[raihan]

Smartcat congrats on the lovely purchase! Even though the civic in not a turbo but it still suffers from a initial lag. I remember that I stalled it during my test drive after going to the showroom in my getz gls (maybe am talking relatively) as the civic needed more throttle more to get going.
Anyway I still think its the best package overall.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by kpzen

Selling an american with korean heart and then

aha, a small correction. The old car had an Italian (Pininfarina) body, Australian (Holden) engine and British (Lotus tuned) suspension. The rest of the car was Korean (Daewoo) and was marketed/sold by the Americans (GM). So I guess I needed something Japanese!

Originally Posted by aargee

Whoa!!! Smartcat...so finally you gave into that extra boot space huh? Punto should be a long forgotten story then!!!

I'm trying to convince my brother to sell his Alto and buy himself a Punto - but he is not biting yet. Boot space in the Civic is truly shocking.





What you see above is my tiny office laptop bag, and it is taking up lots of space in the boot already. The tyre and toolkit takes up most of the bootspace, and hence it is very shallow. Nice toolkit though!





And the hinges holding the boot in place reeks of quality.

Originally Posted by raghu230506

Welcome to Honda Club.

Yeah, finally!

Originally Posted by ms001

Exactly ,why didnt you consider a used scorpio/safari or a new bolero?

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Wonder why you never considered a SUV since you had 8-9 lakh budget to splurge on a car ?

I need dual airbags & ABS. Both Scorpio and Safari are equipped with airbags, but that version is way over my budget - costs between Rs. 12 & 14 Lacs in Bangalore I think. Used Safari/Scorpio with airbags are not available in the used car market yet. Mahindra Xylo with airbags costs about Rs. 10.3 Lacs in Bangalore - would have been a slight stretch. But I didn't like the interiors much (although surprisingly, I like Xylo's butch looks in white & black colours).

So my only SUV diesel choices were Endeavour & Tucson. If you see the first pic I have uploaded in this thread, you will notice that the Civic itself is almost taking up the entire driveway width. No way can the Endeavour fit inside my driveway or the garage (4.6 metres length).

Tucson fit my requirements like a glove and hence I put in a deposit. But when the deal didn't go through, I did look at a couple of other Tucsons - but most of them were priced in double digits or were in not-so-great condition or had a high mileage on the clock.

If this is gonna be your highway companion how do you plan to put up with the low GC ? I love the civic for its low stance , but that's again only for good roads.

I have six years experience driving a (low GC + huge front overhang) car on our highways. Civic has very short front overhang - I think driving a Civic on bad roads would be a piece of cake for me

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Please post daytime exterior photos as well, can't understand colour of your civic. Is it black or purple?

Originally Posted by shuvc

Same here. Looks like the dark grey colour / polished metal metallic?

It's purple and I think its kind of girly. Womenfolk seem to love this colour!

Originally Posted by shuvc

18000kms on a petrol is ok I'd say. At least for a new car diesel petrol comparo, it would take a few years to reap the benefits, considering that maintenance costs are similar.

Originally Posted by indivic

In Chennai I used to 9-9.5 kmpl on a regular basis in city B2B traffic with AC on about 80% of the time, on the highway expect 14-15 regularly with AC on (23-25 degrees C) if you keep between 2-3k on the rpm. Max I got was 16.5 on one trip (AC on).

I used a similar "maintenance costs" logic to remove Octavia diesel from my shortlist. With a light foot (2000 RPM), my 1.8 Optra used to give 14 kmpl - I'm expecting atleast 16 kmpl on a light foot from the Honda engine.

Originally Posted by raihan

Smartcat congrats on the lovely purchase! Even though the civic in not a turbo but it still suffers from a initial lag. I remember that I stalled it during my test drive after going to the showroom in my getz gls (maybe am talking relatively) as the civic needed more throttle more to get going.

Perhaps I'm used to driving my brother's Alto - so I guess I give fairly generous throttle initially in all the cars I drive. So I don't feel this intial lag!

[indivic]

Originally Posted by smartcat

I have six years experience driving a (low GC + huge front overhang) car on our highways. Civic has very short front overhang - I think driving a Civic on bad roads would be a piece of cake for me

It's purple and I think its kind of girly. Womenfolk seem to love this colour!

I used a similar "maintenance costs" logic to remove Octavia diesel from my shortlist. With a light foot (2000 RPM), my 1.8 Optra used to give 14 kmpl - I'm expecting atleast 16 kmpl on a light foot from the Honda engine.

The front overhang is not the problem in the Civic, I have never hit anything on the front, it is the rear which does not pass muster when loaded up.

I think that colour is called Mystic Violet

From what I heard, the Holden engine was not a fan of revs, but not this one, trust me, 2000 rpm is not where you would be keeping the Honda.

[vjabraham]

Congrats on the 'new' car smartcat! I think the Civic is a wonderful car ( I am sure you now that too). I was blown away by the Civic experience when I drove my friend's car. A lot of it (the experience), I believe, had to do with the cockpit like interiors of the car.
Since then, I have a soft corner for that car. It's definitely on my 'must buy' list of cars!

[aargee]

The new gen Civic is no doubt a great car. Though I'm not a fan of dark colors, your choice of color is great @Smartcat. What I loved about Civic was the handling; boy!!! I could handle it like a motorcycle, no heaviness, no pain on shoulders & the comfort is absolutely great. Yes, agreed the boot is small for such a big car but sure more than Punto. Hope to see a new travelogue on the Civic soon.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by indivic

From what I heard, the Holden engine was not a fan of revs, but not this one, trust me, 2000 rpm is not where you would be keeping the Honda.

Yeah, I'm just learning the true meaning of the phrase "rev happy engine".

Originally Posted by vjabraham

A lot of it (the experience), I believe, had to do with the cockpit like interiors of the car.

SNUG is the word that comes to my mind when I sit in the cockpit of the Civic. I don't even miss the steering mounted audio controls (because the music volume button is a large dial and is right next to the steering wheel).

However, with the rake & reach adjustment, I have way too many choices and I'm unable to decide which is the best steering position for me. At my steering/seating position, I'm unable to view the odometer numbers. If I lower my steering wheel a bit, I find it too low. This is what I see when I'm driving -

Originally Posted by aargee

Though I'm not a fan of dark colors, your choice of color is great @Smartcat. What I loved about Civic was the handling; boy!!! I could handle it like a motorcycle, no heaviness, no pain on shoulders & the comfort is absolutely great.

I would have preferred the black colour though

For now, I'm not commenting on ride & handling of the car - I just got it yesterday. However, the Civic has become a part of the family and is already helping mum with her vegetable shopping.





And yes, mum doesn't like the low seating position.

[holysmoke]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Yeah, I'm just learning the true meaning of the phrase "rev happy engine".

Just wait till you get your hands on some Mobil 1.

[ampere]

I Did not know your final verdict was a Civic and not the Tuscon!
Congrats.

BTW: I already wrote a congrats mail for Tuscon. I take that back!

[Schoudhury]

Congrats on your new ride.
Those vegetable looks fresh LOL.
Im sure you it will a great feeling driving a HONDA.
Cheers
Njoy.

[Cesc]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Boot space in the Civic is truly shocking.
What you see above is my tiny office laptop bag, and it is taking up lots of space in the boot already. The tyre and toolkit takes up most of the bootspace, and hence it is very shallow. Nice toolkit though!

I used a similar "maintenance costs" logic to remove Octavia diesel from my shortlist. With a light foot (2000 RPM), my 1.8 Optra used to give 14 kmpl - I'm expecting atleast 16 kmpl on a light foot from the Honda engine.

Congratulations on your buy.

The boot space in a Civic is small all right. It is even smaller than a City's boot space. We could not even get a single 40" LCD to fit into the Civic's boot.

I will be surprised if you are able to acheive 16 kmpl with a Civic. In the two years we have had the car it has NEVER returned that kind of a FE. It returns around 12 in the city and 14 on the highway. The Octy will win the FE battle hands down. We have both the Civic and the Octy L&K and the difference in running cost between the cars (including servicing costs) works out to a minimum of Rs. 1.50 per km. That is a minimum of Rs. 25k based on your running.

For the boot as well as mileage the Octy is a clear winner. Where Civic kills it is in the back seat comfort and the looks (both internal and external). Overall I still think a used Octy L&K would have been perfect for you (call me biased because I drive one ). It would have costed less in the first place and running costs would have been lower as well. There are very few of those out there though.

Enjoy your new drive.

[amitoj]

Smart move smartcat!
Congratulations! The car looks real neat.
Do you know whether the Classic Automobiles folks offer any good finance schemes as well? And is this the one near to BTM water tank?

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by holysmoke

Just wait till you get your hands on some Mobil 1.

Oh, what will Mobil 1 do? Any thread on it somewhere in team-bhp?

Originally Posted by ampere

I Did not know your final verdict was a Civic and not the Tuscon!

Circumstances forced me to go for the sensible choice - Honda Civic!
Altis (being new) is still quite expensive in the used car market.

Originally Posted by Schoudhury

Those vegetable looks fresh LOL.

We had to get that fresh Cauliflower into the refrigerator ASAP - so the Civic with 130 BHP on tap was deployed for this task!

Originally Posted by Cesc

For the boot as well as mileage the Octy is a clear winner. Where Civic kills it is in the back seat comfort and the looks (both internal and external). Overall I still think a used Octy L&K would have been perfect for you (call me biased because I drive one ). It would have costed less in the first place and running costs would have been lower as well. There are very few of those out there though.

Among sedans, Octy L&K would have been my first choice (I have mentioned this in my first post on this thread) - but it is quite rare in the used car market. With all those gadgets & leather interiors, I wouldn't have bothered too much about the maintenance costs.

But according to me, the Civic wins the "Normal Octavia Vs Civic" battle.
A normal Octy gets brownie points for excellent steering feel, economy and lag free diesel engine. But Civic has better interiors, lower maintenance costs, better reliability, more gadgets, ABS (diesel Octy's don't have this right?), better after sales service etc etc.

Originally Posted by amitoj

Do you know whether the Classic Automobiles folks offer any good finance schemes as well? And is this the one near to BTM water tank?

Yeah, opposite to the BTM water tank. Fantastic (but expensive) sales experience.

No idea about finance schemes - I paid for the car in full. No point in paying 16% plus interest rate.

[ACM]

smartcat - this one was a surprise, you seemed to be going the diesel way for sure.

Congrats, I think you will love all aspects of the car in the long run except 2- the Cost of petrol and height (both inside and outside - ground clearance)

[MX6]

Congrats. I'm truly happy for you now. Somehow I never thought you'd be good in a Tucson.
Remember, the last time you wanted to borrow my signature. Here's something I cook up for you.

I have CIVIC sense.

[holysmoke]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Oh, what will Mobil 1 do? Any thread on it somewhere in team-bhp?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modify...neral-oil.html

Here is another post by GTO which shows results of Mobil 1.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1764932-post3.html


But more than that, it makes the engine so much smoother. If you think your civic's engine is smooth right now, wait till you put some Mobil 1 in it. It is absolute butter. Pickup is much faster as the engine revs much more easily. I will always remember my driver's face when he first drove the car with synthetic oil. I was explaining to him how the car will be different with new oil, and he was like.. haan magar abhi bhi achcha hai.. oil change karne se kuch khaas nahin hota hai.
And then when he drove the car with Mobil one.. he went . Sir aapne kya kiya? yeh kaise itna khul gaya? ekdum mast ho gaya abhi. Aapko nahi chalane dunga