Jun 08, 2011 04:00 PM
14022 Views
Re-Posted here for appropriateness (Review also Available in iVTEC-S AT)
I reflect back and 2001 was the year I started getting the monotonous, treacherous and painful job of pressing, holding down and slowly releasing the torture device called the “clutch” on and off in the Chennai traffic. No words in any language can describe my agony when the traffic runs bumper to bumper. I do not know why human race is so mad designing a stuff like the clutch that would torture and hurt their own body part mercilessly. They put it in a contraption called "pleasure" car in which I have never experienced pleasure until 9th Jan 2010.
On 9th Jan 2010, I helped my Boss on his way to a Honda show room and believe me he was taking delivery of a Brand New Honda iV-TEC 5AT. On the way home my Boss used me to press the clutch. What a surprise! THERE WAS NO CLUTCH! And the place where a clutch used be was a fine carpet shaped like a shoe inner and I landed there with a soft ‘thud”.
Imagine my rendezvous with a soft carpet instead of a metallic lever clad in smelly rubber. I was feeling like hugging a buxom country lass. I was rejoicing with Super slow motion replays of the “thud” several times. My boss was blurting to his wife shyly, "Oops I keep reaching for the clutch by reflex" and his left arm also moved in sync with me to reach the shift lever. First it gave me an empty feel. The second time he did, I started giggling silently. Third time onwards my giggle increased with the logarithmic scale and I was happy happier, happiest and ecstatic.
Good things as per my boss are – Excellent maneuverability, Fuel efficiency (AT) at this size, Care free bumper to bumper driving using crawl facility (the best reward in choosing the AT), Logical AT system
However My boss was complaining about Honda taking more money and the following points
No Climate control only HVAC, No Audio acknowledgement for keyless entry,
Door locking not interlocked with ignition position or vehicle speed (Systems in cars like Skoda lock the doors automatically when the vehicle crosses the 5 to 10 kmph mark. Key less entries now have all integrated including windows up),
Cheap looking rubber beadings on the doors obviously the moulds are not finished well and apparently no quality check on appearance under the boot, hood and invisible areas.
Rear Wheel arches not finished well,
Hard plastic feel of the inner Door panels and Dash board,
No CD player instead a cumbersome MP3 player which has a painful folder navigation (it does not know the concept of Main folder to Sub folder, it treats all the folders at the same hierarchy).
Additionally the pricing is premium they can knock off a lakh without a flinch.
Air con is slightly disappointing
Suspension is not good enough for rough roads (Rear Passengers bear the brunt)
And he was all in smiles with his relatives, friends, and acquaintances when he explained about the AT. There were a few villains in them who spoiled his mood for selecting an AT in India. He was quick to retort with reasonable anger that India is most suitable for AT, reasons - mad inching Traffic, drivers are not dependable and rob off privacy and becoming a safety concern now-a-days. Unless you belong to a breed who never want to touch the wheel, never like the AT like Majority of the Europeans or after fuel economy despite the fact that you would be saving a fortune on Drivers Salary. Most of the Villains then get convinced except a few dogmatic personalities.
He also told his critics the following; A typical cost saving working is as Follows, assume you run 20 kms a day in the city. Your MT car yields 12kmpl and This AT yields 10kmpl the exchequer you pay for the comfort is just Rs 16.67 a day at a fuel price of Rs 50/litre. If you have a driver who draws Rs 6000 (this is minimum and there are guys who pocket Rs8000), that is fully saved and the net effect is 5566.60 favorable for you assuming 26 days of running 20kms / day. And lastly when you own a 11lac car you should not mind the Fuel economy.
For the past one and a half years my boss made 33, 800 kms on his Honda and he never used me to do the menial job of controlling the clutch. He did give away the new car for the services. Alas his relative's zen returned for a day to replace the new car’s absence. Even in this distress time, I did notice my boss keeps pressing the brake hard when cranking the ignition and the Zen lunged forward and I was giggling with Joy at this joke; he did this three times. Lucky he uses the Zen Sparingly and hence I was spared.
He had done so far many Fuel fills and was telling his colleagues he could get 12.5kmpl in city + Highway mode and just over 10kmpl in pure city driving. Who cares! I am becoming now a couch potato and enjoying life and Singing…..
Hakuna Matata!
Honda City AT!
Update on March 2011- 27800kms (fuel Economy-11.7kmpl - Long drives -15kmpl)
