[Ram_NP]

Nice Pitcures and good detailed report ShuvC. The number plate job is really neat.

Looking at the morning pictures, I am also planning to make a highway trip during the weekend.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by Ram_NP

Nice Pitcures and good detailed report ShuvC. The number plate job is really neat.

Inspired by Sam

Originally Posted by Ram_NP

Looking at the morning pictures, I am also planning to make a highway trip during the weekend.

Why not join the Kolkata drive meet on Sunday, 25th. There's a NH-2 drive planned up to Saktigarh/Panagarh.

Btw, the 'chrome' grill upfront is pretty susceptible to scratches. I tried to remove a stubborn piece of dirt with my nail and ended up with a scratch mark.

[planet_rocker]

@ Shuvc - get rid of the chrome grill and make DIY mesh grill with the OE Honda logo. The chrome grill looks out of place IMO.

are you going to Shaktigarh drive on 25th July? If yes, can we tag along. Cannot take my car due to tyre issues.

[sgiitk]

The number plate is not a HSNP type. I hear that HSNPs have been notified in Bengal. If so try and get the offocially approved ones. Else, you can go to www.utsav.co,in and get them by mail order for Rs.1225. These technically may not be HSNPs if Utsav is not a notified supplier in WB, but are functionally the same. he price includes snap off bolts.

I ordered on Friday afternoon and got them pre-lunch on Monday.

[planet_rocker]

BMW dealer in Kolkata provides similar plates. I guess those plates are after-market ones.

I recall Kunal at BB M&G offering similar plates for my car when i was enquiring for new plates for my car

[vasoo]

Here is how I have it on my car...

[WhiteKnight]

@shuvc, read the entire thread at one shot. Thank you for showing the way where I should be heading in the future.

One question, is there any area where you feel Civic should have done better compared to your other car?

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

@ Shuvc - get rid of the chrome grill and make DIY mesh grill with the OE Honda logo. The chrome grill looks out of place IMO.

are you going to Shaktigarh drive on 25th July? If yes, can we tag along. Cannot take my car due to tyre issues.

Nono. No more 'mods'! Let it settle in for a couple of years now !

Am still 50:50 for the drive. So are you. Hopefully our 50's will match .. if so we can go together

Originally Posted by sgiitk

The number plate is not a HSNP type. I hear that HSNPs have been notified in Bengal

I actually quite like the plates this dealer is giving of late. Same plates for all current Honda's in the city. I guess I'll wait till HSNP's are mandated here.

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

One question, is there any area where you feel Civic should have done better compared to your other car?

Guess I have mentioned most of them in separate posts.

- Seats. Baleno has narrower seats but they are a snug fit for me. Side and lumbar support better. Not that the Civic is bad.
- Front visibility. Am so used to 'seeing' the Baleno bonnet even at the lowest driver seat position. Here, initially it takes getting used to. Plus I seem to be sitting higher than in the Baleno. So at times miss the low-low feel. Relatively again, since the Civic is a pretty low car anyway.
- Boot. Could have been larger.
- Wiper. Intermittent speeds missing.
- Need to cross-check this. But it seems .. if the doors are locked. I park. Passengers are unable to unlock their door, unless I press the all-door-unlock button on the driver door first.
- A folding rear seat would have helped immensely in amp tuning from inside the car
- Baleno rear tray is better 'fixed'. Does not rattle with the sub thumps.
- Baleno roof seems to have thicker sheet metal. Civic's can be depressed easily with a finger. Not passing any judgement on overall structural strength. Just the feel.
- Price should have been maybe 1L lesser !! Baleno was real VFM.
- Spare should have been an alloy. Baleno had a full size alloy spare.

[shuvc]

So. It took 2.5 months for the first dent. Having gone through the process earlier with the Baleno - this time I was better prepared mentally ! It's inevitable. Had to happen someday.

Was trying to be a good samaritan by parking as near to the edge of the road as possible. My attention was focussed on a bamboo pole at the side of the road. Was at 'inching' speed. So much so that I did not even feel the bumper nudging against a loose concrete slab resting below the pole. The damage could have been worse, but for a gentleman standing on the road-side gesturing me to stop !

Got out and saw the LHS of the bumper had come off .. thankfully the clips had come off. I managed to fix them back. But the dent and paint scratches remain.

Any suggestions for touching up? Or should I let this be?


Finally got the T-BHP stickers I wanted. Thanks Rohin ! He went out of his way to meet me and hand them over. Even suggested the location to stick them. He has them in the same place in his Civic.

[planet_rocker]

Let it be as it is till it visits the Service Center. in the mean time - buy a small can of tafeta white paint and touch it up with a paint brush (thin one).

Team BHP stickers are not visible - i got them stuck here (sorry to hi-jack this thread - i am sure you will not mind):



Lets just say my chances of going is 50% of your 50% if your 50% chance matche with my 50% of your 50% chance, then we will go together.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

buy a small can of tafeta white paint

Where? Know any place? It'd be good to have a can handy.

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

Team BHP stickers are not visible

Ah. Good ! Exactly how I wanted them to be. Understated.

[planet_rocker]

Originally Posted by shuvc

Where? Know any place? It'd be good to have a can handy.

There is a Paint shop near my place which sells Car Paints - i will ask about the T/W paint - will call you if i find it is worth it. text me the paint code, if possible.

Originally Posted by shuvc

Ah. Good ! Exactly how I wanted them to be. Understated.

Dhaaaaat!

[1Maverick]

(Mods as much as this is a 'Advice on owning a car' post, it's very closely connected to Shuvc's preamble, so please repost if you see fit. And being a Newbie I hope I atleast have the right to post here.)

I know there have been many Civic Vs City debates before, but the sum of the parts of my queries create a completely different whole. So here goes.

I have driven my small car Palio for long enough, resisted all urges to splurge on a car in recessionary years, wished my crazy driver a warm goodbye, and now think the time is right to upgrade to a good classy vehicle.

Use of the car - Home to office and back in Mumbai, nuclear family of 3 (one 11 month old li'l guy), once a quarter weekend drives, one annual long distance drive. Driving enthusiast, heart pains every time I see a dented car, hear a speed (car) breaker scrape the bottom. And heart races every time I see a Freelander or Beamer.

Now just as I was going to start writing about my car buying criteria/fundas and TD experiences (ANHC, Civic, Laura, Altis, Jetta), I happened to chance upon this post by Shuvc. (Page 1 of this topic http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...hite-vm-t.html)
And he had put down pretty much the same logic and reactions to the cars he test drove. It almost freaked me out. (Thank God my current car is a Palio and not a Baleno, else it'd been too freaky!)

A very strong (though under the league) competitor in my TD experience is the ANHC A/T, as it'd have been a great asset for Mumbai city driving. But I wasn't happy with what it felt and looked like on the inside.
And after TDing the Civic, there was that feeling that it's just not a Civic, and the cockpit doesn't wrap itself around the driver in a fantastic fusion of leather and technology.

So the head says ANHC, but the heart says Civic. That's when my genius dad-in-law opined that many a times he's taken wise decisions with his head and suppressed the heart, only to feel foolish later. I liked the sheer honesty and wisdom in that statement. Crave for some more collective experiential wisdom.

So here are my questions to the Civic Champions out here:
(Shuvc, Laluks, Vasoo, Sgiitk, GTO, iTNerd, dinu2506, ImmortalZ, rr_zen, other civic dudes and everyone else who has a pov on this.)

1. Can stretch my budget maximum to that of a Civic VMT, but impossible to go beyond it for an AT. So for Mumbai's traffic without a driver initially, does the Civic MT make sense? Like will the joy of driving beat the frustration of 'clutching' first gear crawls?

2. There's a NHC (CityZX) in the family, the dimensions of which I'm completely at peace with to park and squeeze through Mumbai traffic. How much more of a driving & parking effort is the longer, wider, lower Civic?

3. And speaking of lower seating and GC, I've read and figured that Honda has stiffened the suspension, (thank God) but how much of a pain is the low seating posture in traffic (city and highway)?
I mean is it claustrophobic to be sandwiched between say a truck and a Scorpio, to have people in a adjoining rickshaw look down at you, and to have every facing car's badly adjusted headlights in your eyes? Also I've been wildly checking out Civics in flooded road and subway conditions, to see if the exhaust gets submerged under water, or if the water enters the cabin.
Any experiences from Mumbai's 26/7 floods in a Civic? (Sorry if i sound super pessimistic, I prefer calling it more of a pragmatic Mumbaite-ic.)

4.
Given my upper middle class upbringing (captured well by the Maruti Suzuki yacht ad - kitna deti hai?); and the rising price of fuel - when the deregulated price of petrol inches towards 100 bucks a litre, will the ANHC make more sense than the Civic? (I'd calculated a 10,000 buck difference for my annual driving at current fuel prices, which is negligible compared to the joy of owning a Civic. But the future?)

5.
This is a big one. As much as I need a car in a month or two, I intend keeping it for a minimum of five years.
And have been following stories of the All New Civic - design change being delayed beyond it's five year revamp deadline and thus due in 2011.
Honda's known for it's drastic design changes (remember Vtec to NHC to ANHC, and the current Civic for that matter?)
Initial photos make it seem more ANHC like from the front, but there's no reliability of such pics.
Point is if after buying the current Civic, in another 8 months if Honda launches a super cool new Civic, how silly would/should one feel?

Thanks good Team BHP people. Look forward to hear from you.

[iTNerd]

@1Marverick. ha, the heart and mind thing!

1) For more involving driving (and fun of shifting), my choice would be the VMT. Shifting is very smooth and short and I absolutely loved it. But I will be honest here. If your driving in traffic/chaotic roads is 50% or above, it would make much sense to opt for an AT.

2) For me, my civic feels like a small car when I drive. Its only when I glance it from outside or from a higher pavement that gave me an impression its rather huge. I used to drive a SX4 before upgrading. I didn't have any much problem in the transition.


3) Install dark films to get rid of others peeping inside or looking down from other adjacent vehicles. Inspite of the low stance, the driver has a fantastic view due to the extra wide front windshield. BTW, if you are very concern of the GC, upgrade to 205/65 shoes, and that would give you 176 mm GC (6 mm more than the stock)

4) I don't think you should give much thought on the 'kitna deti hai' slogan. But having said that, the iVTEC engine can be tamed to extract exceptional mileage, or when you feel the need for speed, rev it to open all the valves. Just to give an example, 14-15 kmpl is what my reading is in my odo. I don't drive much in traffic though.

5) The new Civic would not be here in India till 2012. Also, the new model would be smaller (size equivalent to ANHC). And one can never know if the new model would be a driver focused car like the current one or something boring like the Altis. I say, if you need a car now, just go for it. NOW.

If you want practicality, ANHC AT would be a much better choice. Won't have that much prejudice feeling when you are chauffeur driven (than say, on a civic AT . But for hardcore driving pleasure and serious speed, Civic MT all the way!

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by 1Maverick

That's when my genius dad-in-law opined that many a times he's taken wise decisions with his head and suppressed the heart, only to feel foolish later.

He's right !!

Originally Posted by 1Maverick

So for Mumbai's traffic without a driver initially, does the Civic MT make sense? Like will the joy of driving beat the frustration of 'clutching' first gear crawls?

Yes, the joy of driving does beat it all. But then in the ~4K kms I have completed, I've felt if one is in the correct gear, then slow traffic is not an issue. Unless of course you intend to blast off whenever you see a gap in the traffic. In such scenarios you may feel the lack of low end grunt.

Originally Posted by 1Maverick

How much more of a driving & parking effort is the longer, wider, lower Civic?

It shrinks ! It'll feel big initially and then you gradually get used to it. It already feels a lot smaller to me. Almost nearing the same level of comfort I had with the Baleno.

Originally Posted by 1Maverick

but how much of a pain is the low seating posture in traffic (city and highway)?

This I can't say. I feel the seating position in the Baleno is lower ! So for me this used to seem a tad high. Past tense, since I'm getting the hang of it now.

Originally Posted by 1Maverick

when the deregulated price of petrol inches towards 100 bucks a litre, will the ANHC make more sense than the Civic?

When and if fuel prices hit 100, and with it the increased cost of living, whether you have the ANHC or the Civic, the pain will be similar. Either way, you'll probably need to manage your overall lifestyle. With a Civic you'll have to focus on saving 1K extra per month. (considering difference of 10K at current levels to 20K at Rs.100 levels).

Originally Posted by 1Maverick

All New Civic

Given the trend of car prices, chances are it'll cost more too!

As for me, I always feel safer buying stuff at the end of their design cycle. Am not the early adopter type. It gives me the confidence that most niggles have been sorted out. And also there's normally a lot of prior experiences to refer to. Yes, the novelty is lesser, but the purchase decision tends to be more informed.