[thetinywanderer]

I never imagined I’d be back in the hunt for a new ride so soon, but life (and mechanical gremlins) had other plans. For 2-3 years, my trusty Skoda Laura has been nothing short of a delight—smooth, planted and endlessly fun to drive! If you’d like a deeper dive into that journey, you can find my full ownership thread here: My 1-Year Ownership of a Used Skoda Laura (2024). (My 1 year ownership of buying an used Skoda Laura in 2024)

Sadly, a sudden engine misfire—traced to leaky piston rings—brought our adventure to an abrupt halt, and my Laura was ultimately scrapped. You can read all about the mishap and the decision point in this follow-up thread: Skoda Laura – End of Life or Will It Live Again? (Skoda Laura - End of life or will it live again?)

With the Laura chapter closed, I found myself unexpectedly in the market again. I wasn’t looking to splurge, but I was determined to find something that still felt special every time I slid behind the wheel, given the bar Laura had set. Honestly, I was ok with another inexpensive Laura but the older models are quite notorious for dead ends, so chose to stick with Honda and revisit my old friend – the Honda Civic.

I’d actually owned a 8th-gen Civic manual a few years back. On open roads, its rev-happy 1.8-litre i-VTEC and crisp gearbox made every corner enjoyable. But in stop-go Bengaluru traffic, the lack of low-end torque had me slipping the clutch and hunting for gears more often than I’d like. The idea of the same car with an automatic gearbox—and cruise control—suddenly sounded very appealing. Especially with so many examples for inspiration across the country and in eastern markets.

So when I came across a decently kept, low-mileage 2013 Civic, complete with cruise control and a sunroof, I went straight to check it out:

Odo Reading: 47K km and a half-decent service history (no ASS service since the last 3 years)
Condition: Clean engine bay, no warning lights, well-maintained interiors, got it checked mechanically and there was the dreaded steering system issue which I kinda expected anyway. Suspension needed overhaul but rest looked good.
Price: Competitive enough to leave room for any mechanical TLC + mods I might want to do

A short test drive sealed the deal. The AT pulled smoothly from zero, and shifting between eco-friendly city speeds and brisk highway runs felt seamless (I cross the Atal Sethu 3-5 times a week, sometimes more). I could already imagine tackling the monsoon-soaked ghat roads on this plus enjoying long drives on the expressway with cruise control engaged.

I don't have a lot of the pictures of it when I just got it, here is one that I found - bone stock, hardened old tires and pretty acceptable overall.


As soon as I got the possession, below are the things I took care of,

• General maintanance, most fluids replaced - engine, brake, coolant)
• The tyres on my old, Laura were very new, and I also wanted to keep R16 and not R15, got hold of some used Audi A4 rims which matched the PCD of the Honda and IMHO fit the aesthetic, although I needed hub centric rings (which took me forever to figure)
• The steering system was checked, luckily, it was just a few leaky hoses. Replacing which the whining noise went away. Fingers crossed from here
• Rotors were machined, brake pads replaced with new ones
• Got rid of some stickering and blacked out all chrome
• Installed the Android head unit from my old car, also moved the speakers and subwoofer
• The car got robust sound dampening - doors, trunk, wheel well, where ever possible
• wheels painted in Satin Gunmetal and calipers in Porsche Speed Yellow (a shade darker from this)
• suspension overhaul with TRWshocks and new bushing set

Maybe I have spent too much time and money on this , but I am liking how it's turn out to be and below or a few thoughts on the drive, especially comparing it with the Laura

Suspension Smoothness: The Laura’s ride was almost BMW-like—settling into bumps with grace and absolutely PLANTED! The Civic’s setup is confusing me a bit, I don't remember how my older civic felt, but given my immediate experience. This civic was just not as planted and was a bit wobbly for lack of a better word. I was not able to figure if it was because of this particular car or civic in general, just have not so great ride quality. After the suspension overhaul and getting hub centric rings drastically improved the ride - I am still getting used to this. Even considered Tien dampers but then dropped the idea.

Steering/ cabin Feel: The Laura offered weighty, confidence-inspiring heft but a very avg cabin experience; the Civic obviously nails this - still doesn't get old, and the steering feel and heft is still there. The android HU helps bring it out of the 2010s. The civic wins when it comes to comfort.

Engine Character: This is where obviously I'm feeling the biggest difference I definitely miss the turbo, and also getting used to this high revving screamer!

NVH (Noise-Vibration-Harshness): Whisper-quiet at 100 km/h in the Laura; the Civic admits more wind and road chatter - the sound damping has helped, but to an extent.

Some pictures of it here,

























I am trying to bring this back to its original driving condition as much as possible, while keeping a very vanilla/ clean look. There are a few more small changes pending, which I should be done in the next month or so, and will post an update here with more pictures, hopefully, I would have gotten some opportunity to take this outside the city as well.

Something stupid I have been thinking of doing given the car won't be seating more than two people most of the time is to get rid of the rear seats (both the seat and the backrest so it connects the inside connects into the boot) to make space for easy transportation of my bicycle, sometimes two. I was spoiled with the food space on the Laura - especially with the seat folding down and the hatch like boot lid made it super efficient for transporting in my use case. I can get the seats removed and kept aside till whenever I need a capacity of 4, else get the floor carpeted to make it look neat and unlock massive space for cargo + reduce weight

Thoughts, advice, and recommendations are welcome

[nik0502]

Congratulations on the car tinywanderer,

I loved the Laura back in the days. I used to drive a Ford Fiesta and had my eyes set on Laura back in 2014 however the frequent reports of compressor failure with highly priced spares made me rethink the decision. Finally picked up a 2010 VAT in Black Colour. This was the facelift same as yours. The car was phenomenal. I had it for 9.5 years and enjoyed every day of owning it. I had to sell it due to the 15 years rule in NCR. The car had also started giving troubles in last 2 years of ownership. I had picked up a 2020 Ecosport AT in 2021. It has similar power figures and matched the equipment list in Civic. However it’s nowhere close to Civic when it comes to driving pleasure. Have plans of buying a new VW Virtus sometime in future. Civic is hell of a car. Keep Enjoying.

[Utopian]

Despite all that years, the design is timeless. I feel white suits it even more and those black alloys complement the look quite well. Having driven my friend's car with the stock tyres, I hate to think how yours will respond to speed breakers with this upsize. Also do check the suspension behaviour at slightly higher speeds like 100, with people sitting in a back. It tends to get floatier with time.

Wish you loads of happy miles. Despite its eccentricities, this car is a keeper.

[GTO]

The 8th-gen Civic was the icon of its segment! Congrats on the buy. These go really, really cheap today and are great value for money. Your car gives me vibes of my own car, especially in the side shots. White, black rims, similar plates...



It's got a fabulous steering and extremely revv-happy engine. Made for a freeflow sporty exhaust. On the downside, the low-end torque is poor, but that won't bother you because you got the lovely AT. Mine was the MT and I'd gotten a RaceDynamics power box, K&N Typhoon specific to the Civic, exhaust focused on low-end torque).

You must get the coil-spring adjusters at the rear - will make the butt tighter and lessen the sagging, although your 2013 suspension is already better than the early 2006-07 Civics - related thread (Coil Spring Adjusters : VFM Fix for the Honda Civic's (lousy) soft rear suspension?).

Congratulations & happy modifying. This guy is built for customisation. Your Civic is just 10 years old, so you have at the minimum 5 healthy years left in the car.

[TheHelix0202]

Congratulations, the car looks sick!

I was in the same boat (Skoda -> Civic) a few months back, but the plan didn’t seem feasible at the time.

Even now, I wish to get my hands on a nice post ‘08 V MT/AT (sunroof)!