[jatinpatel]

Hey ace

My advice would be to change the color to Aqua Blue Only and only IF you have a covered and secure parking cause its gonna be a pain to maintain it.Same applies for Red.

Well
CBP is very common these days specially on civic although ur shark is very unique with the touches you have given it to her, still basic CBP color is common so to be sober as well as unique get the aqua Blue or interlagos blue but make sure of paint finish and quality of work. If you dont find any good painter dont repaint Shark it might ruin her and your pocket too.

Planning any performance upgrades??

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by spadix

Ace boy, here's my take on things -

1. I think your car's already lost one professional touch and gained another. It's lost the "working professional" touch and is on the verge of gaining the "professional racer" touch.

Thanks spadix for making me realize this. However, you have to see the car in person to believe that my car looks equally docile as any other Civic on road. It doesn't look any different until I step on the gas and K&N Typhoon makes people turn their attention to my car!

Originally Posted by spadix

2. Given the above, go the whole hog and paint the car in Milano Red. It will not make your car look any more/less professional than it already is. Be advised however, that it's very, very, very easy to mess this colour up (and even more difficult to match shades should something happen, God forbid). And ensure that it's not a shade of red that fades when exposed to the sun.

3. The only reason I would go with Aqua Blue is if I'm not confident of getting the right shade of red at the right quality. If you do go for blue, however, make sure you get a Pearl finish/effect blue.

So my vote is for Milano Red if you really want to change things.

Else, just stick with CBP and detail the heck out of the finish. IMHO, a fully detailed and polished-to-a-mirror-shine car doesn't really shout "professional" unless the colour's black.

Regards,
spadix

You do make a vaild point. As m4ugr8 puts it, finding the matching Milano Red is very hard. Sad but true. I have decided, in case I am going to change the color, I will keep a big brick on my heart and will go with Blue instead of Red. And thoughts of going for Blue keep me confined to CBP all together if I am honest.

Originally Posted by arvi86

You hit the nail with this point spadix. I was thinking the same thing. With such a stunning, sexy and racy looking Civic, Ace F355 wants the car to look every bit a perfect professional's. It already looks like a boy racer's car buddy. So, if you decide to repaint, go the full distance and go for Milano Red.

Paint perfection is the key, my friend. I certainly do not want to ruin my otherwise good looking car. I am ready to shell out extra money but a regular paintjob is costing anywhere around 55K, forget about the perfect paint job that I am looking for. And I am not going to hand over my car to any roadside joe who claims to bring out the best paint job possible!

Originally Posted by cityvic

Ace get the car resprayed to Carbon Bronze Pearl.The car currently looks Hot in that colour.Our City ZX is of the same colour too.
1st Choice is always Red,but due to your job it wont go well as you need to meet clients and all.Also if you paint the car red you will have to do something to the alloys then.

I agree CBP makes the car look handsome. About changing the alloys after paintjob, not really, I asked a friend of mine to do a photoshop rendering of my car with both proposed colors and the alloys go well with both of these colors. As I have said this before, the only problem with red IMO is, everything becomes too much of red. The angel eyes, the brake calipers, the alloy lip and not to mention the shining blood red paint I am thinking to get on my car! everything Red will look tacky if you ask me ojectively.

Originally Posted by jatinpatel

Hey ace

My advice would be to change the color to Aqua Blue Only and only IF you have a covered and secure parking cause its gonna be a pain to maintain it.Same applies for Red.

Well
CBP is very common these days specially on civic although ur shark is very unique with the touches you have given it to her, still basic CBP color is common so to be sober as well as unique get the aqua Blue or interlagos blue but make sure of paint finish and quality of work. If you dont find any good painter dont repaint Shark it might ruin her and your pocket too.

Planning any performance upgrades??

Hahaha. Jatin, you look as confused as I am, really. You very well know I am in Delhi and covered parking is not possible here at all. Come to the block I live in and I will show you S Classes, 7ers and A8s parked along roadside!

I understand CBP is very common but have to say it is the best color for Civic IMO, next only to Black. I am in search for a good painter who can deliver the quality I am looking for, in the paint job and I have inclining towards Blue for now, if I plan to get my car repainted at all. Else, CBP it is. The all rounder.

Performance mods, sure! I do have plans for them but need to make budget. Tein or Koni will be the next mod. Need to collect funds for the same. Turbocharging her will be after that, may be couple of years down the lane.



Talking about performance and efficiency of my car. Yesterday, I drove down to my home in Haryana and I decided to calculate the fuel efficiency. Here is how I did it.

- Got the tank full upto the brim with automatic cut-off level.
- Drove to home and reached a fuel station the is like 100 meters from my place.
- Got the tank filled to Auto cut-off levels again!

The car took in 10.23 litres of fuel. You know what that mean? Hold on your breath!!!

It means a FE of 16.9 kmpl!

My home from my Delhi apartment is exactly 173 kms. And around 50 kms of this includes typical Delhi Traffic from Saket to Bahadurgadh. The ACC was on all the time, set at 24 degrees.

Reasons for such good FE:

- I left around 9PM, cool weather after a rainy day with not too much of traffic!
- I didn't take the car beyond 90kmph fearing hitting a pothole and damaging the beautiful alloys on my car.

Have to say the alloys have made me a cautious driver! lol.

[jatinpatel]

@ACE

Oh my god 16.9 woah thats something for your shark with 17 on them.
good going, i too wanted to find out the fuel efficiency of my civic AT in city bumper to bumper traffic where it takes 1.5hrs to cover a distance of 18km it gives efficieny of 7.2 max 7.8kmpl.
on some short highway trips it gave me 12ish but she constantly above 120 and revs at around 3.5k range.

Need to do Driving like a saint and extract maximum efficiency.

By the way hows the experience with Shell Helix Ultra 5w-40 synthetic in civic ?
I have used that oil in my Tiny(800) found it good but after switching to mobil 5w-50 car was little bit more smoother,
I use Idemitsu 0w-30 synthetic oil from honda in civic.

[sushrutha]

Rohith,
Milano red looks fabulous, but for a Racer boy image this colour suits perfectly.
On a sedan, If you paint your car red, initially it looks sexy and as time passes by you'll tend to loose the charm of the colour. (But on a coupe/Race car it's entirely different, say Ferrari )
I would say go with Aqua Blue, this looks fantastic & subtle too. Either with your present alloys colour or the Golden coloured one looks sexy (same as Subaru Impreza)

[Ace F355]

Well, they say there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity.

I am yet to know which category do I fall in?

Yesterday, I was driving in countryside with my family visiting my pateranals and have observed quite a few things.

First the good things:

- The mileage continues to astonish me! It is hovering between 15.5 to 16 kmpl.
- Thanks to alloys + 225 cross-section tyres, the car now has an amazing good steering feel, very much comparable to BMWs.

Now some dissappointments:

- I am missing the occasional redlining brusts since roads do not permit.
- The ride comfort is compromised at broken roads. Even my mom was able to make it out and asked me if anything was wrong in the car!

And some bad things (list getting a bit long, at that):

- Well, I had to cross the some REALLY bad stretchs early morning today. And I swear I was never so scared driving this car. Will let the pics do the talking. All I can say is, I heard 4 loud thuds this time. The car was loaded with 4 adults plus some luggage. I need to get my car washed to check some underbelly damage, however there were no spills etc.

Relaxed moods...


Looking at this pic, can you imagine the terror in my eyes driving my beloved Civic in such conditions! It was worst than what I had imagined, seriously!


Back on smooth Asphalt, her natural habitat; I decided to stop and have a look at the possible damages!


Front lip and alloys dipped in the crazy mud... enough to make me scared! Notice the misaligned bumper and fender!


Well the Shark was covered in mud all over...


The visible dent on the passanger door (courtsey: a biker)



- half of my alloys were in the mud, so you guys can imagine how I must be feeling like, driving on 17"! Rides on 15" were worse enough, this time it was ridiculous.

Trust me when I say this, A Drive R1s are tough. The kind of roads I took them through was enough to test their ability to withstand torture. Bloody good rubber.

- Finally, I managed to get out of the muddy route and took my car onto NH1. This was my first high speed driving experience since I shoded my Shark with 17" alloys. All good things aside, the steering kept on vibrating above 100 kmph. Higher the speed, higher are the shudders. And this is driving me nuts.

This is a serious concern at the moment and I would like to know what could be the reasons? Any ideas?

Could it be the road unevenness filtering to steering, because of low tyre profiles OR did I damage/bend my alloys unknowingly?

Was I brave or was I stupid to put 17" and drive on such roads? Whatever it may be, I guess only time will tell.

Originally Posted by jatinpatel

@ACE

Oh my god 16.9 woah thats something for your shark with 17 on them.
good going, i too wanted to find out the fuel efficiency of my civic AT in city bumper to bumper traffic where it takes 1.5hrs to cover a distance of 18km it gives efficieny of 7.2 max 7.8kmpl.
on some short highway trips it gave me 12ish but she constantly above 120 and revs at around 3.5k range.

Need to do Driving like a saint and extract maximum efficiency.

By the way hows the experience with Shell Helix Ultra 5w-40 synthetic in civic ?
I have used that oil in my Tiny(800) found it good but after switching to mobil 5w-50 car was little bit more smoother,
I use Idemitsu 0w-30 synthetic oil from honda in civic.

Jatin, this is my first experience with Shell and it is going well so far. Lets see how it cops with my frequent redlining habits! FE is amazing me as well but I guess we have valid reasons for it, right?

Originally Posted by sushrutha

Rohith,
Milano red looks fabulous, but for a Racer boy image this colour suits perfectly.
On a sedan, If you paint your car red, initially it looks sexy and as time passes by you'll tend to loose the charm of the colour. (But on a coupe/Race car it's entirely different, say Ferrari )
I would say go with Aqua Blue, this looks fantastic & subtle too. Either with your present alloys colour or the Golden coloured one looks sexy (same as Subaru Impreza)

Sushrutha, I am inclined towards Blue as well. But the major job is to find a painter who is worth taking such risk of repainting.

and BTW, my name is Rohit, not Rohith! *smiles*

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

All good things aside, the steering kept on vibrating above 100 kmph. Higher the speed, higher are the shudders. And this is driving me nuts.

This is a serious concern at the moment and I would like to know what could be the reasons? Any ideas?

Could it be the road unevenness filtering to steering, because of low tyre profiles OR did I damage/bend my alloys unknowingly?

Don't worry,
After the installation of alloys, did you get Wheel Balancing & alignment done PROPERLY ?
This mostly happens due to improper Wheel balancing, get a proper wheel balancing done. Should solve the issue.

Else if the PCD(114.3???) of the alloy wheel is not correct as with that of your car wheels, then also you might face the vibrations.
Check here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...oy-wheels.html

Originally Posted by Ace

Sushrutha, I am inclined towards Blue as well. But the major job is to find a painter who is worth taking such risk of repainting.

As you are in Delhi, you can just checkout with Autopsyche (also a member here)
Team-BHP - Search Results

Originally Posted by Ace

BTW, my name is Rohit, not Rohith! *smiles*

Noted... If In south india , your name would have an H added at the end ;-)

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by sushrutha

Don't worry,
After the installation of alloys, did you get Wheel Balancing & alignment done PROPERLY ?
This mostly happens due to improper Wheel balancing, get a proper wheel balancing done. Should solve the issue.

Else if the PCD(114.3???) of the alloy wheel is not correct as with that of your car wheels, then also you might face the vibrations.
Check here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...oy-wheels.html

Balancing and alignment was done at the time of alloy change. Pretty sure it was done well as I was standing next to the machine. Also, these alloys are of 114.3 PCD. No chance of error there.

Originally Posted by sushrutha

As you are in Delhi, you can just checkout with Autopsyche (also a member here)

Team-BHP - Search Results

I had contacted Autophyche and he is quoting similer to Pandit & Co. I will prefer the acclaimed specialists rather than Autophyche; if I do the comparo.

Originally Posted by sushrutha

Noted... If In south india , your name would have an H added at the end ;-)

No worries. I know what you mean and thats why I pointed it out.

[Akshay1234]

The Yokos are generally tough, even the Advans on my car have been through quite a lot, with maybe 2-3 punctures totally.

The vibration could have been because all that mud on the alloys unbalanced them. After cleaning them totally try it out again.

[jatinpatel]

@ACE
dont worry about vibrations
get the shark thoroughly and vigorously and in depth cleaned and get the wheels balanced again may be due to the mud the stick on weights which they put to balance the rims must be have got out of the rim and hence imbalance in tire.

Worst case scenario can be a bad wheel bearing but that's a very very odd possibility.


And one thing I can say
Civic took the off roading with pride and You are one hell of a carful driver on these roads with a Brave heart to take civic on it that too with 4people and luggage.

[iFuel]

I voted for aqua blue as that to me will be a subtle color and will also make the car appeal more to custom mods. Not all mods and accessories go well with milano red [personal opinion]. Still which ever color you go for I am sure you will make it looks real good. Do post some nice photos after the car is re-painted. By the way that is a big dent on the left front door!

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

The Yokos are generally tough, even the Advans on my car have been through quite a lot, with maybe 2-3 punctures totally.

The vibration could have been because all that mud on the alloys unbalanced them. After cleaning them totally try it out again.

Vibrations due to stuck mud could be a possibility. Will send the car to a car wash tomorrow and then will be able to comment on this issue.

Originally Posted by jatinpatel

one thing I can say
Civic took the off roading with pride and You are one hell of a carful driver on these roads with a Brave heart to take civic on it that too with 4people and luggage.

Haha... looks like I should have bought a Pajero but instead I listened to my heart and bought a Civic. My Shark is getting regular to these off-road patches. So far so good *fingers crossed* , however need to avoid such stretches to prevent any damage to my beloved car!

Originally Posted by iFuel

I voted for aqua blue as that to me will be a subtle color and will also make the car appeal more to custom mods. Not all mods and accessories go well with milano red [personal opinion]. Still which ever color you go for I am sure you will make it looks real good. Do post some nice photos after the car is re-painted. By the way that is a big dent on the left front door!

Hey iFuel. Good to see you back in action here. Yep, looks like I am game for Blue as well but I am sure it will be a impulsive decision the moment my car goes for re-paint.

I will click and post tons of pics once I get some time to get that ugly dent removed! I am pushing my Civic to all the limits I can in terms of performance as well as road experiences, seriously.

[Ace F355]

Forgot to add, I have bought 3D Kagu Mats for my Shark as well. Lovely fitting although I would have liked a bit more free clutch depress! Was confused between black and beige; finally got beige ones for my car. They complement the interiors completely. Price paid was INR 5,300 at Motor Concept, Delhi.

Though I have them in my car, I fail to understand the whole fuss about these 3D mats. These mats are sort of custom moulded rubber material and they do look nice, but no way they justify the premium paid over normal mats! Ideally, they should have been in 2500-3000 price bracket!

[dot]

The dent on the front door looks out of place. Its THE shark in town, mats can come later, dude. Nevertheless would like to check out the pics of the mats. Do post them when you can.

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by dot

The dent on the front door looks out of place. Its THE shark in town, mats can come later, dude. Nevertheless would like to check out the pics of the mats. Do post them when you can.

Dotty, I was wondering if I could decide on a full paint job and this dent could be covered in that deal but since I am still torn between my choices, I will give my Shark to a denter and will get rid of this ugly dent! Will post the mat pics later.

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

I have bought 3D Kagu Mats Price paid was INR 5,300 .

Though I have them in my car, I fail to understand the whole fuss about these 3D mats. These mats are sort of custom moulded rubber material and they do look nice, but no way they justify the premium paid over normal mats! Ideally, they should have been in 2500-3000 price bracket!

+1000..
Somehow I too feel they are not VFM mats.
I'm not going to buy these mats at that price, something on which I''ll be putting my dirty feet and pay 5.5 grands for the same. LOL
Pretty much happy with the OEM mats ;-)

Originally Posted by dot

Nevertheless would like to check out the pics of the mats. Do post them when you can.

Here are some of the pics of the 3D kagu mats on civic.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2415511

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Dotty, I was wondering if I could decide on a full paint job and this dent could be covered in that deal but since I am still torn between my choices, I will give my Shark to a denter and will get rid of this ugly dent! Will post the mat pics later.

I know it feels odd to see a beautiful car with a dent.
If you are planning for a change in colour very soon, then keep the dent as it, else get rid of it.
Here in BLR at reputed garage(sai colorium), they usually charge 2500Rs for a medium to small dent/scratch removal which also includes painting charges.