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From this video, looks like it should fit any car with an H4 bulb.

https://youtu.be/PfJl-g8N6dU

It appears that I may need to change the battery on my 2014 City soon. I got the battery checked by an Amaron Authorized guy and he said one of the cells has gone weak. He recommended that I change in 2-3 months.

What battery do the experts on this forum recommend? Is Amaron better or Exide? Should I go for a battery with 4 years warranty or 5 years warranty. The battery with 5 years warranty costs an addl. thousand rupees.

Since your existing battery conked out in 3 years, why not go for one with a 5 year warranty.

2014 City onwards the headlights are separate for High and Low, as in double barreled headlamps. The bulb specs are HB3 and H11 for High and Low beams respectively. H4 won't fit.

I would recommend Amaron (Johnson Controls' India JV)- 4 years warranty . I too changed my battery on Feb-14 City a couple of months back to Amaron and am happy. Have been using Johnson Controls even abroad, had an opportunity to visit their impressive R&D at Glendale. Stock batteries that come with the car, irrespective of brand are never the best lot as they are built to a tight price point for the car manufacturer.

As called out by @outdoorlover, the stock batteries are usually not that great. I think the one they used is some SF Sonic (brand is not very legible)

Also 5 Year Warranty does not mean a 5 year free replacement warranty. It would be a free replacement warranty for half the term and for the remaining period it would be some percentage discount on new battery if purchased from the same brand.

Yes this is correct, in fact I have changed my low beams to Osram Nightbreakers Unlimited. Given that people say LED Bulbs give out White Light which supposedly does not work too well in Rainy conditions, this dual setup gives a benefit for people to have normal yellow light on one set and move to White light on the another so that the yellow light can be used during rains. Thanks for calling out the specs, I did not have those handy.

Agree the stock batteries do not last long. Mine will complete 3.5 years in a few days. As of now I am not observing any visible issues from an end user perspective. I got the check done as I planned a highway trip this weekend and found out about the weak cell. The Amaron guy says I can continue to use it for another 2 months safely. Did your battery show any early signs before failing or die out suddenly?

German -> Unreliable. DSG -> Unreliable. The iVtech performs better than then the 1.2 TSI across all parameters without a turbo. No turbo means a more reliable drive train. No idling rule to follow. No chances of a turbo failure. Sometime people buy for a valid reason.

When it comes to putting their hard earned money on a car, people (Indian buyers) make a very informed decision wrt., their priorities.

Although there is a tendency for the majority to follow herd mentality and blindly go for popular models, the popular models themselves have earned their rightful place (popularity and high sales) by proving to have what matters most for Indian buyers.

Just a quick glance and you'll find that all the popular models in India have the same common attributes.
- Their value (usability with minimum headache) typically last for a long long time (high part/component reliability on a longer term), that can take abuse given our hard driving conditions and thereby making them less depreciating.
- Good/acceptable looking at the given price point, high fuel efficiency, good service network and easy and cheaper to service, less fleecing during service and ability to get it serviced outside relatively easily.
- Bells and whistles (more at a lesser price point).

Hopefully, more buyers insisting on safety features will get added to the list in future (Not a high priority among majority of the buyers but hopefully awareness levels will rise with time)

Japanese and Koreans are culturally closer to Indians (as Asians) and understand our psyche way better our western counterparts.
- Their vehicles have a longer life by design.
- The mechanicals are relatively simpler compared to European and American more complicated designs. This (relatively) simplistic approach tend to make them easily servicable, more abuse friendly (they are tougher mechanically although the are built less tough compared to the western designs).
- Their approach to the service aspect is also very hospitable in the longer run.

There is no doubt that the feel, comfort, build and ride of western designs are typically better, but long term reliability is low and thereby their cars tend to loses value quickly. Also it may run flawlessly for 5 years (typical US/EU design life) after which servicing them will be more difficult and chances of getting fleeced is a lot higher (higher part failure on a longer run, so nobody wants to keep them longer and resale even usage of old vehicles. bombs big time). These factors shun the majority of the Indian customers away from the western design philosophy and embrace the Japanese and Korean design philosophy more.

Also the EU/US OEM have the tendency of thinking that Indians are gullible and will lap up everything they throw at us. Take for example the Logan, Renault assumed that it would sell like hot cakes because it is cheap, but the sales bombed. Reality is Indians want value not cheapness.

Even VW is doing the same mistake, they always tap on the body shell and proudly say 'Das Auto' Agreed and a strong body shell is very much required and they are very much appreciated for that, however, the internal mechanicals also should be long lasting for Indian conditions, just like their outer body shell. No one wants to end up with higher component failures after 5 years (failing injectors, failing suspension, mounting, power steering assemblies, fuel pump, injectors, timing assembly and what not that all cost a bomb. Not that these would fail, but the fear and chances of them failing are higher in a western designed car than a Jap car). If the car has to click in India, it should run trouble free for atleast 10 to 15 years with minimum servicing.

Also their strategy of launching older generation cars for the Indian market doesn't click here. Launching up-to-date design and model clicks and this is exactly what the Japs/Korean OEMs are doing, giving higher priority to the Indian market and launching the latest iteration of their models not old outgoing models.

I have the longest road trip(BLR-BBS, ~1500 KMs) planned this month end with my Honda City iVtec. The previous best is BLR-GOA, ~600 KMs trip.

I have done tire rotation, wheel balancing, wheel alignment at 5257 kilometers this weekend. Will also have the car serviced on 23rd September(3rd free service) which will include oil change and other standard checks. I will ensure all liquid levels are correctly checked, topped up during this. Will also procure some coolant, engine oil to have on standby.

Do you see any other preparations necessary for the vehicle prior to this trip.

Thanks,
Suryendu

Well, you have a new i-vtec and it's just serviced so you're good to go, I guess. It can't get better than this.

Engine oil, coolant, hydraulic fluids, windshield fluid, headlights and other lights, should be checked.

That said please check cold tyre pressure before commencing the trip. It's one detail you didn't mention. Unless it's done during the tyre rotation, that is.

Other things you can carry along is, torch, a heavy small metal object to break glass handy near driver seat, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, tyre puncture kit.

Thanks for the tips. I mainly use the car for long trips and it remains covered rest all days. Hence I make sure to check the tire pressure on previous day of the trip without fail even if it was done recently.:)

On another note, while doing the tire rotation in a nearby MRF shop, saw a suggestion of filling more air(3 psi) than recommended before starting off a long highway trip. This was in a best practices board. Any views on this?

I personally wouldn't suggest any tyre pressure other than what is suggested by the factory. Believe me, they have gone through and tested each and every scenario in much more scientific ways than what we ever will do, and hence come up with the recommendations. So I think it's plain stupid of people to still use their brains about this and do over-smart stuff.

People tend to overload the car either with people or cargo and then the extra pressure is logical, but the overloading and the resulting higher pressure both are wrong and technically putting all the passengers(and other road users) lives at potential risk. Now one has to decide if one wants to be a good motorist or a typical Indian motorist ;) . But keep in mind, with the "typical" choice, you're endangering someone else's life too. I wouldn't suggest. That's completely wrong.

You, sir, have a safe and exhilarating journey. i-vtec all the way!! :thumbs up

I would beg to differ here a little since we are talking about highway trips. That too, Bangalore to Bhubaneshwar which is great roads all through. The average speed of your car will be pretty high for extended periods of time. It is better to have at least 1-2 psi higher in that case. Normal tyre pressure would heat up the tyres faster. Even on the door sill of my car it is mentioned that for higher speeds the psi should be more. Though you would rarely do the speeds mentioned for 35psi, but there is a reason for it. Most tyres can take upto 45psi, however the recommended ones provides a good balance between comfort, FE, good for the suspension components, tyre wear, etc. On excellent road surfaces comfort wont be hampered if you have a psi or two more but will definitely help in less heat build up. Less psi = more friction/rolling resistance = more heat. Also more the pressure, less the chance for hydroplaning. The latter, wont be that much of an issue in city, but at highway speeds it helps.

Absolutely agreed and there is no second thoughts on this to stick with manufacturer recommended tire pressure. However, the best practices board that I saw was also from a reputed tire manufacturer and had specifically mentioned "Long Highway Trips". Hence wanted to have a second opinion. It does seem logical enough as window sill of a car also mentions two separate tire pressures for separate speeds. Although I will not be going anywhere near these speeds, I believe both vehicle manufacturer and tire manufacturer agree on this.




Thanks. This was the exact cause mentioned in the board and it specifically mentioned "Long Highway Trips"

I too have the City i-Vtec [2015 model]. I never went beyond 140 Kmph. This itself is for a small stretch. I am sure, 160+ is near to suicidal. So, the higher PSI is not necessary. This would be my take. As long as one maintains less than 160 Kmph, there is no need for higher psi on tires.
Couple of other things.
- Fill in Nitrogen. you would have less or no expansion.
- On a day, even if you are travelling close to 700 Kms, you would take at least about 3 breaks that would take care of tire cooling in your trip.

Prem.

If the car is being serviced once every six months as per Honda's guidelines, you don't need to check anything under the hood before going on the trip.

Just do a quick glance at the wiper fluid levels, engine oil level using dipstick and you should be fine.

I had done the same stretch and you can refer my travelogue in the travelogues section.
Since it was a loaded car, I had filled 33 PSI for the trip.