Honda City Diesel Review - Vasantha Ashtra – Golden Brown

[gandhi]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Dear Gandhi Sir,

I have been a silent reader on the Forum and your upgrades. Those beautiful narrations about your "Ashtra" Inspired me to end up in deciding to go for My 'Maxx' HONDA CITY IDTECH VX... I took him home on March 4th 2015 same day as Mr Karthikeyans..

Congrts guhan. Wish you and Your Maxx a happy mile munching. So I need party when I come to Erode..

Hi,
Let me assume that I would be doing 1500+ kilometers in a month
So now I wanted to know the mileage of the.
Honda City Petrol (Tank to Tank) in City and Highway !
Honda City Diesel (Tank to Tank) in City and Highway !

If would suggest you to go for the Idtec as your running is crossing the 5000KM per year.

As per my experience, the difference between MID and Tankful method is only 0.5 to 1 KM.
As per MID in City, I get 18 to 19KMPL.
As per MID & tankful, I get 24 to 25 KMPL with max speed of 70 to 80KMPH.
As per MID & tankful, I get 20 to 21 KMPL with max speed of 110 to 120KMPH.

 

[Dr MUDHAN]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Upgraded to Michelin primacy 3st and Tiara alloys :)

.... I took him home on March 4th 2015 same day as Mr Karthikeyans..
As a start for the Upgrades, I changed the stock 'Goodyear' tyre to 'Michelin Primacy 3ST 195/60R15'. After the upgrade the Handling has improved really well and its butter smooth ride. ....

Friends
Could you please tell me the correct name and the address of the shop at Chennai wherein you have changed your tires.
Also , please let me know whether they charged anything extra for fitting and alignment.
Thanks and Regards
Dr MUDHAN

 

[ghuhans]

Dear All,

I apologies for the late response, as I was out of country till last week.

Congrts guhan. Wish you and Your Maxx a happy mile munching. So I need party when I come to Erode.

Sure Sir..
Any time when you plan to visit Erode or Chennai, Just PM me .. I shall treat you :)

Friends
Could you please tell me the correct name and the address of the shop at Chennai wherein you have changed your tires.
Also , please let me know whether they charged anything extra for fitting and alignment.

Dear Dr. Mudhan,

I have changed the tyres back in Erode and there they dont charge for the fitments and alignment on the purchase of new tyres.
In chennai, Lal tyres in Royapetah is good and they are there for quite a long time. IMO the service is good. R
Regards,
Ghuhans.

 

[manish12345]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Projector Head Lights with DRL

The need of this Accessory:

Situation 1: I had to complete the final lap of my maiden voyage in dark night in my Ashtra (Also my first long night driving, almost for 3 hours). I found very difficult to drive in low beam. I forced to use a high beam continuously which I don’t like it.

Situation 2: Personally I liked the projector head light and DRL facility in high end cars. Even I thought doing in my car at a later stage.

Situation 3: When I went to dealership to enquire about the service, I saw a City fitted with Projector and DRL. It was looking cool.

Situation 4: During my recent visit to UK, I understand the requirement of DRL from driver who drives in Europe Union. It is not just cosmetic accessory. It is a safety device.

After that I had so many other fellow City users also felt the headlight throw is not sufficient to do the night drive. Definitely one day I will be in big trouble because of this head light, so I wanted to eliminate the problem as quick as possible.
As a first step, stopped doing night drive. Also started gathering the information on projector head lights and DRL.

My Options:
1. Install it from the dealer with 6 months warranty, Cost Rs 35000/-.
Felt the cost is high. So I dropped the idea of installing from Dealer.

2. Purchase from online and install in local accessory shop.
I can’t feel Product quality, and appeal with my own eyes. I was in the fear as I may end up with china product. Locating a good dealer to fix another big question mark to me in hyderabd.

3. Located a Accessory shop in Hyderabad. But his contact no is not all reachable for more than 2 weeks. No address was available. I had to drop this person.

4. Best is going for accessory shop, talk; feel about the product and cost. Then Install.
So I decided to search for good accessory shop in Hyderabad to install.

After finishing my official work in Secunderabad, on the way I saw accessory shop. The shop looks to be good one. So I approached the shop with my Ashtra. They accessory shop guy welcomed me. Actually before I ask about the Headlight upgrade, He himself guessed it correct for the first time as “You came here for Headlight upgrade of your Honda City”. I was shock and happy, so I came to the right place. He has shown photos of installation Projector headlamps on dealer display vehicle and other cars starting from swift to Mercedes which he has done in shop.
He gained my confident. I said to him to install. Once I agreed he called the OEM installation guy for the installation. He arrived by 14:30 hrs and started. Took 3hrs to finish the entire job.

I'have updated some of my findings on Projector Head Light cost & DRL in the thread http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/accessories-modifications/18055-all-new-honda-city-2014-accessories-modifications.html

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The Indian Brand Projector Head Lights with one year warranty.

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The work is started now.

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Lamp wiring was disconnected

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Wiring disconnection is going on the driver side.

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Back side of the Head light assembly

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H11 Stock lamp in my City.

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Parking and indication lamp by Stanley

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Heating of Headlight to melt the sealing.

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Headlight opening is in progress.

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Opened reflector assembly

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Glass & grill assembly

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DRL Lights

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Wiring completed without tampering the original wiring.

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DRL is fixed on the headlight

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Masked Low beam reflector area.

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Projector Lamp

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Now angel eye on the head light

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Re-fixing of Eye in Eye replacement surgery.

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With new better and beautiful eyes. Angel Ashtra got angel eyes.

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The OEM installation technician with his good work.

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The throw of the light. I'm more satisfied.

Hi am also from Hyderabad. Can you tell the shop name?

 

[mahesh113]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

I ordered this storage pocket from Aliexpress. Inspired from Ford Fiesta 2014 & Audi. Planned to install in side of the center console. Any better ideas....

Hi, Can you pls post the picture of storage pocket after installation.

 

[RahulMenon]

Hello Gandhi,

I actually moved to Bangalore from Kerala recently. I too am a proud owner of the ANHC. Could you suggest a good service center for the new city in Bangalore as we have multiple dealers.
I heard dakshin honda near singasandra is good. What is your suggestion?

 

[RahulMenon]

Hello Gandhi,

I actually moved to Bangalore from Kerala recently. I too am a proud owner of the ANHC. Could you suggest a good service center for the new city in Bangalore as we have multiple dealers.
I heard dakshin honda near singasandra is good. What is your suggestion?

Also wanted to add that my free services are done and my car is an year old now.

 

[KarthikPrakash]

Hi Gandhi, nice car and top of it inch by inch detailing of your mods makes me tempting. Took delivery of my VX MT Orchid pearl white this Sunday and just completed 100 kms. Really loved your projector and DRL setup. Planning for one soon..how is the performance now? Thanks..

 

[Varunvelavan]

Went through your full review from the very first page till the last @ghandhi. I have go to say you sure love your honda. Even i own a honda Jazz diesel(teen city). Love the way it drives especially bwt 1500-3000 rpm. Kudos and keep writing sir. My best wishes

 

[gandhi]

Hi Gandhi, nice car and top of it inch by inch detailing of your mods makes me tempting. Took delivery of my VX MT Orchid pearl white this Sunday and just completed 100 kms. Really loved your projector and DRL setup. Planning for one soon..how is the performance now? Thanks..

Went through your full review from the very first page till the last @ghandhi. I have go to say you sure love your honda. Even i own a honda Jazz diesel(teen city). Love the way it drives especially bwt 1500-3000 rpm. Kudos and keep writing sir. My best wishes

Thanks karthik & Varun.

My Ashtra is doing good...Recently crossed 32000KM.....!

 

[harshacg]

Hi Gandhi,

Reading your thread from long!!! Awesome Aftermarkets you have done to your car. I have been Honda customer from past a year. Took same City ivetc V MT. Thought of doing some after market stuffs for headlamps. Need some suggestion on same. Already got Osram HID 4200K for Low beam, Night breaker for High beam and Fog Breaker for fog(2600k - As my native is Coorg but working in Bengaluru, will be traveling to native very often, most of time in very high fog condition - need lower k's for fog). Now I am thinking of getting DRL strip for for headlight. Do you suggest to go with projectors or whether I can go ahead with only DRL strip. Will DRL strip get affected when we use without projectors?? For both which you suggest best to go with.

Cheers,
Harsha C G

 

[ice_wise]

Hi Gandhi,

Reading your thread from long!!! Awesome Aftermarkets you have done to your car. I have been Honda customer from past a year. Took same City ivetc V MT. Thought of doing some after market stuffs for headlamps. Need some suggestion on same. Already got Osram HID 4200K for Low beam, Night breaker for High beam and Fog Breaker for fog(2600k - As my native is Coorg but working in Bengaluru, will be traveling to native very often, most of time in very high fog condition - need lower k's for fog). Now I am thinking of getting DRL strip for for headlight. Do you suggest to go with projectors or whether I can go ahead with only DRL strip. Will DRL strip get affected when we use without projectors?? For both which you suggest best to go with.

Cheers,
Harsha C G

DRL will not do any major improvement to road illumination, but will be good for your car's visibility (as you said that you drive in foggy conditions also).

Heat from HIDs and headlamps will do damage over time to the strip. A projector setup OTOH will not have any effect on the DRL strip at all, provided that the output is not directly on the DRL.

I would say, either get projectors with DRL strip (since lens will be opened for both) or get DRL fitted in the air dam instead of headlights.

gandhi - Have not gone through the entire thread yet, but going by some pictures and posts by you I must say that a wonderful car you have got there! Nice to know that it has been serving you well from the past 30k+ kms. Wish you a long and happy ownership with this beauty.

 

[harshacg]

Hi ice_wise,

Thanks for the info on this. Yeah i know DRL atleast aftermarkets are for aesthetic only. Actual DRL's were invented in scandinavian countries to make sure the car visibility to other cars or vehicles in day time.

Don't want to DRL in air dam. Thinking aesthetic only here not any other thing. However if i get DRL I will void warranty on headlamps. If you know could you please tell me whether after market bulbs also void warranty of headlamps? However i have HID running on my City. If yes will get DRL inside headlamps(as it comes with a year warranty ) or else will drop that plan only

Cheers,
Harsha C G

 

[ice_wise]

Hi ice_wise,

Thanks for the info on this. Yeah i know DRL atleast aftermarkets are for aesthetic only. Actual DRL's were invented in scandinavian countries to make sure the car visibility to other cars or vehicles in day time.

Don't want to DRL in air dam. Thinking aesthetic only here not any other thing. However if i get DRL I will void warranty on headlamps. If you know could you please tell me whether after market bulbs also void warranty of headlamps? However i have HID running on my City. If yes will get DRL inside headlamps(as it comes with a year warranty ) or else will drop that plan only

Cheers,
Harsha C G

DRL will void warranty as you need to break the seal between lens and assembly while adding them, as well as removing them in case of warranty claim. Showroom people will get to know about this alteration easily and there goes your warranty.

In case of higher wattage bulbs or HIDs, they are totally reversible provided that you have not cut the factory wiring. So in case of a warranty claim, you can revert to OEM setup.

Another idea will be to get a spare set of headlamps (from aftermarket or Honda) and use it for all these experiments. You can change back to stock setup in claims. Or if you have the money to spare, get Taiwan made modified headlamps fitted with DRL, projectors et al.

 

[harshacg]

Thanks mate!!!!

Yeah i don't want to mess with warranty. So as you suggest will take some time and will decide for DRL. Surely will go with aftermarket headlights only so that original i can keep with.

HID which I am having is Osram 4200k 35W. I didn't go for higher k's as its not street legal. RTO clearly states that bulbs should have below 4300k. So i guess am safer on this end.

Cheers,
Harsha C G