I bought Honda IVtec in Nov 2009. What hooked me to this car was its low engine noise and looks. After six months of use I have some observations.
Let me start with what impressed many and confounded some (including Honda engineers). The mileage. I drive from home at 6.30am to reach my workplace 28 kms away in Electronic city. I drive on the Hosur Road which is not exactly a high way. It is like the Ring road in Delhi. I don’t race or zip (which was my driving style in Zen) and keep a constant speed of 70 - 80 kms/hr. If I see congestion down the road, or go down a slope, I take my foot off the pedal. I switch off the engine at traffic signals, I feather touch the pedals to keep constant speed. This has fetched me 25Kms/liter on the Odo.
I clocked 27.3 kms/liter (could not maintain for long). I return home around 5.00pm (beginning of peak traffic) on the same route and that pulls down the average on the Odo to 22 Kms/liter on the odo.I don’t believe this is true car milage and use the method of top-up. I divide the distance covered between two top-ups by number of liters and that gives me a mileage of 18 - 19 kms /liter. When I switch the AC on, this goes down to 17kms /liter. I belive Honda used to manufacture a car decade back which used to give 80 miles per gallon.
Next is the engine noise. Truely amazing. Initial few times I had difficulty in knowing whethe it is on or off. Now am used to it. It is not exactly ZEN (Zero Engine Noise) but much better than other cars that I drove and the other cars that I test drove. Powerful car. You can use it to race or enjoy its mileage. Not both. The silence of engine is obvious when it is idle. When you accelerate in first and second gear you will hear the engine.
Second gear is a bit hard. I have to press the clutch pedal 100% to get to second gear without the stffness.
Rest of the gears are OK but not as smooth as Zen. In the Zen I use my index finger to change the gears.
I went for the silver color which along with the alloy wheels and shaded window gives a very good executive look. One of the most beautiful ladies in my workplace used to admire this car. what more do I need to say guys.
The car has many blind spots (spots where you cannot see the neighbouring objects). Often I find the car which I spot on the rear view mirror missing till I find it just next to me.
Some points in the glove compartment and door arm rest rattle mildly. This I have chosen to ignore as it is minor irritant.
The dashboard is not the best in class. Dash of the civic and Jazz is better looking. I like the facility to plug in IPOD and keep the same behind the radio. I don’t need to store bluky CD holder.
Ground clearance is not as bad as it is projected to be. I am able to clear all the humps with as much ease as any other sedan on the road. There are some broken humps in a place called ITPL which is a nightmare for any Sedan.
The shockers are not upto the mark. I believe they are designed for Japanese roads. The Zen suspension was much better. When you go over potholes you can feel the hard bumps unlike in Zen where it gets absorbed passing only a subdued justle
Overall I like the car purely because of its milage and looks.