[raghu230506]

I know. Reaching audio controls from drivers seat is extremely painful and distracting. Those are some of the advantages ANHC has over Civic. Somehow Honda felt Indians who buy Civic don't drive them! I have rarely seen any chauffeured Civic in Bangalore. At least for AT models they should have provided it. Why would anybody buy AT if he is going to be driven around. And in fact many Altis cars are seen with drivers who can enjoy the steering audio controls, powered driver seat adjustment and lumbar support . Strange thought processes.

Yeh Vasoo,

I remember reading in the site that they have audio controls and cup holders on the rear arm rest why isn't it available in then?

Just rechecked it and it's mentioned in the site. Strange it's not in actual

Snippet:

Rear Seat Armrest With Audio Controls & Cup Holder with Lid With Audio Controls & Cup Holder with Lid


Source:

Honda Car India :: Civic

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Hmm it looks like the upgraded rear suspension isn't enough to stop the car from scraping the bumps. That probably means its a GC issue and not a problem due to the soft set up of the older Civic.

Try driving over humps at an angle. It may help.

GC is 170 mm for Civic which is 5 mm higher than ANHC and probably many other cars. The scraping issue seems to be a combination of GC, suspension setup and wheelbase in addition to the method adopted for measuring GC. If the measured GC is the height from road to the wheel joint areas, then it does not make sense since it also moved up in humps exposing other areas to scraping.

One good thing is that even after hard hits on some humps, nothing seems to have happened seriously except for a few scratches at the bottom.

Driving at an angle is not practical in most cases due to high traffic around. In fact the service guys ask to go straight and slow over humps without applying brakes. Driving at an angle may cause bottoming of some of the more critical parts which otherwise could be avoided.

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by raghu230506

Yeh Vasoo,

I remember reading in the site that they have audio controls and cup holders on the rear arm rest why isn't it available in then?

Just rechecked it and it's mentioned in the site. Strange it's not in actual

Snippet:

Rear Seat Armrest With Audio Controls & Cup Holder with Lid With Audio Controls & Cup Holder with Lid


Source:

Honda Car India :: Civic

There are audio controls in the center arm rest at back. That's why I mentioned that Honda believes Civic owners sit at the back.

[civic-sense]

What a beautiful car. And such a nice grin (grill).

Congrats!

Don't worry about the GC. You will get adjusted to it. Lately (last 1 month), I haven't hit even one bump, eventhough I drive in teh same Bangalore 'bumpy' roads.

About steering mounted audio controls, check the civic mods thread. Somebody had got them fitted (from the ANHC or Jazz) with some effort.

[pratim]

Hi Vasoo,
Congratulations for your new car. It's a great driver's car and I am sure this car will bring smiles to your face for years.

Originally Posted by vasoo

The AT transmission in S mode rarely shifts to first gear unless the car comes to almost a dead stop. I also observed that I could never get the transmission move from 3 to 2 while in S mode. It always jumps straight from 3rd to 1st gear. Not sure if any other Civic AT owners face this situation. I was surprised to see the car holding on to 3rd gear even at very low speeds (about 15kmph) and during steep climbs with 4 people and luggage on board.

I own ANHC AT. I have exactly the same observation as yours. Sometimes, I wonder why they have given the 2nd gear! I also noted that 2nd gear is not that exiting, as compared to 3rd and upward.

Enjoy your new ride and drive safe.

Cheers
Pratim

[Guna]

Originally Posted by vasoo

Driving at an angle is not practical in most cases due to high traffic around. In fact the service guys ask to go straight and slow over humps without applying brakes. Driving at an angle may cause bottoming of some of the more critical parts which otherwise could be avoided.

Idea of driving diagonally is that any one of the 4 wheels will be always over the hump while going over it, there by not letting the under belly to touch the hump.
But this can only work with humps which have a wide base (over 3 feet). But if you look at the humps in Bangalore, they have narrow base and are tall.

[mkc15]

Originally Posted by vasoo

AT really helped a lot in ghat roads and using paddle shift made it even sweeter by returning a better FE. The AT transmission in S mode rarely shifts to first gear unless the car comes to almost a dead stop. I also observed that I could never get the transmission move from 3 to 2 while in S mode. It always jumps straight from 3rd to 1st gear. Not sure if any other Civic AT owners face this situation. I was surprised to see the car holding on to 3rd gear even at very low speeds (about 15kmph) and during steep climbs with 4 people and luggage on board.

FE:
I found that using paddle shifts in S mode is pretty useful in irregular roads for extracting better FE. The idea is to let the car decide to do the downshifts (4>3>2>1) and we do the upshifts (1>2>3>4>5) whenever possible. This seems to help in reducing FE, specifically on twisty/ghat roads. I could change from 7 to 9.5 kmpl on certain stretches by employing this approach.

> Loud and scary thuds when bottoming on large humps

Congrats.

3rd gear is the most used. Yes, it pulls in 3rd even at 15kmph; can dead-start in 2nd! 3rd to 2nd is very unlikely in city driving as 2nd and 3rd seem to be quite overlapping. But 2nd and 3rd are a lot of fun on highways; 2nd being the best to readline and feel the power. Infact, 5th feels a yawn, but helps get better FE though. In S mode (without paddles), if you floor the pedal, it stays in 2nd till you reach around 5krpm!

Paddles can be used to save or burn fuel; thats the best part of it. One wont miss MT so much.

Are you sure its the suspension bottomming out? Rear suspension do give thuds due to its geometry (double wishbones); not necessarily bottom-out. Ride on rough roads is quite unsettled. I believe, double wishbones having limited travel/movement, is the cause.

About scraping bumps, I would say 2 things
1. Some moutains are impossible to avoid
2. Eventually, one will learn how to take them. You just need to feel the brakes so that you know when to brake/release. You need to be dead slow at times.

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by mkc15

...

Are you sure its the suspension bottomming out? Rear suspension do give thuds due to its geometry (double wishbones); not necessarily bottom-out. Ride on rough roads is quite unsettled. I believe, double wishbones having limited travel/movement, is the cause.

About scraping bumps, I would say 2 things
1. Some moutains are impossible to avoid
2. Eventually, one will learn how to take them. You just need to feel the brakes so that you know when to brake/release. You need to be dead slow at times.

Not sure if it is the suspension or some other parts. Its pretty loud and scary though. Yeah, I found that it is actually better go a bit fast on rough roads than go slow. It feels lot better inside and to drive. Brakes are outstanding, so it gives a lot of confidence to do some tricky maneuvers like overtaking on single lane roads.

[vasoo]

Had the lower part of my front bumper scratched on an uneven stretch between service road and main road on the ORR. Cannot be seen from front, but can be felt if I run my hand below the bumper. Not sure if dealers will be able to touch up the same in the next visit.

[raghu230506]

Originally Posted by vasoo

Had the lower part of my front bumper scratched on an uneven stretch between service road and main road on the ORR. Cannot be seen from front, but can be felt if I run my hand below the bumper. Not sure if dealers will be able to touch up the same in the next visit.

Oh that's unfortunate to happen.

I had a small spot on my rear bumper, Dakshin guys didn't fix it. I have been told that they won't do touch ups. Didn't check with other SA though,

On the other hand, B103's ANHC had the same issue (Front bumper scraped because of an hump) and in his case White Field Honda fixed it.

[vasoo]

Went to a short trip to Nandi Hills. Roads are pretty good almost all the way except the last stretch from bus stand to the top, which is a bit rough initially. Got an FE of about 13.5 kmpl. Hit a dog on the way back and the plastic/rubber thingie inside the front left mudguard came off! This is a pretty big piece and seems to cover the entire wheel well from inside. Have to get it fixed back or replaced this week. No visual damage on the car otherwise.

[vasoo]

I reached my hometown Kottayam yesterday evening after a day's stay near Mannarkad.

Drive was pretty good till Mannarkad from Bangalore. Took the route through Mysore > Gudallur > Nilambur > Wandoor > Pandikkad > Melattoor > Alanallur > Bheemanad > Kodakkad > Destination. Total distance 380 kms, journey time was approximately 10 hours including couple of hours in pit stops and for sight seeing. Good drive overall. Roads are a bit rough near Nanjangud. Otherwise it was pretty good. Managed to see a few deers and elephants on the route between Gundlupet and Gudallur.

Drive from Mannarkad to Kottayam was pretty tedious with heavy traffic on most roads from Thrissur onwards. Took the route Thiruvazhiyode > Cherplassery > Ananganadi > Vaniyamkulam > Kulappully > Shornur Bye-pass > Thrissur town > Angamali > Muvattupuzha > Kottayam. Total 195 kms. Took 5.30 hours for the overall trip. Road from Angamali to MVPA is pretty good.

[vasoo]

Some recent photos of the car taken from my mobile phone...

[jayanth_yk]

Oh..boy it looks really beautiful. I know AT is such a boon in bumper-bumper traffic.
BTW, I was seeeing the old pics that you posted, looks like it's Bangalore-Tumkur toll road correct? and what about the other not-so-good road where is it?

[Praveen1]

Have you used Cruise control in any of your highway drive?

Can't we use paddle shift in normal mode other than Sports mode? This is not the case in ANHC. P.Shift can be used in any modes. Pls confirm.

Love the way you drive. Extracting every drop of fuel with a very good FE.

My two cents: Try to ease-off the gas pedal at very 2.5k and allow to shift. This would be a best method to tame AT. May take sometime to practice.