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Old 26th September 2006, 10:34   #61
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ST7677
Ok, my first gripe with the car...

With full load the car does scrap a badly designed speed breaker :(

What do I need to do to save my underbelly?

Rest all is too good, I am loving it
The GC of the Civic is actually 170mm, same as that of new Corolla (earlier it was 180mm) and OHC and much better than NHC (160mm). I have seen the underside of the civic and it is really very very clean, nothing much except the exhaust pipe runs under the body - and yes there is only one muffler, unlike 2 in the OHC. (not counting the CC).

Nothing much I guess, ask the dealer after a few weeks. Maybe he can reapply the anti-corrosion where it got scraped off. I always got the remark on my OHC - minor damage to I beam/apron - where occasionally it would scrape. I never bothered about it and I had no problems.
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Old 26th September 2006, 12:39   #62
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Truely speaking GC is not a very correct measure to use!
How much a car will bottom out depends on lot of other factors too... as in this case... Also I am not sure if GC is 170 when fully loaded...

The issue is with the long wheel base, what happens as on some sickly made speedbreakers where width of the speedbreaker is less and height is more. In such scenarios, front wheels are in front of Speed braker and rear wheels are behind and the belly is on the speed breaker! :(

I blame the PWD more for this than the car... but then while driving you do need to be carefull at times.
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Old 26th September 2006, 15:35   #63
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ok let's look underside of the car...



Same side another view...


Other side view...


you can see some scratches, but this looks like a safety frame and nothing to worry about...
Everything seems to be neatly tucked in and nothing to really get damaged by the speedbreakers...
Still I am considering some coating to prevent scratches/rust in long term.

Note: Is there any underbody coating??? Doesn't look like one... :(
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Old 26th September 2006, 15:41   #64
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ST7677
ok let's look underside of the car...

Note: Is there any underbody coating??? Doesn't look like one... :(
There are some available easily and you should be able to get it from your local Honda dealer. Any good, independent workshop will also have it. I've seen one mnufactured by 3M being used by Hyundai people.

It's basically a black spray-on substance which coats the whole underbody including the wheel wells.
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Old 26th September 2006, 16:03   #65
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The car already has underbody anti rust treatment, which is what I think you are talking about.

But with every scrap that will get removed, so what I am looking for is an anti abrassion coating in the center area...
Any ideas on that?
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Old 26th September 2006, 16:31   #66
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ST7677
The car already has underbody anti rust treatment, which is what I think you are talking about.

But with every scrap that will get removed, so what I am looking for is an anti abrassion coating in the center area...
Any ideas on that?
I don't think you should worry about every scrape that happens to your car. Newer vehicles have good quality under coating from the factory itself & not every scrape is going to rust. I would recommend you get it done after a year or so of driving the car as till then you would have a lot of scrapes on the underside & you can have it applied completely all over rather than just appying it on a few scrapes and wasting money.

Rust is not that big a danger on modern cars anyways if they are washed & serviced regularly. It's an issue in coastal areas due to the salt content in the air like Mumbai but certainly not in Bangalore.
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Old 26th September 2006, 16:35   #67
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I guess you are right, I was unnecessarily worried...

Ok more pictures time...

The brilliant dashboard... (there is no glare / distraction at night)





Nappa leather Seats...





And as some one requested for a photo of A/C vents for rear passenger (under both the front seats)

with some popcorn
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Old 28th September 2006, 23:24   #68
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Hi,

I guess everybody is talking of repairs. To avoid belly scraping

The Obvious
1. Lower speeds help definitely if possible try that.

Not so obvious
1. Try taking the car in a slightly diagonal way. The more diagonal your car is, the lower the chances of belly scraping. Effectively what you are doing here is reducing the wheelbase in some fashion. Definitely helps!! Just be careful not to get hit by somebody while changing lanes.
2. Do not break just before a speedbreaker and then jump over it. This way your car has a pendulum like motion due to the suspension and has a lower GC than what is quoted - at this point in time with the actual GC as the pivot. Avoid this.
better way would be to break earlier than the speed breaker thus killing the up/down movements and go at a constant speed over the speed breaker(in a diagonal fashion).

Civic does have a slightly softer suspension than the corolla and hence would have a higher tendency to scrape even if GC is the same. By cutting down up/down movements by breaking early, you can negate this disadvantage to a great deal thus avoiding the irritating 'scrape' sound.
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Old 28th September 2006, 23:27   #69
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Buddy. your car screams that its new!! Wow!!
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Old 29th September 2006, 09:30   #70
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Subbarp,
Your inputs are veryt helpful, specially the pendulam part
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Old 29th September 2006, 10:53   #71
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[quote=subbarp]Hi,



2. Do not break just before a speedbreaker and then jump over it. This way your car has a pendulum like motion due to the suspension and has a lower GC than what is quoted - at this point in time with the actual GC as the pivot. Avoid this.
better way would be to break earlier than the speed breaker thus killing the up/down movements and go at a constant speed over the speed breaker(in a diagonal fashion).
QUOTE]

Brake early and when the wheels are near the breaker, accelerate to sihft the weight to the back. When the weight shifts back to the front, the rear lifts accordingly
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Old 1st October 2006, 10:13   #72
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ST7677, man congratulation on your new car. It rocks! Keep us updated with your experience with civic. take care.
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Old 19th October 2006, 08:46   #73
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Thanks Ajmat,

Your tips were helpful. I am doing well over speedbreakers now!
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Old 25th October 2006, 10:10   #74
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Any long term reports on the Civic AT?
I am interesting in going for it as the AT is easier for my dad to drive and for bangalore city traffic it would be a boon.
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Old 25th October 2006, 14:20   #75
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any one going for the civic should atleast take a test drive of the automatic,feeling of the paddleshift is a wonder.f1 feel.
ram
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