[sushrutha]

Thanks MKC, Gaurav,
I have decided to go with 215/60 R15, thats the ideal upsize for Civic tyres.

Can something be done to increase the initial, first gear torque ?
I'm finding it to be very low, need to keep the accelerator pressed and increase the engine RPM to around 1,300 and then move the car, the car slightly shuddres/judders if the rpm is low.
Is this same with all CIVIC ?
When Idle, RPM is hovering at around 800.
Rest everything is fine with the car :-)

[sgiitk]

Honda engines are well known for low torque at low speeds. Nothing much can be done. You can see dyno data on GTOs threads.

[sushrutha]

@sgiitk I agree, but when I compare my civic with OHC, definetely OHC had a marginally better low end torque.
How easy/difficult is it to put an Header in a Civic to increase low end torque ?

[laluks]

Check with Red Rooster Racing. From the posts in this thread, it seems they have a solution off the shelf if the low end torque is that much of a worry.

[dot]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Thanks for the tip! Can you provide me the link that worked for you. I tried some links but didn't get anyone working for me!

Can you PM me, I can send the electronic copy as an attachment.

[DNM]

Hi Laluks,
I bought a Honda Civic 1.8S MT in 2006 and the car was a beauty till 2009.
From 2009, i have been receiving many problems in the car! And its not that i have not maintained my car well! I will upload an Ownership Review of my car and you can see it for your self!
The mileage i get is pathetic and a little embarrassing to tell in front of other car enthusiast, and seeing your comments, i realize that you love your Civic.. So i wont say anything more. I will link you the page of my Ownership review.
Do have a look at it!
Worried.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by DNM

Hi Laluks,
I bought a Honda Civic 1.8S MT in 2006 and the car was a beauty till 2009.
From 2009, i have been receiving many problems in the car! And its not that i have not maintained my car well! I will upload an Ownership Review of my car and you can see it for your self!
The mileage i get is pathetic and a little embarrassing to tell in front of other car enthusiast, and seeing your comments, i realize that you love your Civic.. So i wont say anything more. I will link you the page of my Ownership review.
Do have a look at it!
Worried.

@DNM - I know how it feels. Let us know what exact issues you are facing. Probably we all would have had such issues at some point or the other. Will wait for your review.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by sushrutha

Can something be done to increase the initial, first gear torque ?

Make sure your air filter is changed/cleaned. You can also try an aftermarket drop-in filter or do a K&N FPIK.

[singh.amrit]

Guys, I am planning to buy a 2006 civic (~6L), is it a good idea to wait for the new civic to expect a further price drop ? When is the new civic expected to launch ? (sorry if its the wrong thread)

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Make sure your air filter is changed/cleaned. You can also try an aftermarket drop-in filter or do a K&N FPIK.

Air filter is pretty much clean& it's almost new. I cleaned it twice in a span of a week.
Anything to do for the spark plugs/throttle body, aren't the Spark plugs Iridium one's(only change then once 1L Kms)

Originally Posted by singh.amrit

Guys, I am planning to buy a 2006 civic (~6L), is it a good idea to wait for the new civic to expect a further price drop ? When is the new civic expected to launch ? (sorry if its the wrong thread)

As long as the car has been maintained well with no issues. Go for it dude. That's a very good price for a CIVIC

[spadix]

I just got my car back from its 3rd free service today. I dropped her in yesterday with the odo reading 9543 for this 6 month/10k km service.

I had a bunch of complaints and had also raised a bit of a stink after the 2nd FS so both me and car were absolutely mollycoddled by Pride Honda this time around. The results are much better. Of course, it's been only 20-odd kms out of service but I couldn't hear any of the rattles, the car doesn't pull as much to the left now, if at all and the issues with the steering column (loose cover + creaks and squeaks) have all been fixed with one side effect. The horn button takes a lot more effort to press now but that's OK.

Total damages = INR 3647.58 (but as is the wont in Hyderabad these days even with a credit card I was charged the rounded-up figure of 3648).

This included the mandatory oil and filter change (~2700), wheel balancing (400) and alignment (350), one wheel weight (~54), replacement washer plug (~19) and a distilled water top up (~17).

The oil that was used was the Honda standard Idemitsu SM 0W30 spec synthetic. I did ask about Mobil1 casually and they said it's not available with Honda. In the market, apparently Mobil1's 0W30 is almost 6k for 3.8 ltrs (Idemitsu came to 2541). Slightly lower grade Mobil1 (10W30, perhaps) is around 4 or 4.5k.

I was also tempted for a bit to go with mineral (same service interval of 6 months/10k kms but at a considerably lower price). The SA said Honda insists on synthetic for Civic and above and allows mineral for the City and Jazz. I don't think there's any difference in the engines per se, so this is just to get a better margin out of those who drive costlier Hondas. He did mention that they do use mineral on Civics/Accords as well if the owner asks for it.

Regards,
spadix

[sgiitk]

@spadix: Mobil1 0W40 list is about 4600 for 4l. 10W30 will almost certainly be a semi-synth. The manual only talks of API-SL so even a decent mineral will be Ok. However, Honda does ship out the Civic with a synth! I had supplied my own Mobil1.

[dot]

Originally Posted by spadix

Of course, it's been only 20-odd kms out of service but I couldn't hear any of the rattles, the car doesn't pull as much to the left now, if at all and the issues with the steering column (loose cover + creaks and squeaks) have all been fixed with one side effect. The horn button takes a lot more effort to press now but that's OK.

Spadix, good to know that the steering column rattle has gone away. Did they tell you what was wrong?

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by spadix

Of course, it's been only 20-odd kms out of service but I couldn't hear any of the rattles

Great ! I've been thinking of asking them to check out the horn (1-2% of times, if I press the edge, it doesn't honk) and am hoping that trying to rectify the horn issue, might indirectly resolve the steering boss rattle

[spadix]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@spadix: Mobil1 0W40 list is about 4600 for 4l. 10W30 will almost certainly be a semi-synth. The manual only talks of API-SL so even a decent mineral will be Ok. However, Honda does ship out the Civic with a synth! I had supplied my own Mobil1.

Thanks for the info, Professor! I admit I was lazy in not doing my own research on the issue and relying on the SA for all of this information. Obviously he's bound to toot Honda's horn here. He did mention though that I could bring my own Mobil1 the next time if I'm not happy with the performance with Idemitsu. 4.6k is a little steep but if the benefits are tangible then why not?

By the way I asked him if Honda ships the Civic with synth and he said no. Did you hear the contrary from someone higher up in the Honda chain?

As far as I can make out, the engine is as smooth as it was when I bought the car. It got a little gruff after around the 9k km mark, which is perhaps to be expected as the oil was nearing replacement.

So, assuming the new oil is full-synth, it means Honda did ship it with synth (contrary to the SA's claim), unless there's a marked difference between engine smoothness between mineral and synth in Hyderabadi conditions. Phew (so may ifs and buts )!

Originally Posted by dot

Spadix, good to know that the steering column rattle has gone away. Did they tell you what was wrong?

Originally Posted by shuvc

Great ! I've been thinking of asking them to check out the horn (1-2% of times, if I press the edge, it doesn't honk) and am hoping that trying to rectify the horn issue, might indirectly resolve the steering boss rattle

Well, they tightened the cover assembly so that the top cover doesn't pop out now. That must've put paid to the squeaks/creaks/rattles from that general area. The side effect of it all is that the horn boss is tighter to press, but I'll live with this than with a creaky steering .

That horn boss loose contact kind of disappeared after I last wrote about it here and has yet to resurface. The incidence was very high just before and just after the 2nd FS (Oct-Nov 2010 timeframe). Not any more. I did mention it anyway and their response this time around was the same as during the 2nd FS, that they couldn't make out any such issue. Of course, with the problem now dormant at worst (and non-existent at best) I have no way of telling otherwise. The lack of reproducibility (assuming the problem is dormant) is the other concern of course.

Unfortunately, the rear parcel tray rattle restarted the very evening I made my previous post. As I mentioned, 20 kms after the service isn't enough to pass judgement on the car's behaviour. However, the intensity seems to be (again, as of now) far lesser than when I dropped the car off for service. I hope it doesn't worsen. I got in touch with the SA and he promised to come to my place to check it out over the weekend. That didn't happen at the appointed time, although he did call me up some 6.5 hours later and asked if he could come down. I'll get the rattle investigated some time this week and report back here.

Regards,
spadix