Hi all
some of you would have seen me on this forum hovering between a new Cedia and used CRV... however, as it normally happens i bought something all togather different - a Civic and already drove 2000 Kms on it.
The sole reason for buying Civic was my spotless four years experience with Honda and i assume a lot of people out there would be thinking of upgrading from OHC to Civic.. hence comes this thread.
Some key consideration while reading this –
• I am an average Indian with 5.7 ft height and regular athletic body.
• I am not technically sound in automobiles and have only 1lac + kms experience to talk about.
• This car I bought was a Test Drive vehicle with 20000 Kms on it.
• My OHC was a type II 1.5 exi.
Now for the meat…..
LOOKS - YOU KIDDING?
You Kidding??? kahaan raja bhoj kahaan gangu taili?? OHC doesnt even stand slightest chance before such a sexy looking vehicle right out of some Sci-fi movie. In one sentence.. - Civic is large, better and more "female fan" creating car than OHC. Period.
FUEL EFFICIENCY - SAME AS OHC
Surprise here!! A car of this size is giving exactly same mileage I drove exactly 369 Kms of equaly drive of Highway and inside the city with 28ltr of Petrol in last trip. which is exactly 13 Kmpl with full AC blast in Auto mode.
DRIVER COMFORT
This is where i felt my OHC was a road beater, the driving comfort it had is unparallel and Civic lags a bit. I shall explain some small issues which one feels over a period of time:
Steering Wheel: One look at the steering wheel of a civic and you would swoon on it.. thats where you should stop if you intend to own this vehicle. In an effort to create a beauty out of the steering there is a bit of compromise in driving pleasure.. the spokes have been made a little wide and also at a very uncomfortable angle to the the headlight/wiper control knobs. So what it does is, you will have to use your stretched palm entirle while using any of the controls. Like for instance at night, to use the dipper you would be require to continuouse stretch palms and blv me you will feel tired after sometime.. OHC was damn neat in this department i could control the god damn car at 140 with just one thumb and all controls were still within reach.
Window Panel for Driver (Elbow Rest): While driving on highways normally one tends to keep the right hand elbow rested on the window panel and control the steering wheel with thumbs. This is not possible in civic as the Window panel is above the elbow level hence you will have to keep both hands always on the steering and your seating posturew would also be affected
Seating Comfort: I am not sure if this car was designed by any Japanese. Reason I say this is, you need to have long legs to actually reach the pedals and also slightly longer forelimbs shall allow a better reach to the music panel on dash board. An average human being like me has to sit pretty near to the dash board which would nullify the utility of telescopic steering.
Drive by Wire Throttle System: What **** piece of system is this???? (strictly talking about driving comfort, no question about technology). You feel like actually picking up the gear knob and putting it in place to shift gears.. Its so tiring I cant explain… I love the old style of shifting gears with a push on the knob.. This is the biggest pain I face driving this car.. and to top it the Gear Knob is very large to allow a proper grip.
POWER
My measure of power of a car is its time taken from 50kmph to 90kmph on highway with full AC. And civic disappointed me in this department. The car takes almost same time as my OHC to touch 90 from 50, if I had to slow the car on highway due to some reason. Sometimes I felt like pushing it from inside to pick up fast. I had expected more from a 1800 cc vtec engine.
However, you cross 100 and this car shows its true colors. Even at 150 with a push on pedal the car got me extra 20kmph with a feeling of still more to it. I had touched maximum 150 with my OHC and the engine had felt totally drenched.
In-fact I allow more vehicles to overtake these days cuz of this subconscious feeling of carrying enough power to beat any car whenever I wish. To fir bacchon ko khelne do..
SAFETY
No comparision in this department with OHC. This car gives you unexpiring feeling of safety. It has so many things loaded that one can fit an entire ABCD in it. ABS, EBD, SRS, BA etc etc.
Let the cute looks of car not fool you about its structure. The car has quite robust frame, pretty widely built pillars (too wide for comfort). I have driven Skoda Rider for few hundred Kms and honestly I don’t think this car lags much behind in body build.
However, I do feel that Traction Control System should have been placed in a vehicle of this cost. The Honda sales guy explained to me that ‘Brake Assist’ is actually a Honda name for TCS.. so do back check next time you talk to any Honda sales guy.
ROAD VIEW
I mention this point separately because the front pillars of the car are actually pain in A.. The pillars are at some obtuse angle to the driver seat and very wide in structure that they will obstruct your vision a lot many times while turning the vehicle. Just drive the car for only few kms and take a few turns and you will realize what I am saying. Literally sometimes I had to bend forward to see if I am not missing any upcoming vehicle while turning. The OHC was far far far better in terms of road view.
CONCLUSION
You may feel I am being more critical of civic, that’s because there is a lot of good been discussed that its moot point to talk about its sexy looks, Honda performance, passenger comfort, more leg space etc etc.
However, my advise to anyone with an OHC thinking about upgrading to Civic – please give this car at-east 5000 kms to build on you. Its in diff league altogather which needs lot of patience and a diff style of driving. And over a period of time you would feel almost similar driving pleasure that OHC delivered.
Hope I helped someone’s purchasing decision.