[arvi86]

Originally Posted by Habanero City

In my case I checked the 2 different materials that were shown for fixing the puncture (sorry I don't know the technical name). The ordinary one was white in color while the special one was red in color. The red one "looked and felt" better and may be imported I am not sure.
I was told that the red one will endure better than the white one.
I am not sure about this theory and quality of materials and so wanted to know from your experience.
Anyway glad that the problem is resolved, drive safe.

HC

Pardon my ignorance here. I am a complete novice when it comes to tires and fixing a puncture. As you said, I am glad that the problem is solved. Ever since I came back after fixing the puncture, I am not facing the under-inflation problem anymore.

On another note, as I had stated earlier, me and my cousins came back after a short three-day trip to Masinagudi (and Bandipur & Mudumalai) in the first week of October. The drive was great overall. The car behaved superbly as always and made me fall in love with it yet again. Rather than going at break-neck speeds, I chose to maintain a steady 100-120 kph through out the trip, given the roads permitted doing such speeds. A separate post with more details and photos from the trip is coming shortly. Until then, here are a few snaps of the car taken enroute and in and around Masinagudi, Bandipur and Mudumalai.








P.S: Even after 5 long years after its launch, I just can't stop ogling at the Civic, not just mine, but any damn Civic I see on the road. It is this obsession that's making me take so much snaps of the car every time I go on a drive. I do not know when this obsession is going to come down. Until then, I don't have an option but to let you all suffer.

[gaurav_diavolo]

Thanks for the pics! Its same here. I keep ogling at other Civics all the time. The obsession goes to the limit where whenever I see a Civic I slow down and ask my girlfriend 'it looks good no' and she always has only one answer 'I guess I am sitting in one'. And I keep playing with the Auto folding mirror button to leave an impression on the bikers on stop lights....n they drool too!!!! Its an awesome ride, take good care of it!

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by gaurav_diavolo

Thanks for the pics! Its same here. I keep ogling at other Civics all the time. The obsession goes to the limit where whenever I see a Civic I slow down and ask my girlfriend 'it looks good no' and she always has only one answer 'I guess I am sitting in one'.

Gaurav, it's good to see that there are similar souls like me wandering around in the roads. I have had the same incident when traveling in my Civic too, except that, instead of your girlfriend, it is my friends who keep telling the same.

On a different note, both me and the Civic just came home after a terrible day. The day started in a bad way when an early morning pick-up from the railway station ended with me hitting my Pulsar in the garage when trying to park the car. The Civic had a fairly significant cut in the lower left corner of the front bumper and a few scratches too. The bike was not spared too, as the Pulsar had suffered some damage in the fairing and in the headlight casing. If that was not enough, while returning home after a function an hour back, the Civic scraped its bottom no less than 4 times. Two of them were pretty bad hits too and I suspect some damage to the rocker panel as the impact seemed to be pretty heavy. They came as a total surprise too as we were driving through stagnant water and couldn't spot the crater sized pothole right in the middle of the road.

The recent monsoon spells had ravaged the Chennai city roads and they are nothing but a nightmare now. Need proof? Check out this video that was taken this Monday on my way to work. I was driving the car and my friend shot the video. Just an hour's rain and this is how an arterial road in Chennai is. When I see this, I get a doubt whether the Civic is a car or actually a boat made by Honda!

20111128-A rain soaked commute to work.3GP - YouTube

All in all, it's not only the Civic that has suffered quite a few damages this week but my heart too as it breaks every time something like this happen to the car. But, all we in India can do is to live with whatever damn infrastructure that is provided to us. Honda, can you please increase the ground clearance of the next-gen Civic without any second thoughts?

[arvi86]

Hmm, there was yet another example today of how quickly life moves on. As I was busy working this morning, I get a call and a lady at the other end says "Hello, Good Morning Sir! We are calling from _____ Honda. Your car, Civic, is due for its next service. Can I fix up an appointment?" I was like, "What, It was not very long ago that I gave the car for a service". The lady replies "Sir, you gave it on 1st week of September and it is three months since". And the conversation went on like this:

Me: The Owner's Manual states 5000 km or 6 months whichever is earlier.
Her: Sir, this is just a simple service, not the regular service, just a check-up kind of thing.
Me: What? Simple service? Not a regular service? I don't understand.
Her: Ok sir. You can bring your car whenever it is needed.
Me: Thanks, will call and fix up an appointment before I come with the car.
Her: Than You Sir!

I just did not realize that it has been 6 months now since I bought the car. If the lady hadn't called, I would not have realized that at all. Since I took ownership, I gave the car for its 30K service in the 1st week of June and for its next service in the 1st week of September. It just feels like yesterday when I gingerly drove the car home. Time literally is flying!

Meanwhile, I just wanted to check up with all the Civic owners out here in the forum. How frequently do you give the car for service? I really do not mind giving the car and getting it checked every 3 months, but the question is, "Is it really essential"? Aren't Hondas reliable enough to run without visitng a dealership for 6 months? With Volkswagen having a 1 year service interval for their cars, I find this 3 months interval of Honda dealerships pretty amusing. Please suggest folks..

[dipen]

For the civic on regular engine oil
- get the oil change done independently outside @ 5000 km or 6 months whichever earlier
- car check-up and service at dealership once a year

For the civic on Mobil 1 or fully synthetic engine oil
- get the oil change done independently outside @ 10000 km or 1 year whichever earlier
- car check-up and service at dealership once a year

[dot]

I agree with dipen. 3 months service is too frequent and redundant.

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by dipen

For the civic on regular engine oil
- get the oil change done independently outside @ 5000 km or 6 months whichever earlier
- car check-up and service at dealership once a year

Thanks a ton dipen. Mine runs on regular engine oil, so will get it changed @ 5000 km or 6 months as is the case.

Originally Posted by dot

3 months service is too frequent and redundant.

Thanks dot. Though Honda dealerships across the country are insisting on this 3 months service frequency, I wonder why Honda has not come out strongly against them? Doesn't this damage the reputation and image of Honda?

[arvi86]

I have heard many people saying that the month of December is usually a lean period as far as official commitments are concerned. I say "To Hell with it". When most others were breaking away from work planning their holidays in the festive season, there I was sitting at my work-place and trying to understand the nuances of a new and challenging assignment. This has been one of the busiest months for me, both on and off work, throwing my other activities in jeopardy. Availability of time had become such a constraint that I have lost track of quite a few Team-BHP threads that I had been following regularly. When such is the status of one of my most favorite past-times, you can just imagine how the other lesser-preferred things would have been.

Meanwhile, I am glad that I could pull some time out of this extra-ordinarily busy month and meet a like-minded friend who was even-more-hard-working-in-December. He is a BHPian and his ride has been a self-confessed inspiration for me to go for my Civic. Still guessing? Here are a couple of snaps of his ride that were very influential in my decision.




No prizes for guessing now. It is none other than Rohit, owner of the Grey Shark and more popularly known as Ace_F355.

Everything, I mean everything in the world were conspiring against us to not let this meeting happen. My official commitments, Rohit's meetings and a sudden business trip out of Chennai, the confusing Chennai roads, his driver who couldn't understand Tamil and finally, the rush-hour Chennai city traffic. Against all these odds, when I finally reached our designated place (Nungambakkam) that we spoke and agreed, I get a call from Rohit telling me that he is stranded at the other corner of the city (Kathipara Junction) trying to reach the place where I am waiting. Then, I ask him to wait right there in the road and I start driving to the place. Finally we met at 08:45 PM, far from our scheduled time of 07:00 PM. Since I was rushing to the airport to pick up my cousins, we could only manage to sit and share our thoughts for 20-odd minutes. Thanks Rohit, for taking time off and braving all odds. You are such a nice guy and it was great talking to you about cars, cars and more cars.

When I was driving home after meeting Rohit, I was thinking about you dot and mdsaab. It's been 4 times I have visited Pune after I bought the Civic but unfortunately, I haven't met you guys yet. Apart from the wonderful car that it is, it is friends like these that the Civic has brought into my life that makes me happy and content.

PS: Here is a quick snap of Rohit posing with my Civic (I know this isn't as beautiful as your Shark, Rohit). Apologies for the horrible quality of the snap though.

[dot]

Originally Posted by arvi86

When I was driving home after meeting Rohit, I was thinking about you dot and mdsaab. It's been 4 times I have visited Pune after I bought the Civic but unfortunately, I haven't met you guys yet.

And you knew that we are going to read this. LOL.
Just yesterday I was driving on the same intersection where you had once spotted Scorponok. I was thinking of you and wondering whether you have stopped coming to Pune or what.

It was good to hear that Ace and you met.

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by arvi86

When most others were breaking away from work planning their holidays in the festive season, there I was sitting at my work-place and trying to understand the nuances of a new and challenging assignment.

It was really nice meeting you as well, Arvi! Busy times during our job happen, I certainly don't mind it at all as long as I am exploring new things and places along side of my work. During this trip, it was Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Vietnam for me. Wonderful places!!!

Originally Posted by arvi86

Finally we met at 08:45 PM, far from our scheduled time of 07:00 PM.

My pleasure it was and special thanks to you for taking the time out from your busy schedule and taking the pain to reach Le-Meridien to meet me up!

Originally Posted by arvi86

Here is a quick snap of Rohit posing with my Civic (I know this isn't as beautiful as your Shark, Rohit).

You can't really be serious! There is a Civic out there with a 'Love Cars Live Cars' sticker and you are thinking its not beautiful! Sinful thought, I would say.

Thanks for sharing the pic. Where is the other one with both of us in the frame?

Also, Would you awfully mind sharing your other secret about redlining your car that night? Some elaboration wrt your experience please!

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by dot

And you knew that we are going to read this. LOL.

Well, yeah!

Originally Posted by dot

Just yesterday I was driving on the same intersection where you had once spotted Scorponok. I was thinking of you and wondering whether you have stopped coming to Pune or what.

I have to admit that though Civics are dime a dozen in Pune, yours stood out in the crowd. Imagine, I was able to identify your car from the opposite lane amidst a sea of traffic in a window time of just 20-25 seconds. Maybe, I am destined to meet you and Scorponok up close and personal in 2012.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

It was really nice meeting you as well, Arvi! Busy times during our job happen, I certainly don't mind it at all as long as I am exploring new things and places along side of my work. During this trip, it was Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Vietnam for me. Wonderful places!!!

I was, am and will continue to be impressed by the nature of your job buddy. Its good to hear that you enjoyed your stay here and in the other two places. By the way, did you go back and sit behind the wheel of the Shark? I am sure it would have been great to do that after a rather prolonged period.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

You can't really be serious! There is a Civic out there with a 'Love Cars Live Cars' sticker and you are thinking its not beautiful! Sinful thought, I would say.

Can you see a Civic in Chennai blushing on hearing this Ace?

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Thanks for sharing the pic. Where is the other one with both of us in the frame?

Unfortunately, it has not come out well. I will try editing it and then post.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Also, Would you awfully mind sharing your other secret about redlining your car that night? Some elaboration wrt your experience please!

Oh well, the video that you shared with me got me really hooked on, to put it mildly.

For other friends who do not know what happened, I was just casually telling Ace that I have red-lined my car just once when he showed me a video in which he had red-lined the Shark in each gear touching speeds in excess of 200 km/h. I was so charged up on seeing that, on the way back home when I found an empty stretch of road, I stood on the gas pedal in second gear. And boy oh boy, it was surreal doing it after a long time and I realized how much fun I was missing all these days.

By the way, to all Civic owners in the forum, what is the mileage that you folks get inside the city? Mine is a manual and I regularly get something between 8 to 9 km/l. I have seen many owners in this forum getting more than that even with automatics. As far as my driving style goes, I am soft on the throttle and I do not rev the engine much. The only thing that I think is wrong in my driving style is I drive with half-clutch when in stop-start traffic. I am just curious to find out whether my driving style should be changed to increase the fuel efficiency of my car. Any suggestions/feedback from you would help.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by arvi86

Well, yeah!
By the way, to all Civic owners in the forum, what is the mileage that you folks get inside the city? Mine is a manual and I regularly get something between 8 to 9 km/l.

I get 11-12 and at times even 13 kmpl but i have put on certain restrictions on myself to get this figure.
1-I try not to use the civic during evening on weekends and prefer my oldie 800.

2-Most of my driving lies on the western express highway.

3-I do not push the car beyond 3k rpm as anyways traffic does not allow to do me so.Most of the time it is 2k-2.5k

Once a while i would revv the car max till 5K rpm but i find myself reaching insane speeds at those revs and so ease off.Frankly i don't find the need to push the car at high revs as it overtakes most other vehicles at < 3k rpm mark

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

I get 11-12 and at times even 13 kmpl but i have put on certain restrictions on myself to get this figure.

Wow! That's great sumeet. I would love to have those figures for my car too. Alas, if wishes were horses.

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

1-I try not to use the civic during evening on weekends and prefer my oldie 800.

2-Most of my driving lies on the western express highway.

3-I do not push the car beyond 3k rpm as anyways traffic does not allow to do me so.Most of the time it is 2k-2.5k

Option 1 & 2 are ruled out. I do not have the luxury of another car nor do I have a highway close to home. I am already following Option 3. For 99% of the situations, I do not rev the engine beyond 2500 rpm.

I have to do something about this alarmingly low mileage. 8 to 9 km/l is a very low figure for Honda i-VTEC standards.

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by arvi86

I was, am and will continue to be impressed by the nature of your job buddy. Its good to hear that you enjoyed your stay here and in the other two places.

Dude, I hope everyone in Chennai is fine! Sorry, couldn't warn you about Storm 'Thane' even though I had crucial updates from NASA since past 3 days. Anyway, the cyclone will start dispersing by tomorrow noon. I wish you people good luck, neighboring districts are still on red alert!

I drove the shark after getting back to Delhi on Monday, munching another 450 kms. 8-9 kpl is rather low, do you do a lot of short runs? They tend to return this sort of FE.

Put that awesome i-vtec to good use whenever you can. Afterall, you are entitled to have your share of fun with the car, don't you?

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Dude, I hope everyone in Chennai is fine! Sorry, couldn't warn you about Storm 'Thane' even though I had crucial updates from NASA since past 3 days. Anyway, the cyclone will start dispersing by tomorrow noon. I wish you people good luck, neighboring districts are still on red alert!

Phew! Do not ask me about it. I usually do not venture out when it rains except for the unavoidable stints related to work and back. But, I have literally been in the road for the past two days and it has been raining like hell with both the man and the machine bearing the brunt of it. Today morning, it was worse with gusty winds and heavy rains accompanied by thunder. Thankfully, the rains have just about stopped. Being the usual crazy guy that I am, here is a snap that I took yesterday when I was waiting by a sweet shop because the road ahead was jammed due to a huge tree branch falling right in the middle of the road.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

8-9 kpl is rather low, do you do a lot of short runs? They tend to return this sort of FE.

Ya, I know that 8-9 km/l is very low because I have got amazing figures of upto 15.7 km/l during one of my long drives. Having said that, most of my current usage consists of a number of short runs inside Chennai city. By the way, I just returned after filling a tank-full of the ever-increasing fossil fuel. The figure has improved ever so slightly this time to 9.31 km/l.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Put that awesome i-vtec to good use whenever you can. Afterall, you are entitled to have your share of fun with the car, don't you?

Advice taken!