[vcx]

@#1#Next-gen Honda Civic unveiled | Autocar India

Found this link on next gen Honda Civic.

My initial take its looks good but personally feel the current one is much better.

Overall dimensions looks to be brough down to address GC issues( may be), ofcourse may be high on features inside .

Looks wise sowm what has relevance mitsubishi Evo from front and old camry kind of tail lights.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by vcx

Head says=Vento for Diesel value and good engine built to last and German engineering

Heart: Civic, futuristic design, good handling and real feel that you have arrived!

Lets see how this saga truns with any twist in the story!

So have you totally ruled out the Jetta petrol?

Think there's another important win for the Vento diesel - resale value. It's a 2010 design. The Civic is a 2006 design even with the 2009 face-lift -- of course it still looks fresh and modern which is such a big plus but looks are only part of a vintage. This wasn't an issue for me, however.

Whether you go with your head or heart doesn't matter. You shouldn't have regrets later either which way. That's more important. I don't regret buying the Civic at all (even though comparable options were available, some at much lower price points - like the Cedia).

Originally Posted by vcx

My initial take its looks good but personally feel the current one is much better.

Looks like an amalgam of the ANHC and current US-spec Civic from the front. Not bad at all. But they've lost the plot at the rear. Seeing as it's still a concept vehicle, I think the rear is likely to change. Between the two (sedan/coupe) I like the exhaust arrangement of the coupe a lot more, obviously.

The side profile doesn't seem to have changed much from the 8th gen. Civic.

Regards,
spadix

[vcx]

[quote=spadix;2205745]So have you totally ruled out the Jetta petrol?

Not exactly, its a solid car no doubt .But if one looks at the upcoming Jetta in Q4 '11( more Audi like) the current model looks as grandfather.

Think there's another important win for the Vento diesel - resale value. It's a 2010 design. The Civic is a 2006 design even with the 2009 face-lift -- of course it still looks fresh and modern which is such a big plus but looks are only part of a vintage. This wasn't an issue for me, however.

Fully Agree with you!

Whether you go with your head or heart doesn't matter. You shouldn't have regrets later either which way. That's more important. I don't regret buying the Civic at all (even though comparable options were available, some at much lower price points - like the Cedia).



Looks like an amalgam of the ANHC and current US-spec Civic from the front. Not bad at all. But they've lost the plot at the rear. Seeing as it's still a concept vehicle, I think the rear is likely to change. Between the two (sedan/coupe) I like the exhaust arrangement of the coupe a lot more, obviously.

We ll have to wait and see how it would shape up finally, I am sure Honda leveraged Detriot motor show to gather some serious inputs/suggestions to take back

The side profile doesn't seem to have changed much from the 8th gen. Civic.

Ya once out, may look radically diff from the current, the point is will Honda get another saga of Civic success like the current is a question, while addressing the current issues.

Spokeperson at Honda say the new Honda will be more FE, yet have adequate power( a sense of lower cc engine with turbo charge)?

[dot]

Originally Posted by vcx

Looks like an amalgam of the ANHC and current US-spec Civic from the front. Not bad at all. But they've lost the plot at the rear. Seeing as it's still a concept vehicle, I think the rear is likely to change. Between the two (sedan/coupe) I like the exhaust arrangement of the coupe a lot more, obviously.

The side profile doesn't seem to have changed much from the 8th gen. Civic.

Ya once out, may look radically diff from the current, the point is will Honda get another saga of Civic success like the current is a question, while addressing the current issues.

Agree with you, the concept vehicle looks very close to the 8th gen Civic. The 8th Civic is a very different vehicle when compared to the 7th gen.

I think that the current Civic looks better and more sophisticated than the concept.

Lets start a separate thread on the concept and discuss the new Civic.

[vcx]

Originally Posted by dot

Agree with you, the concept vehicle looks very close to the 8th gen Civic. The 8th Civic is a very different vehicle when compared to the 7th gen.

I think that the current Civic looks better and more sophisticated than the concept.

Lets start a separate thread on the concept and discuss the new Civic.

To better the current Civic will certianly be a challenge for Honda, so much so that competitors have brought in new cars but desgin, styling element is not close to the current Civic.

Lets see how ANHCi will come out!

[sgiitk]

What I do not like about the new Civic at all is that the front end is now a take on the City. I read somewhere the rear is inspirer by the Camry.

[vcx]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

What I do not like about the new Civic at all is that the front end is now a take on the City. I read somewhere the rear is inspirer by the Camry.

Ya this point was observed by many that this just looks a bigger ANHC ,while rear has instances like camry( past generation) .End of the day Honda termed this as concept, taking it so long to showcase as concept is something not good.

My take ( which I had posted in few other threads) that Honda would be taking some key feedbacks to tweak the on road versions in 2012.


All said, bettering the current Civic styling , desgin factor is a tough task. but on the other side Honda may give civic lower cc (say 1.6 L) turbo charged engine, with fully loaded features( which the current civic lacks).

Lastly diesel heart!!!! never know.

[spadix]

BQ just crossed 9000 km today. The 10k km/6 month service is due at the end of this month.

There was a bunch of stuff I said I would talk about - including my experience with some car care products I acquired recently and a good/bad summary based on ~6 months of ownership, but I thought I'll leave a quick comment or two in the meantime.

Around a week and something back I got 3M's CR70 (front windscreen) and RE35 (sides and rear) films for the car from a 3M authorized distributor here. While the job wasn't very thorough/professional (and I need to go back there to get some things fixed) the difference is the behaviour of the AC is remarkable.

Essentially the auto mode has become useless for me now. Perhaps the temperature sensors feel that the temperature is low enough, and the blower speed is set very low compared to what may have been the case without the sun film in similar conditions.

However, one can still feel the prickly heat that direct sunlight (esp. head on through the front windscreen) causes and so I have to use a manual blower speed - something I never did before getting the films.

The film seems to be doing a good job of keeping the interiors relatively cool, however. It was expensive at 11.2k but I think it's money well spent. The summer should hopefully reinforce this feeling even more.

Today was a bit of a bad day for BQ. I got stuck in a traffic jam and a cycle rickshaw attempted to cut across BQ's front (left to right, perpendicular to the line of stopped traffic) through the gap as the car in front of me moved ahead a couple of feet. The narrow front of the rickshaw went through but the right-rear wheel banged into the front bumper at the outer left corner and left a couple of visible scratches and scuff marks. I shouted at the driver but in typical Hyderabadi style he just pleaded that it was a small scratch and I shouldn't worry .

In a way I'm lucky that in our traffic I've had only one or two such incidents in ~6 months and 9k kms, but still, it rankles.

And to think that this had to happen when I was generally miffed that a thick layer of dust had developed within a day (and ~46 kms of in-city driving) of a good wash. Adding injury to insult? Ah, the dark side of owning a black car .

Regards,
spadix

[Motoringlover]

Originally Posted by spadix

In a way I'm lucky that in our traffic I've had only one or two such incidents in ~6 months and 9k kms, but still, it rankles.

spadix

I completely understand the feeling mate, I have started ignoring these now, i guess once or twice in a year, i am going to dedicate a day to get these scratches removed.

it was great to see the BQ in good health

Best

[raghu230506]

I wish many more such happy miles with your BQ.

It's very much true in Hyderabad,

When ever I take my ride to Hyd, I had allways returned with a minor scratch. Thanks to ScratchX from Meg almost 95% are masked.

[vcx]

Originally Posted by raghu230506

I wish many more such happy miles with your BQ.

It's very much true in Hyderabad,

When ever I take my ride to Hyd, I had allways returned with a minor scratch. Thanks to ScratchX from Meg almost 95% are masked.

How much does Meg cost?any idea where can one get them in Hyderabad?

Did anyone got to try out those fix it scratch remover pen( marker type) as advertised on TV ? Found some on ebay which costs btw Rs.180 to 450 each.

[vcx]

My exp. with black car is some what same , but nothing can match a well maintained Black car( certianly gives that x factor). In the intially year I myself used to clean the car every inch and was so passionate that every week I used to do a complete waxing ( Formula 1, Waxpol, Turtle,3M) along with tyre and dashboard sprays.

Later on in following years, I had driver who used to do the clean and waxing once a month. Since past year have release my driver form duties and have a guy who only does cleaning daily, while I do the waxing once a month.

After nearly 5 + year , I feel proud the way car is maintained inside out and touch wood never troubled me. End of it, I can say its indeed a pain to maintain the black car, but some how never felt that ( may be I have got used to this)...

All said my next car may not be balck for sure( planning sometime mid of 2011), while I shall retain my Black panther!

[dot]

Originally Posted by spadix

In a way I'm lucky that in our traffic I've had only one or two such incidents in ~6 months and 9k kms, but still, it rankles.

Regards,
spadix

We are all in the same boat, brother. Traffic conditions and driving sense (or non-sense) in any city is more or less same. People care a fig to create scratches and dents on other people's vehicles. Wonder when things will improve.

Congrats for the 9000Kms.

[spadix]

Today marks BQ's 200th day. She also completed 10k kms earlier today.


BQ just before the milestone

9999.9 was hit just as we entered a busy junction. Luckily it was around 1:30 am and the roads were empty, so we just parked to the side and took the pictures . Please excuse the poor quality of this first picture. The one below is markedly better. I still need to master the camera on the sarkari Windows Phone 7 device.


The 5-digit mark

My cousin, who was with me at the time, was looking at the trip meters at 9999.9 and muttering that they would all get reset. He owns a Civic as well, albeit in the US. I didn't know about the trip reset. I don't remember reading it anywhere in the manual, and was surprised when it happened, although I never use trip meters. The trip resets every 2k kms in Dad's Indigo so when BQ's trip meters kept going on and on I thought they would never reset.

The 3rd service at 6 months/10k kms was due on the 31st of January. I dropped BQ in on 3rd February with the odo reading 9543 kms. The oil + filter change and some wheel balancing and alignment (with a new weight) all came to INR 3648 after tax. I could've saved a bit by opting for mineral oil instead of synthetic.

Pride Honda has been especially sensitive this time around because of the lukewarm feedback I left for their 1st and 2nd free services. The rattle in the rear parcel tray still remains. To their credit, they've spent a lot of time on it already. One of their mechanics spent 3.5 hrs (post-service) over the last week and I must commend him for that, given that he stands to lose a lot of money by not working on the regular stuff in the workshop. They've assured me that they'll get to the bottom of this, but I guess at some point of time I just have to convince them to replace the tray under warranty. I've already hinted this to them. Considering that the tray costs 15k to 18k (per the mechanic) I'm sure they'll go all out to fix the rattle before agreeing to replace the tray. Let's see.

A couple of other minor issues have remained unsolved.

All of the other problems I reported have been fixed to my satisfaction. Here's the list of stuff I reported, along with the resolution -

1. Rattles/squeaks (rear parcel tray, one of the left doors, left front tweeter, speedo/fuel gauge cover, steering column) - All fixed except rear parcel tray (severe) and left front tweeter (very minor)
2. Metallic sound when starting the engine or when going over a sharp but small speedbreaker - Fixed
3. Vehicle moving to the left sometimes and the odd steering wheel vibration in certain conditions - Fixed with the addition of a weight during balance + alignment testing
4. Top cover of steering column assembly doesn't lock into place - Fixed
5. Horn doesn't sound occasionally; perhaps some loose contact - Fixed
6. Since the 2nd FS, gear level wouldn't move into 1st easily even at very low speeds; this is both good and bad but it was definitely a change in behaviour from when the car was new - Not fixed. The service centre said it could be caused by the monsoon mat fouling against the clutch. That doesn't make sense, because other shifts are butter-smooth and I had the monsoon mats before the 2nd FS anyway.
7. Jerkiness at around 1300 rpm irrespective of whether AC is on or off - By design

One other insight (i.e. in addition to the eye-popping price of the rear parcel tray) I learnt during this service was that the wheel set-up is very delicate. There is a slight camber to the wheels and it's very easy for the setting to go for a toss if the car hits a pothole/ditch. Not only that, it's difficult to get the original setting back at that point and there'll almost always be a very slight deviation from the original design. I think this is bad. Given our road conditions, Honda should beef this up or train the service centres to allow them to dial the correct camber back in somehow.

The car's been a dream otherwise. I just don't feel like getting out of the car after a drive! In the end, that's all that matters. The lack of a feature here or there is more than made up for by this joy of ownership. I've stretched to buy this car and I don't regret it one bit. Every kilometre driven - both good and bad - just reinforces that feeling.

To prospective car buyers in this segment who are undecided, let me just say that not only will you not go wrong with this car, you will actually be thrilled by it. Daily.

Facts and figures -
The time is also apropos to take a look at the combined F/E thus far. Just before I refuelled BQ after the 3rd FS the fuel level was about as much as it was when I bought BQ. In the interim she's done 9539.8 kms (~3500 highway and the rest in-city) and consumed 875.84 litres of petrol in the process, netting a combined F/E of ~10.89 kmpl. The in-dash indicator shows 11.9 kmpl which corresponds well to general observations of a 1 kmpl overstatement of F/E. Fuel cost/km till that point was INR 5.46/km.

Now that the free services are done with, maintenance costs would increase but they're still manageable.

Regards,
spadix

[MileCruncher]

That's an average of 50ms/Day which is quite high I must say. Even in my case, its only 57.5Kms/Day

BTW if you don't use the trip meter, how do you calculate fuel mileage and trip details.

Congrats on achieving 10k mark. Party ho jaye