Can a Civic make it to the Himalayas?

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Mr H.V. Kumar has done Leh-Ladakh and Lahul and Spiti and a lot of other places in the Himalaya in his Matiz!! Therefore where there is a wheel there is a way. I guess one should put a sump guard and a petrol tank guard and carry some chains for the tyres. Wheel base could be an issue but wouldn't stop the journey. A lot would depend on the driver's skill. And most importantly - a few knocks on the bottom doesn't do any serious damage unless one does it at high speed.

Originally Posted by laluks

Honda!! Are you listening.
Poor civic, it cant dream to be at the highest motorable road in India.

Why should Honda listen? It didn't design Civic to conquer the mountains. Civic was designed to be a dignified, low slung, comfortable and fast car. Honda has other extremely competent vehicles to conquer mountains.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

Mr H.V. Kumar has done Leh-Ladakh and Lahul and Spiti and a lot of other places in the Himalaya in his Matiz!! Therefore where there is a wheel there is a way. I guess one should put a sump guard and a petrol tank guard and carry some chains for the tyres. Wheel base could be an issue but wouldn't stop the journey. A lot would depend on the driver's skill. And most importantly - a few knocks on the bottom doesn't do any serious damage unless one does it at high speed.

I like the spirit. Though indeed the risk involved are high this could happen if you try to be careful and being skilful.

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

I think that the suspension ( double wishbone at rear! Good handling and body control over twisty road and CAN take somebeating ) can take a beating till some extent, but the Ground Clearence is low and will be real issue before the suspension starts acting up.

Civic has a long wheelbase and a low GC. The worst combination for a car in those conditions.
The final Answer is NO.
Its OK till some scratching or so, but even with underbody protection, if at all some part is damaged or you have a breakdown, getting the car back on the road will be tough. Best Avoided. If you have anyother car with reasonable GC, go with that, but avoid Civic.

You are true, if it takes a beating then trouble is quite high

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

No, no and a third time no. Manali to Leh is gonna kill your car at it's current condition. But I don't know how is the alternate route via Srinagar and Kargil via Zozila pass. That route may not be that bad or on the other hand may be worse. Also I've seen a Baleno in Leh(don't how it has gone there), so if that can make it probably your Civic also can.
BTW, the efforts for making the Leh Manali road bigger and better is going on and may be after an year or so any car can make it to Leh but by then probably the charm will be gone.
And I guess Skid plates will make your ground clearance lesser only.

Hopefully the roads gets better.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

I cannot understand the purpose of this thread. If the question is to theoritically know whether civic can make it to those roads, the answer is yes. But in all practicality if one loves his car he should not try these roads in a civic. Maybe nothing major will happen, but why torture a car that is not meant for this.

Its to know whether any practical possibilities exist to equip Civic to go ahead and do such a trip. I love my car, I would not want to torture it, hence the discussion

[laluks]

So from the discussions we have seen the following cars have done it

SX4
SWIFT
BALENO
MATIZ.

This is good infomation for all. The other purpose of my thread was this.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by laluks

So from the discussions we have seen the following cars have done it

SX4
SWIFT
BALENO
MATIZ.

This is good infomation for all. The other purpose of my thread was this.

Please add the following to the list:

WagonR
Santro
M800
Zen
Zen Estilo
Honda City
Hyundai Accent
Fiat Palio
Fiat Uno

I have seen these cars doing the trip successfully. These are the ones I can recall right away. There could be more.

As for the GC, it does matter, but what matters as much is the 'overhangs' of a car (front & back). By and large, the hatchbacks do a good job. Sedans with overhangs have a tougher time.

[sudev]

My Rs0.02 worth : Did not reply earlier but after consideration I would say "yes". Be sure that it will have to be really careful drive all through.

One - The alternate route via Srinagar is much better and only about 25/30 kms of Zozila that needs to be tackled. Here also it is more loose gravel type of slides that occur at Zozila that are problem. Rest of the drive is reasonably good.

Two - Few years back one of the auto mag did Kashmir to Kanyakumari in a Merc E class and M800. This was done via Manali route.

Three - Road conditions vary. But in late September / early October they are best provided the monsoon are less active, unlike this year.

Ground clearance is low, do not lower it further by putting engine guards. Just take it slow and careful. And do not try it with wide/low profile tyres. AND I would be very careful of what I put in the boot. Avoid what ever you can so that total laden weight on suspension remains low.

[raajks]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Please add the following to the list:

WagonR
Santro
M800
Zen
Zen Estilo
Honda City
Hyundai Accent
Fiat Palio
Fiat Uno

I have seen these cars doing the trip successfully.

Adding to the exisitng list
Lancer (is a regular of the Himalayan RAID)
SX4
Cedia
and Indica.

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

Mr H.V. Kumar has done Leh-Ladakh and Lahul and Spiti and a lot of other places in the Himalaya in his Matiz!! Therefore where there is a wheel there is a way. I guess one should put a sump guard and a petrol tank guard and carry some chains for the tyres. Wheel base could be an issue but wouldn't stop the journey. A lot would depend on the driver's skill. And most importantly - a few knocks on the bottom doesn't do any serious damage unless one does it at high speed.

Why should Honda listen? It didn't design Civic to conquer the mountains. Civic was designed to be a dignified, low slung, comfortable and fast car. Honda has other extremely competent vehicles to conquer mountains.

Where there is a wheel, there is a way. TRUE.
But, with that ground clearance it definitely gets tough.

Yes, Civic was designed to be a dignified, low slung, comfortable and fast car which you could stop at every "indian" road hump / pot-hole and watch others pass by or get the help of a few good men to lift your dignified beauty out of the embarassing situation (after paying several lakhs, it surely gets embarassing to do all these).

Yes, Honda didn't design Civic to conquer the mountains or road humps or typical indian roads for that matter. In fact it seems those morons never ever saw our road conditions while designing.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by Torqy

Where there is a wheel, there is a way. TRUE.
But, with that ground clearance it definitely gets tough.

Yes, Civic was designed to be a dignified, low slung, comfortable and fast car which you could stop at every "indian" road hump / pot-hole and watch others pass by or get the help of a few good men to lift your dignified beauty out of the embarassing situation (after paying several lakhs, it surely gets embarassing to do all these).

Yes, Honda didn't design Civic to conquer the mountains or road humps or typical indian roads for that matter. In fact it seems those morons never ever saw our road conditions while designing.

You make me cry. Come on Civic is better than that.

Civic was not designed to conquer mountains or for offroading, Agree. But looking at the list of other cars who have made it, they were not either.

If Civic had a comparable suspension for Indian roads and a little bit better GC, it definitely could have entered the list. Even now hwo says no! Lets wait for more details.

[deepakhon]

A colleague of mine did the Leh-Ladhak trip on his Octavia a few years back. There were about 4 people in the car and also it was fully loaded with luggage when they did it. I do not know which of the Octavia and Civic have better GCs but I guess they are comparable.

FYI, they did their trip during June time frame.

[sudev]

Interestingly in the 2001 Raid, which went to Leh (and Kargil) the results guy traveled in a Matiz and one of the officials from Chandigarh did it in Premier Padmini. A set of three youngsters did it in Opel the same year.


The last lot had their boot full of stuff and when we had to get a punctured tyre changed this is was the scene:

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by deepakhon

A colleague of mine did the Leh-Ladhak trip on his Octavia a few years back. There were about 4 people in the car and also it was fully loaded with luggage when they did it. I do not know which of the Octavia and Civic have better GCs but I guess they are comparable.

FYI, they did their trip during June time frame.

AFAIK Octavia's GC is just 130mm

[anupmathur]

There is a slightly mysterious aspect to many of the sedans that do the Manali-Leh trip. They seem quite unwilling to post some of the problems that they encounter!
I know of a recent Baleno trip where the lube filter took a hit and all the engine oil drained out. The car stalled, luckily very close to Sarchu. Had to be repaired with army assistance at Sarchu!
Another where the wishbone (front suspension) got bent. The car was not disabled though.

Higher profile tyres (apart from a lift kit worth at least 25 mm) are highly recommended for sedans planning that trip.

[sudev]

Originally Posted by raajks

Adding to the exisitng list
Lancer (is a regular of the Himalayan RAID)
SX4
Cedia
and Indica.

Have also seen these going to Leh over the years:
Esteem
Opal
Matiz
Premier Padmini
Cielo
M800
Zen
Alto

[scooby05]

I think the Civic Can and will do the Himalayas very well. You need to add 35mm spacers over the springs[increasing GC by 25mm], ensure that the Shocks travel is sufficient, and put a speed limiter of 140kmph on your mind[since handling will be slightly affected]

[sudev]

Originally Posted by raajks

Adding to the exisitng list
Lancer (is a regular of the Himalayan RAID)
SX4
Cedia
and Indica.

Originally Posted by scooby05

...and put a speed limiter of 140kmph on your mind[since handling will be slightly affected]

Yikes 140!! I would say with that as a limit you will have plenty else to worry about than GC of your civic on the Leh route