[Altocumulus]

I am in bit of a dilemma here. I always wanted a Honda City Vtec. I have found a decent piece. 2003, 60k kms for 1.2L from another city. Transfer is not a problem however I am wondering if it would be a good idea to sell my less than 2 year old Ritz Zxi is immaculate condition and buy that as the only car atleast for the next 2 years. My monthly run has reduced since I bought the Jupiter to about 500km however some long drives of 1200 kms does come in.

[urban legend]

Hello. I am on the lookout for a used petrol manual enthusiasts car. It will be used only on weekends for short drives of about 100-150 km. Top speed and high speed stability need not be too high as I mostly won't push an old car with my family on board for safety reasons. But I want a sub 10 second 0-100 and strong mid range for overtaking. Handling has to be tight too for fun on twisty roads. Seating for 4 is sufficient. Boot space is not as issue. Budget is 5-7 lakhs. Car must be reliable and trouble free as I hate niggles and don't want any downtime. These are the options I have considered
HONDA civic- decent examples are available, but I did not get any examples from authorised dealers. Mostly from websites and used car dealers
Swift petrol - in my budget I can modify it nicely.
HONDA city
I have used the swift and city before so they won't feel that exclusive. So the civic is my first choice. But it probably needs to be modded to fit the acceleration and handling requirements.
Suggestions are welcome and hope some one can hook me up to a nice civic.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by urban legend

Hello. I am on the lookout for a used petrol manual enthusiasts car. It will be used only on weekends for short drives of about 100-150 km. Top speed and high speed stability need not be too high as I mostly won't push an old car with my family on board for safety reasons. But I want a sub 10 second 0-100 and strong mid range for overtaking. Handling has to be tight too for fun on twisty roads. Seating for 4 is sufficient. Boot space is not as issue. Budget is 5-7 lakhs. Car must be reliable and trouble free as I hate niggles and don't want any downtime.

With that budget, you can buy a Cedia and mod the hell out of it. Can even get a widebody kit with those squared off haunches like the Evo VIII Cedia's motor was always more tractable than the Civics (albeit the 1.8 Vtec has got more character by itself), handling and stability are also better on the Cedia. The car can handle decent levels of abuse for a sedan as well which comes in handy when you're ferrying 4 adults and setting the roads on fire

Do check it out.

[urban legend]

I am not too confident about the availability of spares and service for the cedia. Also the interiors are not that classy. I even thought about the Laura 1.8 tsi but again spares and service will be difficult and expensive.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by urban legend

Suggestions are welcome and hope some one can hook me up to a nice civic.

You can take inspiration from Frank and buy a brio and plonk in 1.5L engine.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by urban legend

I am not too confident about the availability of spares and service for the cedia. Also the interiors are not that classy. I even thought about the Laura 1.8 tsi but again spares and service will be difficult and expensive.

Interiors I feel looks great on the Cedia; very unintimidating with a touch of 90s simplicity and that lovely momo steering wheel Anyway, to each his own. Parts are never an issue and can be easily sourced for any Japanese car no matter how rare by any competent independent garage. Laura is a fairly popular car as well service and spares will not be an issue at all. Unless you reside in some small town that is.

Originally Posted by blackwasp

You can take inspiration from Frank and buy a brio and plonk in 1.5L engine.

+1 to that. Proper modern day hot hatch

[JackTheCrack]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Interiors I feel looks great on the Cedia; very unintimidating with a touch of 90s simplicity and that lovely momo steering wheel Anyway, to each his own. Parts are never an issue and can be easily sourced for any Japanese car no matter how rare by any competent independent garage. Laura is a fairly popular car as well service and spares will not be an issue at all. Unless you reside in some small town that is.

+1 to that. Proper modern day hot hatch

Originally Posted by urban legend

Hello. I am on the lookout for a used petrol manual enthusiasts car.
Suggestions are welcome and hope some one can hook me up to a nice civic.

You may want to consider a Ford Fiesta S (Petrol, 1.6) although hard to find in second hand market.

[Rohan24]

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

I am in bit of a dilemma here. I always wanted a Honda City Vtec. I have found a decent piece. 2003, 60k kms for 1.2L from another city. Transfer is not a problem however I am wondering if it would be a good idea to sell my less than 2 year old Ritz Zxi is immaculate condition and buy that as the only car atleast for the next 2 years. My monthly run has reduced since I bought the Jupiter to about 500km however some long drives of 1200 kms does come in.

I feel you should hold on to your Ritz for a bit longer, as its pretty new.
The City you mentioned is already 13 years old!
With age, come niggles, even for a relatively reliable brand like Honda. Since, it'll be the only car in your household you don't want to be stranded due to some problems that may arise from a high mileage, 13 yr old car.
If your heart really wants the City that much, I suggest you keep the Ritz, and try to buy it as your 2nd car. In case the City develops problems, you'll still have a fall-back option

[zulfi hansi]

IMHO the 1.0 Kwid has the potential to become the real spiritual successor to the old Zen. With all the bells and whistles, mods if it comes to under 6 that too brand new.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by zulfi hansi

IMHO the 1.0 Kwid has the potential to become the real spiritual successor to the old Zen. With all the bells and whistles, mods if it comes to under 6 that too brand new.

Actually this is a great little car.
If only they would add in 2 airbags instead of being cheapskates and giving only one...

It really is the spiritual successor to the old favourite old shape Maruti 800, the Dolphin and yes, the Zen... ideal youngster's first car. Perfectly sized. Nice and zippy. Good looking little beast too.
great for jazzing up a bit with some alloys and fatter tyres and sports exhaust and all the rest of the "college boy's hot rod dreams"... and with an AMT it will become the "college girl's dream" too because it is so easy to drive and handle...

why, even an older fella might consider one of these toy cars, just as a "fun car"...

[rxpaul]

Well I already have the best Enthusiast car with me. An Octavia TPI with the 150 Bhp engine....it will be shortly up for sale. Yes and its in corrida red. I'm getting too old to drive manual cars and am shortly getting a BMW 320 D.

[zulfi hansi]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

why, even an older fella might consider one of these toy cars, just as a "fun car"...

Precisely my point. A weekend car. Present conditions of our roads and finding a decent open patch on weekends, lower spend, and compact size, fun mantra.

Originally Posted by rxpaul

Well I already have the best Enthusiast car with me. An Octavia TPI with the 150 Bhp engine....it will be shortly up for sale. Yes and its in corrida red. I'm getting too old to drive manual cars and am shortly getting a BMW 320 D.

Why not make it a weekend / track car instead of selling it.

[rxpaul]

Originally Posted by zulfi hansi

Precisely my point. A weekend car. Present conditions of our roads and finding a decent open patch on weekends, lower spend, and compact size, fun mantra.







Why not make it a weekend / track car instead of selling it.

My weekends are getting too busy & the roads in Pune more crowded. Its impossible to enjoy the turbo boost on such crowded roads.

[lancersfx]

Hello team Bhpians. After a long sabbatical from driving, I'm back in the market for newly refurbished set of wheels and in serious dilemma. Younger brother and mother are now keen to learn driving. Brother needs to get confident driving in traffic as he's comfortable driving on weekends. So the list of cars checked:

Former choices
1. Maruti 800/alto (Low cost of repair)
2. Zen/classic (Low cost of repair)
3. Fiat 1100D/Contessa1100 ( Insane right? This was my idea. Though a car for him to learn but ultimately my one of the items in bucket list)


Current contenders (only Toyota/Honda)
4. City Vtec (1999 - 2003)
5. Civic Manual (Hadn't considered this simply because I forgot. This popped up as one of the suggestions on a search site and I my eyes were transfixed for a couple of days looking for nothing but civic).

Optional
6. Toyota corolla (H2/3/4 unsure of the model/variants)

Budget - 3L.

Conditions
1. No small car/hatchback
2. Has to be petrol.
3. Reliability is the key (So out goes Tata/chevrolet/Ford/Hyundai)
4. Intended use 4-5 years.

Former car - Ikon 1.8D (Disposed 4yrs ago).

I'm more inclined towards Civic considering the options available in the market but finding a good one for a budget I got would truly be a tough nut to crack. Apart from learning to drive in this car this also would be used for some considerable travel over the next 2 years. (~200kms every week).

[Abhi_Automobile]

Out of the choices mentioned, I'd recommend the Civic. No contest! I say this as I interpret that you are looking for a fun-to-drive car, on a budget.

If you'd like to explore outside the cars mentioned, you can look at any keenly maintained Laura TSI. Immensely fun, stonker of an engine, at fraction of a price (compared to what it cost then). The upkeep on a regular basis is more or less on par with the Civic - one service/ 15k kms v/s service each 5k kms. However, if something goes wrong, the spares are usually costly. So, that way, the overall upkeep is expected to be more than that of Civic.

Happy hunting!