[shuvc]

Originally Posted by cityvic

the headlight stalk?like in the city zx?

Yes it is on the headlight stalk. Ring-like. Twist to operate.

[Motoringlover]

Hey Shuvc - Congrats on the acquisition.

I have been a avid follower of this thread and may very soon follow your footsteps of acquiring the dream machine.

I know you may have very addressed some of the questions in part, I guess this is just more for supporting my own decision making process – Please pardon me if I am being repetitive.

1. How has the car been to live with – We have all spoken extensively about the GC issues, is this such a big problem, especially with the upgrade of rubber (congrats on the yokos), well - it’s certainly confidence inspiring on the small loss of GC – Do you feel any change at all or feel that a tad bit extra gc was essential – Would appreciate your thoughts.

2. New Vs Old – Like you have mentioned in the beginning of your thread – this will be a big step up for me too, do you feel by going for a new face lifted civic, you have gained benefits Vis a Vis a old civic ( I am almost getting tempted towards a 1 year old), but also feel at the same time why not go for a new. This is no longer logic driven and purely aspiration-al.

3.Bad Weather conditions – I currently live in Hyderabad – Where I guess – some parts may be comparable to the lunar surface and the recent rains just provide that extra bit for adventure on the road, have you experienced any issues in such conditions.

Your thoughts are much appreciated.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by Motoringlover

3.Bad Weather conditions – I currently live in Hyderabad – Where I guess – some parts may be comparable to the lunar surface and the recent rains just provide that extra bit for adventure on the road, have you experienced any issues in such conditions.

I can chat with you at length about this question .

Of course you can find some Hyderabad-specific information in my ownership thread too.

Regards,
spadix

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by Motoringlover

Hey Shuvc - Congrats on the acquisition.

I have been a avid follower of this thread and may very soon follow your footsteps of acquiring the dream machine.

I know you may have very addressed some of the questions in part, I guess this is just more for supporting my own decision making process – Please pardon me if I am being repetitive.

1. How has the car been to live with – We have all spoken extensively about the GC issues, is this such a big problem, especially with the upgrade of rubber (congrats on the yokos), well - it’s certainly confidence inspiring on the small loss of GC – Do you feel any change at all or feel that a tad bit extra gc was essential – Would appreciate your thoughts.

2. New Vs Old – Like you have mentioned in the beginning of your thread – this will be a big step up for me too, do you feel by going for a new face lifted civic, you have gained benefits Vis a Vis a old civic ( I am almost getting tempted towards a 1 year old), but also feel at the same time why not go for a new. This is no longer logic driven and purely aspiration-al.

3.Bad Weather conditions – I currently live in Hyderabad – Where I guess – some parts may be comparable to the lunar surface and the recent rains just provide that extra bit for adventure on the road, have you experienced any issues in such conditions.

Your thoughts are much appreciated.

Sorry. Was out of circulation for a few days. Missed your post.

GC has not been much of an issue. And I'm not really extra careful on bad roads. The bottom has hit a bump 3-4 times in 5K kms, but I'd attribute those to me being adventurous, since I've crossed the very same bumps on many other occasions without any issue. Yes I probably need to be a tad more careful than in the Baleno. But hey, I'm willing to live with that, since it makes me slow down for bumps and thus it's easier on the suspension ! The Baleno suspension has surely had a tougher workout in it's lifetime !!

Having said that, > 90% of my overall usage is on good roads.

I prefer the new face of the Civic to the old one. Specifically the smoked headlamps (which I think looks fab with the white colour) and the 'inverted' airdam below the grill. Inverted with respect to what it was earlier. The only thing I wish the new face had, are the erstwhile trapezoidal fogs. I prefer them to the current oval lamps. I also prefer the earlier round taillamps to the new octagonal ones.

Bad weather - umm, nope have not experienced much. The usual slush on the road etc, but no wading through deep stagnant water.

The one thing that makes the purchase worthwhile (and was one of the primary reasons for choosing it over the Cedia), is the satisfaction I have in admiring the looks every time I approach the car ! That feeling day-in-day-out justifies the money spent (or rather being spent every month !!). I still have similar feelings for the Baleno for 4.5 yrs and counting.

[vasoo]

Regarding bad weather, I have very good experience in my last two long trips. I must say that the car performs extremely well in heavy rain. The visibility is very good in comparison to my older cars and never had to stop for the lack of it. In my last trip to Kerala, there were instances when I found most vehicles stopped by the road side due to heavy rains and dark conditions. But I never felt the need for it. And this was when we were going downhill through twisty ghat roads towards Nilambur near Kerala border. Wiper was at full speed and very effective. Using a good hydrophobic coating such as Rain-X or Aquapel on the windscreen should help things even better.

[Motoringlover]

Thanks Shuvc and Vasoo, thoughts much apppreciated.

[johy]

Hey Shuvo,

I don't know how I missed it before (probably cause the picture was never posted), but the Regn No on your Civic is just the same as on my WagonR - 3470 LOL

I am so glad you have not scraped the car too much - that is what I always keep on thinking whenever I see a Civic.

Yes, and I liked the round tail lamps better.

BTW, how much do these wipers cost?

[spadix]

Originally Posted by shuvc

Yes I probably need to be a tad more careful than in the Baleno. But hey, I'm willing to live with that, since it makes me slow down for bumps and thus it's easier on the suspension ! The Baleno suspension has surely had a tougher workout in it's lifetime !!

+1 (just s/Baleno/800/ in my case).

90+% of my commute too is on fab roads, but that 10% more than makes up for the rest of it, sometimes. It's like cricket. All it takes is one bad shot to get out even after making a ton. Similarly, all it takes is one moment of indiscretion over a badly potholed stretch to ruin that particular run .

Originally Posted by shuvc

I prefer the new face of the Civic to the old one. Specifically the smoked headlamps (which I think looks fab with the white colour) and the 'inverted' airdam below the grill. Inverted with respect to what it was earlier. The only thing I wish the new face had, are the erstwhile trapezoidal fogs. I prefer them to the current oval lamps. I also prefer the earlier round taillamps to the new octagonal ones.

Although the smokey effect doesn't look as good on dark colours as it does on the lighter colours, I still prefer the new look including the inverted air dam, and just like you, I prefer the trapezoidal fog lamps. I'm kind of ambivalent about the tail lamps but yes, a perfect circle has a certain timeless quality/feel to it.

Originally Posted by vasoo

I must say that the car performs extremely well in heavy rain. The visibility is very good in comparison to my older cars and never had to stop for the lack of it. In my last trip to Kerala, there were instances when I found most vehicles stopped by the road side due to heavy rains and dark conditions. But I never felt the need for it.

I felt the same too. The difference between an 800 and Civic is too stark. The bigger, better built car will obviously feel far safer than the tiny 800 in heavy rains. I will be careful in puddles though because the front bumper + air dam with its frontal area builds up enough resistance while going through water. The slightly lowish low-end torque doesn't help and on the few occasions BQ had to swim through puddles I had to really gun the throttle or risk a stall.

Regards,
spadix

[mkc15]

Originally Posted by vasoo

Using a good hydrophobic coating such as Rain-X or Aquapel on the windscreen should help things even better.

I typically wipe the windscreen with the same cloth after I apply wet wax on the body. This along with periodic squeeze-out of wiper fluid during rains, result in silent and effective operation of wipers.

[GloryManUnited]

Originally Posted by vasoo

Regarding bad weather, I have very good experience in my last two long trips. I must say that the car performs extremely well in heavy rain. The visibility is very good in comparison to my older cars and never had to stop for the lack of it. In my last trip to Kerala, there were instances when I found most vehicles stopped by the road side due to heavy rains and dark conditions. But I never felt the need for it. And this was when we were going downhill through twisty ghat roads towards Nilambur near Kerala border. Wiper was at full speed and very effective. Using a good hydrophobic coating such as Rain-X or Aquapel on the windscreen should help things even better.

Considering that the civic has a low seating position, don't the headlights of the oncoming traffic make it difficult to drive at night? I own an Ikon and this is one my biggest grouses with the otherwise great car. I would be in the market to buy a D segment sedan within the next few months and this is probably the only argument in favor of the corolla (actually GC too) when I compare it with civic.

[johy]

Originally Posted by GloryManUnited

Considering that the civic has a low seating position, don't the headlights of the oncoming traffic make it difficult to drive at night?

It does on my Baleno, so it should be worse on the Civic.

[shuvc]

Having used the Baleno for 4.xx years, I don't feel any new discomfort. I've learnt to live with oncoming high-beams.
With the Civic at least the high-beam is more powerful than that of the Baleno. So flashing it tends to have more results.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by GloryManUnited

Considering that the civic has a low seating position, don't the headlights of the oncoming traffic make it difficult to drive at night?

Yes - I find this to be a huge problem but I was somewhat used to this on the old 800. It's much more comfortable on the Indigo, although not completely absent.

I'd say you won't find any difference in this regard with the Ikon -> Civic move.

Regards,
spadix

[mkc15]

Originally Posted by GloryManUnited

Considering that the civic has a low seating position, don't the headlights of the oncoming traffic make it difficult to drive at night? I own an Ikon and this is one my biggest grouses with the otherwise great car. I would be in the market to buy a D segment sedan within the next few months and this is probably the only argument in favor of the corolla (actually GC too) when I compare it with civic.

I own both and from my experience, high-beam shooting in the eye is more pronounced in Civic compared to Ikon but its manageable. At times I have found it completely blinding in both the cars. Gist is, its not at all a deal breaker. Also, I have CR70 (30% light blocked) on the front in Civic and not in Ikon, so this may have helped a bit.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by shuvc

LHS dashboard rattles seem to have vanished for good.

Had spoken too soon. The rattle from around LHS dashboard area was becoming quite an irritant again. Am quite unhappy with these rattles. The Baleno was a lot more rattle free initially !

But the good thing is, the service centre seems to be able to diagnose and rectify to a large extent.

Honda was running a free checkup camp over the weekend. I had some free time during Sunday afternoon. So went. Reached at 345pm. I was prepared to hear, 'sir we are not taking any more cars'. But they did and promised me delivery a bit after 5 !

I was asked about any problems. And I mentioned the dashboard rattle. The lady noted it down and said, we may not be able to do this today in the checkup camp but if you can come down some other day it will be taken care of. Fair enough, I was not expecting them to sort it out that day anyway.

Hung around for an hour and a half. Watched the clock tick away, in despair, since I knew I would miss the start of the S'pore GP !

Car handed over at 5:30pm and surprise surprise, the rattle had been rectified. Now that's what I call customer delight !!!

The rattle is almost gone now. They say clips tend to come loose at times and hence ...

I'm not sure what checkup they did, or whether they tweaked anything, but the car seems a tad peppier and smoother (ie if this engine can be any smoother !!).

I now feel more comfortable in the Civic seat than the Baleno seat (which in itself is quite a lovely place to be). Am getting used to the spacious Civic seat. I've now sorted out the seat adjustments and don't miss the lumbar support.

It's another thing that I have to readjust the seat everytime after it goes to the service centre! Next car should have power seats and memory, eh?