[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by GTO

What 187 BHP GTI? I'm comparing to the stock Polo GT!

With a garage such as yours, I wouldn't dare to recommend the GT. Was talking about the GTI that's rumoured to hit our shores soon.

True. Interior design of the Civic is a class apart, even in the current scenario. The HUD is futuristic even in the 530D, but the decade old Honda had a split display so that you can see the numbers without taking your eyes off the road.

[kutlee]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I really missed this thread, but these words in the 530D thread and you have my full attention now. Civic has always been one of my dream cars, but I never expected a Civic with an RD box to have such high performance to be faster than a 145bhp Punto, or 187bhp GTI.

I never got to drive a Civic much. Had the luck to go passenger since my neighbour had one from the initial batch. One of the most beautiful cars to come to India ever!

Any mods apart from the RD box? Any plans of turbocharging?

civic without turbo can be that fast? even with turbo and the same powertune box has 170whp.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by GTO

And so, the mods list began.

1. RaceDynamics PowerTune Piggyback ECU.

2. 17" 5-Spoke Wheels.

3. 225 mm Michelin PS3s.

4. Subtle aesthetic enhancements : Black roof, mugen-style grille, debadging etc.

5. Koni Dampers : Waiting for the stock hardware to wear out before swapping.

Came across this thread (again) while toying with the idea of souping up my Civic. My Civic A/T is now 6 years old and I'm itching to soup it up and keep it for at least 3 - 4 years more.

The updates I am vaguely considering are:

1. Repaint. It was originally white and in a stupid stupid moment I repainted it Urban Titanium in 2011. I'm now itching to go back to white. The irony is I actually went to the pains of updating my RC book too so I'll have to change that back as well.

Long story short: Change urban titanium to white with black roof (I've recently seen a lot of cars with that combo, specially Cretas, some Mercs etc and totally floored by the look.

2. Performance up. I particularly find low end and to some extent mid end grunt in a civic underwhelming. I was very pleased to read that the upgrades here completely address that situation.

3. Suspension improvement. I don't understand these things much but looking for any basic advice to put high quality suspension on. This can also happen once my existing suspension gives up. I'm not unhappy with the current suspension.

I am NOT looking to change my wheels as such. Its the stock size and will remain so. I may consider painting the alloys black if I want to restrict the spend or alternately (ideally) move to carbon / grey'ish looking alloys if such things exist.

QUESTIONS

Q1. Are the performance mods outlined above doable on an A/T. Just reconfirming this. I'm basically looking for a basic upgrade via the K&N mentioned above and the Powertune.

Q2. Is the piggyback powertune still the best solution or now that we're almost in 2016 there's something even better albeit along same lines.

Q3. How much does this impact FE. I am really bleeding on the civic's mileage (6-6.5 kmpl'ish) and I really don't have much appetite for FE to deteriorate too much beyond this.

Q4. What's the best place one can recommend in Bbay (preferably south Bbay) for a full color change (grey to white with black roof) at hopefully a reasonable cost. Quality is paramount though of course and happy to pay for the quality as long as I'm not being jipped. For the black roof is it better to go vinyl or simply paint the roof black? I would imagine vinyl might be better but not sure if I'm missing some angle here.

Thanks,

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Are the performance mods outlined above doable on an A/T. Just reconfirming this. I'm basically looking for a basic upgrade via the K&N mentioned above and the Powertune.

Absolutely. The mods are transmission-independent.

Is the piggyback powertune still the best solution or now that we're almost in 2016 there's something even better albeit along same lines.

What you'll also need is a good exhaust. Get it from AutoMech and tell them to give you the same piping that my Civic had. It greatly improved the low end. If you don't want the sporty sound, they can give you a silent one too.

How much does this impact FE. I am really bleeding on the civic's mileage (6-6.5 kmpl'ish) and I really don't have much appetite for FE to deteriorate too much beyond this.

If you drive the same way, I don't see why there should be any impact on FE.

What's the best place one can recommend in Bbay (preferably south Bbay) for a full color change (grey to white with black roof) at hopefully a reasonable cost.

Since this is the 3rd colour change your car is going to have, why not consider vinyl wraps?

Of course, if you're dead sure that you'll stick with white, then look up recommendations in our directory. A colour change requires a full strip down though - it's not something I'd put my cars through. I'm very finicky about fit & finish.

Vinyl Wraps