 4100 rpm...lots of juice left to go beyond!).

An invex is an invex and you wont know what you are missing till you drive one...I am absolutely a Lancer fan (after being a Fiat fan though).

I have not driven a civic but I drove NHC CVT (2 trips...one 1000 KMs and other 500 KMs) and it does not excites me.

Lancer Invex has loads of power, the shift is just perfect and over a period of time it just obeys to me like a manual...I am very happy. Superb handling and comfortable cushoned ride. I drove it to Mumbai from Delhi and back and believe me, it was quite a joy on highways. No lag while overtaking etc.

its 4 months old and (touch wood!) zero issues. It is my favourite now for city drives worst average has been 9 with AC in dense traffic. Tiptronic is great and shift lag is minimum.

[devarshi84]

lancer is an old car. True
lancer is smaller a smaller car. True.
Lancer is 4-speed. true

but lancer is approx 3/5th the price of civic
lancer engine is as powerful as civic's (less horses but also less kg's)
Lancer handles as good and is as fun to drive.
lancer service backup is nice too. So whoever says HM is not good please reconsider your decisions.


Honda civic is a newer car with paddle shifters.
But costs whooping 12.5-13+ lacs


So I guess the fact that lancer is an old car is negated by its price.

[amit]

So I guess the fact that lancer is an old car is negated by its price.

Devarshi, in the same way, the fact that the Civic is a newer car with more features justifies it's higher price.

[Shan2nu]

So I guess the fact that lancer is an old car is negated by its price.

It don't work that way dude. People aren't always looking for the cheaper way out. If that was true, the NHC would have been the least selling car in it's class.

Even if Honda could reduce the price of the OHC and sell it at a cheaper price, they wouldn't. Thats bcoz the car is outdated, nobody would buy it over the more expensive NHC (except the enthusiasts).

I have not driven a civic but I drove NHC CVT (2 trips...one 1000 KMs and other 500 KMs) and it does not excites me.

Thats nice, so it's ok for me to say that since the Invex doesn't interest me (and yes, i've driven it), all Evos must be crap. Think about what you're saying here.

Why don't we just put up a poll and clear this, once and for all!!!

Shan2nu

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by amit

Devarshi, in the same way, the fact that the Civic is a newer car with more features justifies it's higher price.

. never said its wrong for a company to charge a premium on a newer product. For me civic is equally attractive car with that cockpit desin.

but my point is that for those who are buying a car below 10lacs how is the 1.8 invecs engine which is as competitive as the civic's 1.8 engine?

got my point?

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

It don't work that way dude. People aren't always looking for the cheaper way out. If that was true, the NHC would have been the least selling car in it's class.

Even if Honda could reduce the price of the OHC and sell it at a cheaper price, they wouldn't. Thats bcoz the car is outdated, nobody would buy it over the more expensive NHC (except the enthusiasts).

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

Thats nice, so it's ok for me to say that since the Invex doesn't interest me (and yes, i've driven it), all Evos must be crap. Think about what you're saying here.

Why don't we just put up a poll and clear this, once and for all!!!

Shan2nu

NHC is selling due to the premium on the Honda badge while HM is taking the VFM way(A la baleno). Sadly even today half the country doesnt know what invecs is.

I am not asking which is a better car. Its an obvious answer than civic is. Also both cars are in different segments. Its the case of similar engines with tip-tronic gearshifts

And Shan2nu we are not having a debate or an arguments over whether civic is better or the invecs. We are just having a general information sharing on the tip-tronic scene in India.

I like the civic A/T as much as you do coz paddle shifter have been something I have always craved about (Even though Amit has rightly suggested ohterwise )

[autopsyche]

I had bought an invecs for a customer of mine back in July 2004 when it was just launched. I drove the car for about 2 weeks before we finally started work on it. For the 120bhp the car claims it certainly does not deliver. Maybe i was expecting too much but the 30% jump in performance on paper in comparison to the manual Lancer did not convert into 30% better performance. And yes the 4 speed is pretty lazy. I havent driven any auto Honda except an Accord V6 so would not be able to compare. The invecs was a fine vehicle to drive overall, but it is not in the same league as a Civic.

Both are tiptronic is a good point to make, but if it wasnt a comparison then why ask which is a better car?