[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by dot

It finally happened today. Scorponok bottomed out for the first time after 6 months and 4k kms of ownership. It was my fault really. There was a "big dig" right on Golf Course circle towards IBM building. The earthen mound was over a feet and half in height and two feet in length. As the front wheel went over the mound, we heard a "thud". Wifey asked "whats wrong". I just smiled.

Later checked the bottom with a flash light (parking lot is dark). No visible signs of any kind of damage.

Maybe other Civic owners are laughing after reading this post. Well, me too.

Hard experience listening to that 'thud' for any Civic owner! You buy a car worth 15 lacs and it can not go over potholes over which even a humble Alto flies! What a pity, sad but true!

Honestly, I have learnt the technique to deal with these situations! Intially, my car bottomed out many times but later I realized the slower I go, the easier it is on the car! My car's GC has been lowered by at least 3 inches with the body kit and all, and yet I haven't scraped/bottomed out the car once so far.

Originally Posted by dot

Do you guys know if the headlamp assembly has to be opened to fix these CFLs?

Yep, using the heat gun! Not a big deal though, just make sure to seal the assembly nicely afterwards!

[dot]

Originally Posted by sushrutha

Please check the below link from where I got the 2nd pic .
CCFL OR NEON LIGHT -
They are quoting 1450 THB, so that's roughly 2150 INR.

Seems like I have to get them from the above mentioned website itself.
I have never brought anything from abroad through courier, so no idea of the process n courier cost either.

Keenly looking forward for your installation experiences. Please keep us updated.

Originally Posted by sushrutha

But the real problem would be if the casing is not glued proper. If there is a minute gap while refixing or gluing , after sometime moisture & dust would get trapped in the headlight assembly creating the head lamp look ugly and reduce the effectivenss of headlights.
So one has to be very very careful while gluing back the head light casing.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Yep, using the heat gun! Not a big deal though, just make sure to seal the assembly nicely afterwards!

Thanks for these nuggets. Means we need to identify a good guy who can do this without spoiling the headlamp assembly.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by dot

It finally happened today. Scorponok bottomed out for the first time after 6 months and 4k kms of ownership.

That's actually a very good record. In my first 6 months (9.5k kms in that time) I had so many that I have lost count.

The positive aspect is that *most* of them happened in the initial 2-3 months, after which I got a hang of things.

Going slow is just one thing. You have to take these things at an angle (wherever possible i.e. where you don't pose a danger to traffic around you).

Despite that the huge mountains near railway crossings are still a challenge.

Regards,
spadix

[mdsaab]

@dot
now don't tell me, i kept going on that we have never bottomed out and here you go. Anyways please note this is not a speed breaker case, i think i know of exactly where this happened. and boy the road here is in bad shape. and to top it off it keeps getting worse, and no one is fixing it. Well in my books you are still in the not bottomed out column.

Coming back to the lights, you have seen the Matiz, i don't want to risk the Civic headlight cluster getting fogged up. so we will have to find a really reliable guy to do the enhancement. Do i want them ~ YES! can't get the silver civic with those gorgeous CFL out of my mind.

Also how do you switch these on? do we need a separate switch or are these linked with the parking lights?

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by spadix

Going slow is just one thing. You have to take these things at an angle (wherever possible i.e. where you don't pose a danger to traffic around you).

True, taking the bumps with an angeled approach helps a lot!

Originally Posted by mdsaab

how do you switch these on? do we need a separate switch or are these linked with the parking lights?

Most people parallel connect them with parking lights so that they look at their best at dusk or times as such!

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by mdsaab

Do i want them ~ YES! can't get the silver civic with those gorgeous CFL out of my mind.

Right, they look so amazing.
Now I have made my mind to go ahead with this instead of Projectors.
I enquired a guy from Cochin for these CFL lights, he doesn't have it in stock. He has to source it from Thailand and he informed me as it would take a couple of weeks for him to get them.
The price quoted was 4.5K Rs.
The only problem would be, I have to courier my headlamps all the way till Cochin.

Now if most of the members here are interested in getting this retrofitted in their CIVIC's can't we ourselves get them Bangkok directly as a bulk order ?
How feasible is this ?

Originally Posted by mdsaab

Also how do you switch these on? do we need a separate switch or are these linked with the parking lights?

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Most people parallel connect them with parking lights so that they look at their best at dusk or times as such!

Right. It's just a CFL ring with connectors. It can be connected to Parking lights parallely or one can put a switch for the same.

[dot]

Originally Posted by mdsaab

now don't tell me, i kept going on that we have never bottomed out and here you go.

Har har de har. I saw your post on shridhar's thread in the morning and could not help laughing. Actually I kind of knew that the car is going to bottom out looking at that mountain. But I rode over it to prove myself.

Originally Posted by mdsaab

Well in my books you are still in the not bottomed out column.

Thanks, since this was an experiment, so it doesnt count for sure.

Originally Posted by spadix

The positive aspect is that *most* of them happened in the initial 2-3 months, after which I got a hang of things.

Yeah, it is a rather happy realization when we learn the quirkiness and character of the car sooner than later.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Most people parallel connect them with parking lights so that they look at their best at dusk or times as such!

Probably the best thing to do.

Originally Posted by sushrutha

I enquired a guy from Cochin for these CFL lights, he doesn't have it in stock. He has to source it from Thailand and he informed me as it would take a couple of weeks for him to get them.
The price quoted was 4.5K Rs.

Can you post the name if it is ok. I kind of know Cochin shops.

Originally Posted by sushrutha

Now if most of the members here are interested in getting this retrofitted in their CIVIC's can't we ourselves get them Bangkok directly as a bulk order ?
How feasible is this ?

I am in. We are yet to find a good fitter. But that can be managed. Please let us know the path forward.

[normally_crazy]

The bottoming out is not because of the GC or the soft suspension - it is because of the length of the car - YES the length. The Civic is a long car and that is the culprit....here I have to go sideways almost on 60% of the humps in Mumbai (Mumbai humps are a different league though)

btw - I have the same colored civic too.

I have now owned the car for about 6 months too - got a used car too, no mine is NOT a pre-worshipped one, thank you.

[dot]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

btw - I have the same colored civic too.

Nice, looking forward for the pics.

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

I have now owned the car for about 6 months too - got a used car too, no mine is NOT a pre-worshipped one, thank you.

Didnt understand, did it belong to a family member before?

[noopster]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

The bottoming out is not because of the GC or the soft suspension - it is because of the length of the car - YES the length. The Civic is a long car and that is the culprit....here I have to go sideways almost on 60% of the humps in Mumbai (Mumbai humps are a different league though)

I doubt the length of a vehicle has much to do with the bottoming out. I think it's more of a saggy suspension issue.

Also, how is a used car different from a "pre-worshipped" one?

[normally_crazy]

noopster - what is a pre-worshipped car ?

[dot]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

noopster - what is a pre-worshipped car ?

I guess pre-worshipped is a term for a pre-owned.

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

The bottoming out is not because of the GC or the soft suspension - it is because of the length of the car - YES the length.

Originally Posted by noopster

I doubt the length of a vehicle has much to do with the bottoming out. I think it's more of a saggy suspension issue.

Guys putting it in a more of technical word, it's the WHEEL BASE.
Civic's wheel base is 2700mm, which is quite long when you compare with other cars.
Civic WB - 2700 mm
Laura WB- 2578 mm
Vento WB- 2552 mm
Cedia WB- 2600 mm
Linea WB - 2603 mm
Dzire WB - 2390 mm
(specs soure www.carwale.com)
This is the main reason along with saggy suspension for the CIVIC to bottom out on road humps

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

btw - I have the same colored civic too.

I have now owned the car for about 6 months too - got a used car too, no mine is NOT a pre-worshipped one, thank you.

Congratulations, I know though a belated one .
Haven't seen a pic of your car, If you Don't mind please share a pic of it.

[mdsaab]

You are absolutely right. It's the wheelbase which is the culprit.
So while the front of the car usually glides through that enormous speed breaker without issues. It's before the rear wheels get a chance to make contact with the breaker that you hear that awful metallic sound. Probably if the civic had a shorter wheelbase this wouldn't happen.

~Just a Though ~ Please comment~
Though the civic is a low car, it has pretty decent GC. I feel it's the double wish bone setup at the rear too which contributes, i am not an expert here but i think that it sits lower than other suspension setups. Ofcourse the civic wouldn't be such a joy to drive without this setup. anyone can shed some light on this fact? i may be wrong, but your inputs will help clear the doubts.

Sourcing from Bangkok sounds adventurous. Anyone have contacts in Bangkok or is visiting soon? Also another Q do we need to install some relay for this MOD?

@dot glad that it was just an experiment and done in the know. So good i did not chalk this down in the civic bottomed book.

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by noopster

how is a used car different from a "pre-worshipped" one?

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

noopster - what is a pre-worshipped car ?

Originally Posted by dot

I guess pre-worshipped is a term for a pre-owned.

a little gyan from my understanding:

Pre-owned - any regular pre-owned car

Pre-worshipped - a pre owned car that was springly used and was not abused like the regular pre-owned cars! No accidents, no tinkering around, nothing suspicious! like mine...

Originally Posted by noopster

I doubt the length of a vehicle has much to do with the bottoming out. I think it's more of a saggy suspension issue.

Originally Posted by sushrutha

Guys putting it in a more of technical word, it's the WHEEL BASE.
Civic's wheel base is 2700mm, which is quite long when you compare with other cars.
Civic WB - 2700 mm
Laura WB- 2578 mm
Vento WB- 2552 mm
Cedia WB- 2600 mm
Linea WB - 2603 mm
Dzire WB - 2390 mm
(specs soure New Cars, Used Cars, Car Prices, Reviews & Photos in India - CarWale)
This is the main reason along with saggy suspension for the CIVIC to bottom out on road humps

Sushrutha has put it rightly! The problem in the Civic is the long wheelbase coupled with slightly comfort oriented suspension. Bear in mind that Civic has almost the same length of wheelbase as an old generation Accord (new gen has 2800 mm wheelbase)!

Possibly, it is the same reason why Civic has so much space inside the cabin!

@ normally_crazy - not done NC, you owe us an ownership report with tons of pics, something more like the vRS! Time to get further ahead from here!

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...le-whammy.html

Work on it, you lazy bum! haha...