Driving in Some 'Civic' Sense - A Buying and Ownership Review

[Sam Dinkar]

Desperately needs black tints !

 

[Akash]

Interesting writeup buddy. Your Civic looks great. Just add some dark (but legal), tints along with a boot spoiler, and your Jap would be ready to rock the roads.

I personally find the current Civic a lot better than facelifted version which is due for launch later this year.

 

[Iron Rock]

Thanks Mukesh , typer, cooldhaya, sam Dinkar, zengetz, Akash..

Type r -> do you have a thread , also keen to see pics of ur ride?

One clarification the photo was from 2010 so well over an year old now and closer to when i bought it

Working on the car review that will follow shortly

You guys are all really tempting me with mods suggestion and i have been resisting it for quite a while now...

 

[type-r]

here is my ownership report:

http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/ownership-reviews/86-honda-civic-legend.html

 

[Iron Rock]

Now lets starts of with the Car review [Part 1]:-

Design / Looks :- I personally think the civic design was ahead of its times at the time of launch - infact even today it can hold its ground against competitive products like cruze ( i aint comparing a 2012 civic but a 2006 civic with a cruze just to take an example ) and easily beats the toyota or most other sedans a segment higher - infact i think it looks better than even the accord!! the accord rear is hideous. The civic is just such a beautiful design viewed from any angle -ageless really. Again i would want to reiterate looks are a subjective thing and my opinion should not intimidate anyone - looks are a personal thing - period. The car also has a large glass area, especially the front glass and with tints it looks stunning. I have seen civics in all colours and still cant make up my mind which one looks the best - its looks good in pretty much any shade. Usually u have cars looking better with certain color like the Aria which looks exceptional in white especially - but with a civic even after owning it over 1.5 years i cant make up m mind which one looks good. The car is solidly built and the doors shut perfectly and give u a feel of a quality car a segment above. Its low slung symmetric and balanced design makes it look very aerodynamic

Lets talk about interiors:- Wow !! only one word for it - anybody and everybody who has had a ride in my civic is simply struck by its cockpit interiors - what a design - i havent known any person who dislikes the civic interior. Mine is the original 2006 civic launched in India so it doesnt have some good features like steering control or cruise control - but heck it still more than makes up for itself with the drive, we will talk abt it later. It has all the usual stuff including climate control and a 6 cd changer(no aux though i can easily do an aftermarket one). The trademark digital odo right in front of the driver is a probably on the top of the designer's cv for the rest of his life - always brings a smile when u see it and u can literally drive watching it all the time. Mine is all fabric interiors in beige and its aged well and looks classy - the black and beige combination always looks nice. The rear seats are extremely comfortable with no middle hump whatsoever - its flat with lots of legroom. The centre backrest in the back pops out and all has the radio controls within ( liked a fixed remote control) - in terms of overall ergonomics i find it perfect to my needs. One thing that is an issue though is the ingress and egress - it takes getting some use to even though the door opens nearly 90 degrees, as the car is low slung and the seats was low - getting in and out takes some used especially the front seats. the steering feel is chunky and i find perfect among all cars i have ever driven neither too light nor too weighty - balanced and lets u position the car exactly where u want and i am talking of this at triple digit speeds!! The quality of interiors is really top notch and till date i dont have any internal creaks whatsoever - Mahindra and Tata especially should learn from this - this is how interiors in a 10+ lakh car should be - and i am saying this abt a 6 year old vehicle whereas new tata and mahindra vehicles can be put to shame. The light and wiper stalks in the xuv is not even 50% the quality of the civic stalks.

Mechanical Stuff :- It has a 1.8 iVtec beating its heart and its gives the car a spanking performance and driveability - mind you i aint talking mathematical numbers like 0-100 etc but the feel it gives u as a driver - simply astounding - it is a driver's car. So much so that when i see a chaufeur driven civic i feel like saying sorry to the owner and telling him he doesnt know what he is missing sitting back. Also the way the car lays down its power is simply amazing, no fuss no nothing, simply a surge which goes on and on till u realise u are running out of roads(drive by wire throttle helps). The engine is unbeleivably smooth and mind u i use mobil 1 synthetic - everytime i change the oil ( yearly ) i make it it a point i keep on driving after that - it is just "makhhannnn". There is no nvh at all and the civic really has got good acoustic properties to its glass windows all around, u can hardly hear anything tht goes on outside. Given anyways its so silent u cant say for sure if the engine is turned on without seeing the rpm which idles around 800rpm. There is no vibration whatsoever. Infact this has made me crank up the engine while its on and then sheepishly getting the feeling of kicking myself - happens especially at signals when i stop and then crank up thinking i already stopped it. Sigh happened atleast a dozen times this in last 1.5 years sighhhhhhhhhhhhhh. There is one catch though because of the way the VTEC is tuned for fuel efficiency under 1600rpm it feels sluggish. This behaviour u need to adjust to - which i am sure most civic drivers are. Once its over 2000 rpm its a different car and a slightest touch to the accelerator gives u the surge u always wanted. Overtaking is a breeze with the civic. Its pleasure knowing not too many cars can beat u at a signal start (offcourse dont compare it to a few segments above, i am referring to the normal cars u came across every day ). On a clear road and on days when i feel naughty i have done some astounding starts - its such a pleasure to drive and u know that in some impossible overtaking situations it can bail u out. The gearbox is a 5 speed one and is very slick with short throws - really helps with the agressive driving. I have had a few services done at 50-60-70k already(lol yes i did 30k in 16 months) and i keep thinking they will come and charge me for gear box oil and open it up etc for a service. But the gearbox service is at 1 lakh km and many tell me it will easily last much much more than that even if u completely ignore it - talk about honda quality. With all disk brakes, the braking is astoundingly accurate and i just love the brake set up it has very little play and stops whenever and wherever u want it to stop - the feel and peace of mind it gives is really unparalled. I love the civic for its handling & braking - simple as that!! Lets come to the suspension. Now the civic GC at 170 is as any normal car - but its suspension is softly set up and the wheelbase of the civic is one of the longest and now u know what happens when 5 people are on board. This i think is anyways the most talked about point of the civic. As far as i am concerned 90% of my driving is without any rear passengers - so i havent faced any problems but yes with 5 seated i am usually extra careful driving and have mastered the art of negotiating the back breakers we have. Lol it makes u a better driver this problem!!

 

[Iron Rock]

[Part 2]

Safety/ Features/ Electronics/Ride - lol electronics what electronics well the civic is very basic in this department - there are very few things that could go wrong. It has 2 airbags, abs, ebd,brake assist so the absolute basics exist and they work perfectly and reliably. Driver side windows are one touch - i miss this sorely in the XUV. The stock ICE sounds nice and i dont ever feel the need for an upgrade. With no Aux i have 6 recordable cds which i keep updating lol. All the buttons are very easy to use and very high quality - nothing i mean nothing in this car feels flimsy.
Ride quality with 2 passengers on board is decent and nothing spectacular about it , i have noticed if i keep the tyre pressure at 32/34psi (recommended is 30) the ride seems better - offcourse with 5 passengers be careful of a rather large pothole. Otherwise in the highways its one of the best handling sedans in its segment - i do mumbai pune regularly and have driven at speeds i wouldnt think of doing around those curves in any other car - with this it feels so easy and never have i put a tire out of my lane be it whatever speed. the max i have done on a solo ride was about 165 and i ran out of road but not grunt. Mind u i did this for less than 30 secs and its not all safe to be doing anything over 120 on indian expressway roads - the quality of tarmac is pathetic and its simply not safe - so please dont attempt - i did this only because i saw an endless section of road with no traffic and i had no passengers - also had recently signed up on a big insurance policy so felt confident about it lol. But my best experience driving a civic is not the expressway but the old mumbai highway - boy thats so smooth and curvy u enjoy the drive more than the expressway. For the guys who dont know the expressway is concrete stuff while the old highway is the usual tarmac well maintained and smooooth(for the better part of the year). Normally i would be complaining thats its low on features for the price, but the real VFM factor in this car is not the gizmos but the driveability and handling - so i have no complaints.

Now some notes from my personal experience :-

1) This honda is really very low on maintenance - i have had no mechanical problems whatsoever in my 30k of driving in just around 13 months and mind u i have put it through some really bad roads which its not meant for including the offroad part which i showed in my xuv thread. Its very light on ur pockets and u only pay for the usual consumables and labour. the only thing i had to replace was a fan motor of the ac and the real reason was this was more the fact that the car always runs with the ac on and i didnt have tints(got it done 2 months back) - so in summers and after 6 years of driving the fan motor conked off. Replaced it and the AC works great now cost me 4k. Apart from that i have only replaced the brakepads- i dont know when the previous owner replaced it but it lasted 30k for me(probably more since the previous owner was using it). so all in all not bad at all.

2) The boot of the civic is really small - i mean for a sedan of this segment u wud expect a humungous boot - but its nowwhere close to that.

3) I already talked abt low end grunt under 1600rpm - but really this car is a mecca for auto modders. i think its one the most customisable cars in the world - infinte amnt of mod options which i often get tempted about - but never did it yet as this car was meant to be a stop gap for the fortuner to come. But really will i have the heart to sell this ? i doubt. Its really an enthusiasts car and the more i think the more i feel i dont want to sell it.lol now stop reminding me about mods as i have done enough study there and have been resisting for this very simple reason that i dont know whether i am gonna keep this. someone did 600bhp on a civic lol should i think of 180 bhp lol even that wud be dream. But really the only thing that can be easily improved in this car is the low end grunt and that is low because honda took a call to make the vtec work for fuel efficiency. The only bigger reason to sell is its petrol and my running is high indeed.

4) Kitna Deti hai ? - Well i am more of a sedate driver so i get around 11-12 in city and around 14-15 in highways, good enough i think. Best was a 16.5 once on shell. I am happy with the mileage for the segment the car belongs

5) in this car u would never have the fear of being stranded anywhere with a breakdown - its bullet proof. I have known civics which have done over 3 lakh kms with nothing but just normal maintenance schedules.

6) So good is the quality of the wing mirror too - that many times crazy swerving drivers have hit it in pune and most times they end up with a fully broken unit and all i needed to do was just adjust it again. Just last week a indica taxi was driving crazily on the opp side of the road and brushed my wing - nothing happened to the civic but his entire assembly got broken + driver had a hard time finding the keys as i stepped out and threw it off in rage picking it up from his car as he dared to stop too lol. Someone once told me the 2006 original launch civic had the best quality amongst civics - not sure if that is indeed true.

7) I intend to get some polishing done to cover up some minor bruises - sighh only i know the effort i go to avoid it in pune traffic but its inevitable - i am sure the puneites will sympathise with me here. Need the brand new shine back - intend to do this in the coming weeks once i have some time on the weekend.

Things i dislike
1) Low Boot Space
2) Response under 1600rpm( but tht can be easily sorted with mods)
3) Low GC due to suspension setup and wheelbase - again this can be sorted by altering the suspension or by a simple rubber bush available in bangalore!

Pheww a long write up but i hope i did justice and please feel to ask any questions just in case i missed out any parameters. Ill end for now but will just leave the readers with one thought - if u r in the sedan market with a budget of 6-8 lakhs - have u considered a used civic instead ? Its such a VFM thing and u wont regret the decision , the car never stops to bring a smile - happens everytime and then again!!

 

[lxi.]

Nice writeup buddy! Your car looks awesomest awesome . I mean, i can't believe my eyes that it is a 6year old civic. Really needs some dark tints. It is so very well maintained! Surprised!

 

[P3T3R]

Desperately needs black tints !

Nice writeup buddy! Your car looks awesomest awesome . I mean, i can't believe my eyes that it is a 6year old civic. Really needs some dark tints. It is so very well maintained! Surprised!

Interesting writeup buddy. Your Civic looks great. Just add some dark (but legal), tints along with a boot spoiler, and your Jap would be ready to rock the roads.

The reason the car is looking good is the lack of tints. Please don't spoil the look with tints.

I personally find the current Civic a lot better than facelifted version which is due for launch later this year.

My +1. I don't know why the facelifted it in the first place.

 

[TSIVipul]

Haha,even our METALLIC(Iron)TRUCK DRIVER also owns a car!!I am just thinking how an Iron Rock(Lohe ki chattaan in Hindi)will look inside a car(No offence,only a joke-Please post a pic of that)

Congos buddy a Civic is the car that really looks away from the crowd even after it is 6 years old.And your civic looks like its not even an year old or two.
Even I also like the current Civic,in fact I feel the upcoming facelift is not a facelift instead it seems like they are trying to push the Civic a generation back or two.
Although about one year back I was also in the same dilemma with 15 lacs in hand that 'Civic' or 'Laura TSI' but since I like the plain things so the 'Civic' simply went out of my list as the car was to be chauffeur driven,needed to have best rear seat,and since it was to be a contractor's car so it needed good GC and hence today I am called TSIVipul..
Will soon come up with a review of mine too(the formatted hard disk killed the pics and the car seldom comes to me).

Fantastic buy it is,I am still waiting for your net performance,top speed attained by you,FE and service costs review,rest everything is already checked up by me(Friend who owns a City owns a Civic too and I have an experience of about 1000 kms with Civic too.)

 

[lxi.]

But, some dark charcoal coloured tints will look good buddy. Tints always look good on silver cars.

And IRon rock- do post pics of interiors and boot.

Cheers

 

[lxi.]

No, buddy, the tints would look good along with a spoiler.

for your reference, sorry for spoiling the rear glass, i am new at photoshop-



And Iron rock- do post some pics of the interior and boot also.

cheers.

 

[AppU]

Your story was interesting & Your car looks fresh as New...

do add some interiors too..

 

[Iron Rock]

Thanks Vipul , yes u r right abt the truck driver part - as i said in the buying part this car was meant to be a stop gap for the fortuner -- will post more pics, fe is mentioned in the review , the yearly service cost around 6-7k - thts all i do ...top ups do it myself. minor diy also do myself. I am not a speed fiend mate so the i dont exceed 120 normally ...:) but with the civic handling and braking i can maintain a higher average speed than top speed as it corners and handles so well...btw where r u these days and updates on ur poll xuv is pending ?

Thanks LXI for ur photoshop job - ill post interior and boot pics shortly - so bear with me..yes i maintain my steeds well - the civic now needs a full polish job and some minor bruise fixes - intend to do it in a couple of weeks.

Akash, p3t3r you r very right abt the new civic and honda has admitted it already , strange how it can bring out a car generations ahead the last decade and then step back with what is supposed to the next gen car - paradox!!

Thanks Appu, will add shortly.

typer - u have a nice steed , please post some recent updates and pics..

 

[Iron Rock]

I think zengetz talked abt the bad boys in my garage , but i thought calling them beauty and the beast - probably more apt what say zengetz?

Have a look at them cuddling in the garage

Sorry for the poor quality - taken with the mobile..

 

[zengetz]

Aww so nice to see them together. The Dark Knight and the Noble Steed