[mdsaab]

I have said it before and i am gonna say it again.
I just love the looks of your ride.
I had a little Q ~ Those accessory lights on the corners of the headlights. They are now yellow in your car, how have you managed to do that?
is it a part of the headlight upgrade, or is it a separate accessory to get this look?
Also how was the experience driving on that horrible road?
Enjoyed your L-O-O-O-N-G Post!
Keep em coming.
Drive Safe!

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

Those are some beautiful pics Rohit..
It already looks like a Mean Machine .

Thanks Gaurav.

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

Just curious to know if you have tried, whats the speed when the rev limiter comes in in 4th.. have tried 3rd a few times, but couldnt manage bouncing the needle of civic in 4th..

Been there and done that many times! Speedo shows 204 km/h when the needle is bouncing in 4th gear. Max number hit by my Shark so far has been 209 km/h. Driving past 200 on the speedo in a Civic gets scary though, doesn't inspire slightest of confidence (the engine screaming and car wobbling) unlike any Beemer or Audi which are very stable at those speeds!

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

It surely can until its completely ripped..

Any directions who can do it for me? And since we are talking about finding any dependable service centre, my car's 50K service is coming up very soon and I am keen to give my Shark to any independent Garage. Do you know of anybody who can service my Civic seemlessly, and is also able to procure OEM Honda parts as well?

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

My heart beat has just gone over 200..cant find a better looking civic.. GIMMI RED..

No idea about the best place but I believe most people can suggest Pandit and Co or Autopsyche. The latter one is good at atleast body work...

Hmmm.... Let me get into touch with them and have their quotes for the complete work. BTW, what damage to my pocket should I be expecting for this job?

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

Buy some dot 4 clutch/brake oil and ask your local mechanic to bleed the clutch. You can do it as a DIY too, open the clutch oil reservior cap and take a 8 no Ring pana.. and open the nipple of clutch cylinder and let the oil bleed, start adding new oil as soon as the oil in reservoir starts going down. You need to make sure that there is oil in the reservoir at all times or the lines will suck air..

You may also get the clutch oil changed at ASC, shouldnt cost over 6-700..

When you are getting the oil changed, get hold of some rust cleaner (WD40 or rust lick) kinda solution and apply to the clutch connecting rod area in the transmission (behind the radiator). Its a bit hard to reach in civic.. Also apply the rust cleaner to the clutch pedal inside the cabin in foot well..

The above should show significant improvement and your clutch pedal should go as good as new.. You shouldnt need a clutch replacement this early as I believe that your daily run is short and in not too much bumper to bumper traffic.

Have done this in both cedia and civic in last 3-4 months and the difference was remarkable..

Thanks for the detailed response, dude. Will definately get it done during coming 50K service.

Originally Posted by arvi86

Waiting for that thread Ace F355. I am glued to this thread and you are going to make me do the same all over again!

I will write down my experience with renowned Germans as soon as I find some free time, Arvi.

Originally Posted by arvi86

OMG! Thats what I can say. How did you garner the guts to take your beautiful Shark through that road? I thought I drove in some of the worst possible roads (for the Civic) on my recent drive to Coorg, but compared to this picture, the roads that I took can be termed as expressways.

lol... And I paid the price for my guts too!

Originally Posted by arvi86

Ace F355 - Why pray God to show mercy on Delhiites? Pray for us mate, the dear souls who are already awe-struck on just seeing the images in our monitor, let alone seeing it in the flesh and falling on our knees.

You are too kind, my dear friend. I thank you for appreciating my Shark.

Originally Posted by arvi86

Forgot to mention, the Civic in Milano Red is one of my dream rides too! Maybe, after you, I will also go that way. But there is a lot of time for that I am sure.

I had planned the paintjob around 2013, but it seems like I may get it done sooner, March 2012 may be!

Originally Posted by arvi86

It seems to be a peculiar problem Ace F355. I don't think it happens in my car or for that matter, in anyone else's car also. If the temperatures are NOT normal as you mentioned, take her for a check-up immediately.

Will take some expert advice on the same. Thanks for your pointers.

Originally Posted by mdsaab

I have said it before and i am gonna say it again.
I just love the looks of your ride.
I had a little Q ~ Those accessory lights on the corners of the headlights. They are now yellow in your car, how have you managed to do that?
is it a part of the headlight upgrade, or is it a separate accessory to get this look?
Also how was the experience driving on that horrible road?
Enjoyed your L-O-O-O-N-G Post!
Keep em coming.
Drive Safe!

Dear mdsaab

I really appreciate your appreciation for my Shark. You know, she demands a lot of attention from my side but then again, the respect and attention she gets on road makes me take care of her even more so!

About your query; Yes, the orange corner lights are a part of headlight upgrade and are borrowed from our Indian Civic's Canadian cousin, the Acura CSX.


I feel these orange lights give the car a deep character instead of clear lights we get in our Civic, and hence I preferred them over the usual ones!

EDIT: Just saw your question about that road (can we call it a road!?!)

The experience was, well, heart in mouth and eyes poped out, searching for appropriate rails to drive my car without hitting the bottom hard anywhere! I was almost half standing on my seat driving through that patch.

Some numbers IIRC:

Patch length - 3 kms
Patch condition - no virtual road what so ever, just a half prepared trail with lots of potholes filled with rain water and slush
Time taken to cross it - 25 minutes or so!

[Repsol]

@Ace F355 : I really appreciate your courage for taking a civic through such a road. Opps sorry, no road at all.

By the way, the RED civic is surely a killer. But with painting your ride with RED, I will also suggest you to get rid of those tyres and stock rims. They really don't go well with the car. Please don't get offended, that was my personal view.

As far as re-painting is concerned, I think you should contact fellow BHP-ian m4ugr8, as he has done so many upgrades on his civic and should surely have some contacts for getting a decent paintjob done.

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by Repsol

@Ace F355 : I really appreciate your courage for taking a civic through such a road. Opps sorry, no road at all.

By the way, the RED civic is surely a killer. But with painting your ride with RED, I will also suggest you to get rid of those tyres and stock rims. They really don't go well with the car. Please don't get offended, that was my personal view.

As far as re-painting is concerned, I think you should contact fellow BHP-ian m4ugr8, as he has done so many upgrades on his civic and should surely have some contacts for getting a decent paintjob done.

No offence taken, Repsol. If you go back a few posts, I have myself suggested the wheel change after some time. In fact, I have even posted the pic of my preferred alloys. Do check it out.

May be you are right, I should call Manan to take his view about this paint-job project. I think he has contacts at Pandit @ Co. as well as with Patel Auto. He should be able to give some hints and directions.

[hiren.mistry]

Each time I look at my car my wallet goes in palpitations. The mods you've done are so tasteful and yes I still think the stock wheels don't do justice to the Mugen(?) kit.

Cheers

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by shk 8896

Get some cool alloys.

Originally Posted by theragingbull

I think getting new wheels should be the next thing on your list

Originally Posted by jatinpatel

type R wheels will look killer on gray.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I somehow dont fancy the alloys that much

Originally Posted by akshay1234

those Civics need RIMS, even if not 17", 16" with 215 section tyres

Originally Posted by hiren.mistry

I still think the stock wheels don't do justice.

Have a little surprise for yaa!



(Alloy Pic courtsey: Pranav)





Details coming soon....

[gaurav_chopra04]

Guys, you have to see the car in real to believe me..."I havent seen a better looking civic!"

This guy has seriously tempted me to upgrade the alloys on my cedia..

Congrats again Rohit..

[Akshay1234]

Brilliant. 225/45 R17 I'm assuming. Those Konigs look great and go well with your car. I knew this was coming up since I saw your old rims for sale. Well now your car is cosmetically complete.

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Have a little surprise for yaa!


Attachment 602571
(Alloy Pic courtsey: Pranav)



Attachment 602569

Details coming soon....

The alloys are looking superb. You just added certain character to your Civic. Would like to see your ride someday!

Waiting for alloy wheel details including price and place of purchase.

[jatinpatel]

SUPERB SIMPLY SUPERB
You have inspired me do things to my rocket in not so far future.

Again the car is gonna look superb.

Detailed Photoshoot is now needed
awaiting pics

P.S- We Want Pics ASAP!

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Have a little surprise for yaa!

Details coming soon....

Wow! Those alloys look brilliant and just completes the look of your Shark. You really have a knack of giving surprises to all of us.

And going by the responses of jatinpatel and gaurav_chopra04, I guess I am not alone in getting tempted by your ride and thinking of making a significantly deep hole in my wallet.

[Ace F355]

So, finally my car has some cool looking alloys. the sporadic itch was growing to an uncontrollable one and as many of you might know, I am an impulsive buyer. Everything has happened really quickly (within past 2 days in fact).

As I was occupied with the idea of getting the car repainted in Milano Red, it was equally baffling for me to decide on exact color! Reason being, I was seriously considering my image if I drove a Milano Red Civic to my office everyday. Fortunately, I had another color in my mind which I could get my Shark repainted in.

This one!!!



But I kept the painting part open for some other day!

I was browsing my Computer the other day and saw the pics of Pranav's alloys. Man, the alloy itch came back! Called him, asked if the alloys were still with him and how much was he asking for them! INR 14000, he said!

So, I have the alloy part sorted, but what about tyres? Didn't I buy a brand new set of Yoko A Drives only a couple of months back @ 5000/per piece! What will happen to current set of tyres and alloys, I thought!

Called Gaurav_Chopra and took his opinion about where to sell the current set and what tyres to buy with new alloys.

A few options that came up were:

- Yoko S-Drives (rejected, basis soft side walls and higher road noise)
- Yoko E70B (Checked them online but couldn't find any details on India website, must be grey market stuff I told myself... Naahhh)
- BF GoodRich (Good option, was seriously considered but could not find anywhere in Delhi)
- Kumeu (Gaurav brought this option up, suggested these should be VFM budget tyres but luckily I met with a Getz owner who was running on Kumeu and asked me to avoid them if I was looking for harder side walls)

Confusion Confusion, I said to myself!

A bit of help from Google Bhaiya and bingo, another option crops up! Why not the A Drive R1s? I have completed 7500 kms on my current A Drives and they were behaving sedately except for wet grip!

Decided to put my money on A Drive R1 since they were handling oriented tyres!

Alloys - Check
Tyres of my Choice - Check, Size chosen was 225/45/R17.

Got up this morning with an aim to have a new set of alloys on my Shark and left my home early in the morning @ 8AM.

Called Pranav and sealed the alloy deal with him - INR 14000 gone there!

Called the shop from where I had bought my A Drives and asked them to arrange a set of 4 A Drive R1s for me! INR 8100/per piece!

Now the tricky part: Value of my current tyres! Asked the shop owner to evaluvate my tyres and he gave me a quote of 4000/piece buy back if there is no punchture etc! Big grin on my face. I agreed wholeheartedly. Unfortunately got a 2" nail in one of the tyres and my smile was wiped off!

Anyway, after quite some haggling and negotiation, I got INR 15500 for my 5 months old A Drives that had run 7500 kms. An extremely good price I got, I must say!

Paid the rest balance of INR 16900 and off I was with my Shark riding on new set of wheels!

Phoned Gaurav and we planed to meet in the afternoon. Spent about 5 hours with him, and got my car serviced in the mean time as well.

Details of the 50K service:

- Shell Halix Ultra 5W40 Synthetic oil - 4 litres - 2750 after a discount of INR 500
- Oil Filter - INR 80
- New front brake pads - 1400
- New Fender Lining - 750
- Service charges - INR 500

Things need to be done yet:

- Clutch Bleeding
- Rear Brake Pads

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

Guys, you have to see the car in real to believe me..."I havent seen a better looking civic!"

This guy has seriously tempted me to upgrade the alloys on my cedia..

Congrats again Rohit..

It was really nice meeting you, Gaurav and thanks so much for your help in procuring parts for my car and suggesting a reliable person who can take care of my Shark aftermarket!

A few observations about your Cedia from my side:

- Clutch was a little hard, though not as hard as mine.
- Gear shift was a little hard too, don't know if it is a Cedia trait or I am so used to Civic's slick gearbox! You might wanna consider changeing the gear oil if you haven't done that recently!
- Black Leather interior was awesome and so was the chiller AC of your car!

Lets catch up some other time after you get free with your exams etc!

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Brilliant. 225/45 R17 I'm assuming. Those Konigs look great and go well with your car. I knew this was coming up since I saw your old rims for sale. Well now your car is cosmetically complete.

Thanks Akshay and Bingo, you got the tyre size right! Incidently, I saw the same alloys you have on your Accord on a Punto yesterday!

About the completion of cosmatic upgrades, I hardly think so! More to come, will start with painting the front grill black!

Originally Posted by bluevolt

The alloys are looking superb. You just added certain character to your Civic. Would like to see your ride someday!

Waiting for alloy wheel details including price and place of purchase.

Thanks Bluevolt. Will catch up with you sometime whenever I am Gurgaon! Will let you know!

Originally Posted by jatinpatel

SUPERB SIMPLY SUPERB
You have inspired me do things to my rocket in not so far future.

Again the car is gonna look superb.

Detailed Photoshoot is now needed
awaiting pics

P.S- We Want Pics ASAP!

Thanks Jatin. Photoshoot will definately come up, give me some days to take out the dents from my car and I will click tons of new pics for you all!

Originally Posted by arvi86

Wow! Those alloys look brilliant and just completes the look of your Shark. You really have a knack of giving surprises to all of us.

And going by the responses of jatinpatel and gaurav_chopra04, I guess I am not alone in getting tempted by your ride and thinking of making a significantly deep hole in my wallet.

Haha, Arvi even I am contempleted with more ideas! Glad you liked the alloys!

[dot]

The alloys are really nice. They accentuate the Shark. Saw a similar set on a Mustang recently. Then you mentioned that Mugen ones are similar, which they were. I wonder how black alloys will go along with a blue color...







Slight change in topic, here is a picture of a Civic hybrid with ducktail spoilers. They looked pretty nice. I think this thread is the best place to put them up.





If y=1
x = I am not going to be tempted. I am not going to be tempted.
y= 1
end if

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Thanks Akshay and Bingo, you got the tyre size right! Incidently, I saw the same alloys you have on your Accord on a Punto yesterday!

About the completion of cosmatic upgrades, I hardly think so! More to come, will start with painting the front grill black!

But the PCD of the alloys I have is totally different from the Punto. Maybe they were similar alloys.

Anyway looks like your car still does not have tints. I think before you go around blacking out anything, you should add some tints, even if not too dark. it will improve the looks a lot.

Hows the drive with the 17s? Better be careful with rough roads.

[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

BF GoodRich (Good option, was seriously considered but could not find anywhere in Delhi)

Did you check the price of these?

Kumeu
(Gaurav brought this option up, suggested these should be VFM budget tyres but luckily I met with a Getz owner who was running on Kumeu and asked me to avoid them if I was looking for harder side walls)

Thats Kumho.. And apart from the tyre what surprised me was the price of 225.45 R17.

Decided to put my money on A Drive R1 since they were handling oriented tyres!

A small note to people.. please dont confuse A Drive R1 with normal A-Drives. According to Yokohama, the R1s are better than A Drives in terms on handling, wet grip and are more focused towards performance than comfort.. You can put them somewhere between the S-Drives and the A-/ C- drives. And the thread design too is noticeably different from A-Drives..

It was really nice meeting you, Gaurav and thanks so much for your help in procuring parts for my car and suggesting a reliable person who can take care of my Shark aftermarket!

Same here Rohit, it was a pleasure to meet you, I mean who else apart from an enthusiast can listen to your car talks (well, nonsense for some) for over 5 hours..

A few observations about your Cedia from my side:

- Clutch was a little hard, though not as hard as mine.

ya, I can believe what you are saying, especially after having driven a brand new punto right now (a friend got it today). The super soft new clutch of punto made me say..eeks, I need new clutch . May be 76k on the clock is what has brought the clutch to this shape..In between, your clutch should go soft (atleast same as mine), after bleeding..

Gear shift was a little hard too, don't know if it is a Cedia trait or I am so used to Civic's slick gearbox! You might wanna consider changeing the gear oil if you haven't done that recently!

Well, a common trait of cedia, even the throws arent as short as that of civic. Kinda used to it and love it. Got the gear oil changed about 800 kms ago, during 80k service..

- Black Leather interior was awesome and so was the chiller AC of your car!

Thanks Man.

Lets catch up some other time after you get free with your exams etc!

Sure thing..

In between, driving your car was an experience in itself. Things I never thought about driving my cousin's civic.

First, because it was the first car I ever drove that had a K&N, No need to say I am tempted..the sound at 3k rpm plus was incredible..

Second, due to K&N, the throttle response was better than a stock civic.

Third, the start stop button, steering mounted controls (I for once got a bit stunned, later realised, you got it installed), and the sill plates with illumitation were again mouth watering. From the outside, the projectors, rear lights, body kit and alloys made the car a real head turner..

Fourth, the suspension is still taut after 50k kms, even on 225/45 I couldnt believe that no vibrations were filtered to the steering. There was simply no looseliness in suspension.


Lastly, and the most vital part for me and I think even for civic owners. I complaint to Rohit about the seats of civic before I drove his car. I had driven my cousin's civic and that of a friend, both of which have fabric seats. My cousin, my friend and me have always complaint about the excessive lumbar support and awkward position of the seats in civic. Now, as soon as I drove rohit's car, I knew that the difference was huge. lumbar support and positioning was perfect and I felt at home as soon as I got inside the cabin. I can easily say that the difference in price of S and V is all worth it because, S lacks the most important thing, seating comfort..I cant tell how many times I move while driving civic with fabric seats, the leather ones were PERFECT, not only because it was leather but also because of moderate lumbar support and better overall positioning.