[DWC]

@frankmehta
any updates with regards to the performance of the car? Earlier, you had mentioned that you were planning on selling the civic. Any performance related reasons for the same? The reason i'm asking is because I am keen on picking up an AT civic and converting it to CNG myself.

I've also heard that after a few years of running a car on CNG, the car tends to lose its power and becomes a bit sluggish.

Nowadays, I've seen quite a few ads for pre-owned civics from 2006-2007 going for around 3.5 lakhs with around 40,000 - 50,000 kms on the odo. Apart from their age, these cars are in pretty immaculate shape. Is there any value in buying a 7-8 year old vehicle and fitting a CNG kit or should I be a little less penny foolish and look at a younger Civic?

[saurabhkum]

Originally Posted by DWC

@frankmehta
any updates with regards to the performance of the car? Earlier, you had mentioned that you were planning on selling the civic. Any performance related reasons for the same? The reason i'm asking is because I am keen on picking up an AT civic and converting it to CNG myself.

I've also heard that after a few years of running a car on CNG, the car tends to lose its power and becomes a bit sluggish.

Nowadays, I've seen quite a few ads for pre-owned civics from 2006-2007 going for around 3.5 lakhs with around 40,000 - 50,000 kms on the odo. Apart from their age, these cars are in pretty immaculate shape. Is there any value in buying a 7-8 year old vehicle and fitting a CNG kit or should I be a little less penny foolish and look at a younger Civic?

I don't think there are any performance related issues, I had walked the same path buying a Civic 06 done 28k, I got the car converted to CNG and today Car has done 16k Kms in last 8 months. I don't think you can go wrong if you get the proper kit for Civic. Also the fact that CNG cars loose their power after few thousand kms also doesn't hold true.I've seen cars crossing 1 Lakh mark with CNG kit without any issues.

[DWC]

Thanks saurabhkum. Where did you get your kit fitted. I hear sequential kits are the way to go with the civic according to some members here. Since you are from Mumbai, are you familiar with the new FutureInject CNG systems that are available in the market. have been noticing their ads in the papers and they claim to be better than sequential kits. Can anyone share some light on this?

[saurabhkum]

I got the kit from Suraj Autogas. I've also seen the ad for Futureinject system available now. I don't have much knowledge about this kit, but as per the ad given in newspaper looks like it has all the features of sequential kit also cost lesser than the sequential kit. You can speak to them to find out what's is the difference between both and if FutureInject system is more advance then how come costing is much lower than the sequential kit

[DWC]

Yes, I've only heard good reviews from Suraj auto gas. Wouldn't mind getting the sequential kit installed from there even though it may be an older technology than this new system. At least I will have peace of mind. Will give them a call and enquire about the new CNG system. Problem is they will obviously praise it vis-a-vis the sequential kit as it's good for business! Was hoping to get a independent review. Will post details about the kit after I speak to them.

[NaderBalooch]

Finally got the new kit installed. The very next morning I went to fill gas and as soon as the bonnet was opened there was a strong smell of gas which flew in my face. Immediately took it back to Suraj Autogas. They found the leakage and fixed it.

Although I'm not completely sure it has been. Get around 100 KM on a full tank. Can anyone confirm if they get around the same amount? I understand everyones mileage and driving situation is different but it would be easy to gage seeing some numbers.

A little off topic. The car has been 'shivering' a lot and when I took it to Honda they said the mounting is gone. Is it advisable to get it done from Honda or does anyone know someone who could do it for a lot cheaper? Currently they're quoting 10,000.

[Max]

100km on full tank is extremely low. Is your car civic?

[NaderBalooch]

Yeap. It's a honda civic AT 2007.

What should be the ideal average?

[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by Max

100km on full tank is extremely low. Is your car civic?

Hi @Max

It is the first fill of the gas that will always be way low. It will start picking w.e.f. the second refill of CNG, & some setting in initial days. I am sure @NaderBalooch would be getting good numbers now.

[Max]

Originally Posted by NaderBalooch

Yeap. It's a honda civic AT 2007.

What should be the ideal average?

You should be getting at least 12-15km average. I think your CNG kit is not properly tuned. Visit you installer and get it tuned properly. Also check out frank mahta's CNG conversion thread, he also have civic.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...tic-cng-6.html

I am regularly getting about 18-20km/kg in thane city with 70% air condition ON. I have open loop kit and I have tuned my kit for mileage.

[NaderBalooch]

CARDEEP - I recently refilled again and I got around 127km on 8 kg's of gas. ie. a full tank.

[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by NaderBalooch

CARDEEP - I recently refilled again and I got around 127km on 8 kg's of gas. ie. a full tank.

Hi @NaderBalooch

It means you got ~ 16 kmpkg on CNG as compared to 10 kmpl (optimistic estimate) on petrol... & CNG is around Rs.39/ kg (almost half that of Petrol price ). In this way, if you spent Rs.60k on the kit, you recover the cost in under 10k kms. You are bound to get return on amount invested (in terms incremental money spent on Petrol) after that & yet retain your Civic, which is a great car, no doubt.

[frankmehta]

As much as my heart bleeds to say this. but she is on sale guys. 25k km of bliss is coming to an end. She is being stripped off all the ICE tomorrow and I am putting her on the team bhp classifieds today.

[Jimmy_u]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

As much as my heart bleeds to say this. but she is on sale guys. 25k km of bliss is coming to an end. She is being stripped off all the ICE tomorrow and I am putting her on the team bhp classifieds today.

Hello Doc,

Been a fan of your blogs for quite some time now. Sad to see this post.

On another note , happy riding in your ZDI.

Cheers !!
Jimmy

[frankmehta]

Had one of the final few blasts with her today. Took the Eastern freeway and stood on the gas pedal. The CNG powered engine wound to 5500 RPM, shifted to second, again wound to 5000 rpm. My wife was following us in the Swift, and we all know the Swift can decimate most cars almost twice her budget. My wife was pushing hard too, (not racing but she was trying to keep up) but the Civic was just pulling away like it was nobody's business. 64500 km old and on an alternative fuel, and this baby drives like she's a performance sedan. It's just baffling how she pulls so well in all gears and revs so freely. Almost had tears in my eyes with the fun I had today :"-(

Mod Note: Team-BHP strongly discourages unsafe driving practices that put yourself and other road users at risk. Please do NOT post about illegally high speeds on public roads.