Wiggy

21 hours ago, Ace of Pop said:

PS the only gizmo that's potentially useful is a Dash Cam thy are so cheap now, why not.?. Anyone want my Cruze thing,only use it to stop it going wrong


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That's the first thing I put in, Ace. I got a little Polaroid dashcam from the UK. Got it wired nicely around the screen and dash, so no wires showing. Essential here as so much red light jumping going on now it's getting silly. I showed a clip recently to a traffic policeman in his box after a bus nearly took me out coming through a red light 10 seconds after it was red. Yep, you know the response: a little chuckle and "Mai Bpen Rai, you not dead."

Why do we bother?

1 hour ago, DavisH said:

I get about a 5 or 6% difference between real consumption and the onboard measurement in my swift, with the actual consumption being  a bit higher than the cars reading. Strangely, the readings got more accurate after I put on wider tires. 

 

As for chip tuning, there is already a chip out for the honda turbo, by racechip thailand. http://www.racechipthailand.com/

 

173 HP --> 224 HP and 220NM --> 279 NM  That data is from their facebook page. 25,000 baht for racechip ultimate. 

I don't know much about this stuff, but I assume it would invalidate the warranty, wouldn't it? And, as Ace says, the insurance company would need to be updated on the new specs.  

48 minutes ago, Jitar said:

Fuel consumption indicators are often not 100% accurate.  I doubt an optimistic fuel consumption display would have anything like the legal and publicity ramifications of cheating on emission standard tests.  

True. Sorry, what I meant was if Honda were deliberately producing incorrect or badly calibrated gauges then they could find themselves in hot water in light of the VW fiasco. I'm pretty sure that's not the case here though. Speedos can have up to 10% error margins, so I wouldn't be surprised if fuel consumption indicators are similar in nature. 

35 minutes ago, alanrchase said:

 

 

I take it you are using the fuel consumption figures from the dashboard. It may lie. I got 21km/l on a 10km round trip, pretty good. Filled it up and on next refill computer said 15.8 km/l was the average over about 3/4 of a tank and various driving. My calculation from litres added to tank and km driven was 13.5 km/l. Maybe the attendant filling the tank managed to get more in than the previous fill.

Well, if the dashboard figures are false then Honda can expect to find themselves in a similar position to VW pretty soon. It's more likely that the attendant rounded it up more than another, as you say. I think one can get about another litre or so in the neck of the tank. That would make a difference if the fuel nozzle was removed at the first click on the prior fill. 

8 hours ago, inventorinthailand said:

 

Great, Thanks for you review. How about now then, How does it accelerate? Do you have any plans to chip tune it? Are there yet any reliable Civic 1.5T tuners in Thailand?

The acceleration is rapid. For me, the CVT is excellent. It gives the feeling of a jet engine (without the thrust!) spooling up to full power, and the car never stops pulling. An added benefit is that he engine note is sweet - it has a low kind of growl which I like. There is a small amount of turbo lag at low revs, but less noticeable when travelling faster and flooring it. Personally I won't chip tune it as it's quick enough for me driving mostly in Bangkok. Plus I imagine it would invalidate the warranty? I took it on a longer run on the weekend and it returned 18km/l (50mpg) whilst cruising at around 110km/hr. Adaptive cruise control would be ideal here but, alas, Honda didn't feel it was necessary. 

 

Overall, I'm very pleased with it.

Well, I wouldn't be surprised. Ford have had a nightmare with the PowerShift transmission fiasco worldwide. I read that 100 or so Fiesta owners are trying to file a lawsuit or something similar here due to transmission issues. The vast majority of cars seem to be OK though, from what I understand. I had no issues with my 2012 Focus. Perhaps they are regrouping until sales pick up. But I would have thought more choice and aggressive marketing and/or promotion would be the way to go, not reduce your product range. Time will tell I guess. 

The smoke can go down as well as up as the breeze hits the building. When I used to smoke the guy below used to throw water up at me. I'm not suggesting you do that though. 

On 6/9/2016 at 5:44 AM, alanrchase said:

Is the dealer getting your English manual for you? I ordered a 1.8 last week and asked for a manual in English and was told there wasn't one. I mentioned they would have to ask for one from Honda but don't think they will. May have to contact Honda myself.

 

Did you get your English manual? I got both within a week, so they do exist.

10 minutes ago, guzzi850m2 said:

Well I didn't mention any names, did I? LOL.

 

Congt on the civic, excellent color choice.

 

Oh that, I thought you meant you weren't allowed to quote the stats. I was forgetting that bit about not naming the newspaper itself. My bad for misreading (I haven't had my second coffee yet). Thanks for the comment on the colour, I think it looks good.

10 hours ago, guzzi850m2 said:

I read in the news paper we are not allowed to quote that the 1.5 turbo sale in Thailand is app 20% and 80% 1.8.

 

Nice looking car the new Civic.

 

But you just did quote it. Lol. Beside that, why not? That seems strange. I did read that some were suggesting that the turbo would overheat in Thailand. Possibly, but with every pick-up in the country having a turbo charger I don't exactly see many smoking at the roadside with overheated turbos.

6 minutes ago, maoro2013 said:

Yes that is right, but the statement is obviously less clear, and I would think unnecessarily so, after a more accurate prior statement.

 

I agree that a firm date is needed, and then adhered to.

10 minutes ago, maoro2013 said:

The elections were stated to be in November 2017, now towards the end of next year.

 

Once again muddy the waters about the date.

In fairness,  "toward the end of next year" could well be November.

10 hours ago, inventorinthailand said:

Wiggy and Pontious, It would be nice to read a owners report :-D

 

Well, I was getting to it as I only picked it up on Saturday. So far, so good. It is a very nice car, both in appearance (photos below) and functionality. I haven't been on a long run yet, but plan to next weekend. In Bangkok traffic the fuel economy is hovering around 10km/l, which is about what I was expecting. I commute at 6am and 3pm though, so it's not the worst of the traffic that I experience. Although the rear camera is good, I do miss the reverse sensor as I have come to rely upon it after having had one on my cars for the last 11 years. I'm contemplating having one fitted, but I'll get used to the camera.

 

The acceleration is very smooth and I'm impressed with the CVT transmission, particularly with being able to use the paddles whilst in 'D' without shifting into 'S'  (in 'S' the paddles are in constant use, in 'D' they can be used temporarily to brake or accelerate until the car returns to cruise, when the automatic CVT takes over again). That said, I haven't floored it yet as I like to take it easy for the first 500km or so.

 

I plugged in my iPod into the center console, and both that and Bluetooth for my phone connected flawlessly. I like the fact it has Apple Car Play and Android, so that text messages can be read out and/or dictated back to send. I feel it could do with a few more cubby holes for storage nearer the driver, but that's just a personal thing. The biggest thing I miss from the Focus is the sunglasses holder in the roof. That was an excellent accessory, but nowhere to keep them tucked away in the Honda . 

 

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

 

 

 

 

Every time I make a purchase at the Decathlon store on Rama 4 Road, I always use a credit card and the cashier requests my phone number. The request comes accross as a bit strange as the wording is "Give me your mobile number" my reply is alway "No" and they then proceed to type in a number.

If they are wanting the number for promotion advertising they should set up a loyalty card and then they will be able to receive my number, but until then they will be hearing my reply as No.

I thought this strange too, so I just give them a false number.

I've been using credit and debit cards in Thailand frequently for many years, and I've only had one problem. Last year my details were skimmed and my credit card was charged to the tune of 37,000 baht for a hotel in London, leaving me to believe it was skimmed and/or details taken while I was in the UK. Citibank (Thailand) were great - I filled out a fraud claim form and the money was re-credited two weeks later. Like others, I have spending alerts on all my cards and I get an SMS whenever my card is used for in-store purchases, and for online purchases a code gets sent to my mobile phone. I have just changed my KBank Debit/ATM to a chip card so as to be more secure. I also get an SMS from KBank each and every time my card is used, and I'm charged 20 baht/month for this service.

Had an appointment at the embassy at 10:00am on a Monday. Due to a small glitch, I didn't leave until 11:30am. I went across the road to a translation place (who were excellent, by the way) and paid 2,500 baht for the translation, following which they sent it to the MFA and it arrived back at my home by EMS on the following Wednesday. Simple, easy, stress free and not too expensive.

My first two five-year licences had 09 before my British passport number also. When I renewed it a couple of years ago I noticed the 09 had gone.

There seem to be a lot of fires following these accidents. I'm sure it's due to poor installation/maintenance of the CNG/NGV tanks used to fuel these death traps.

AFAIK Satit wasn't the original owner - that goes to his elder brother, "Charlie", who died in the 1990s.

They do have them in English - I am still waiting for mine -4 weeks! Insist on one. They say this week. I will let you know.

Called my dealer on Monday for an English manual for the RS (I'm not collecting it until August) - she said it would be a week. A tad ambitious I feel, but I'll post if/when I get one. Cheers.

FYI, my Focus 2.0 (2013) is used almost solely in Bangkok and I get 11.5l/100km (8.7km/l, 24.5mpg) or thereabouts. When I have taken it on a run I get about 7l/100km (14.1km/l, 40mpg)

My wife says new civics are having a major reliability issue but unfortunately not sure what the fault is. Possibly radiator related

Do your or your wife have a source for this? I wouldn't mind reading up on it. Thanks. The only problem I found was on a site named Jalopnik, where some issues with the 2.0 model in the US regarding piston rings were mentioned. All other sites so far have between 4 and 5 star ratings for reliability. Still, Honda will put it right if there is an issue I'm sure of that.

Doors n Seats, you can mix n match your personal leather preference.Takes 2 days max.

Thanks. Sounds interesting, and not too pricey.

Honda told me they can do a real fancy upgrade of the dead black interior for 13 K..Tried the RS yesterday but the black I can't live with.its sure got superb power though,needs Mich rubber as do most Hondas.Il way for the 2door,it looks nicer to me

Any details of the interior upgrade, Ace? What does it entail? Thanks.

Air brakes rarely fail.

"In reality, brake systems are designed so that a complete catastrophic failure is an extremely rare event. Therefore, alleged brake failures usually are not failures at all but performance problems stemming from deficient maintenance."

http://www.crashforensics.com/airbrakefailure.cfm