I finally owned this beauty 10 days back. I had actually gone to the Honda showroom to check and buy the the new Honda city and felt like test driving this car. The moment I sat on the drivers seat (some rightly call it the cockpit) I was mesmerized by the luxurious feel. It was then that I started considering buying it.
Haven’t driven much since I bought it but the feeling has been great so far.The interiors, space are awesome and the drive is excellent. I had heard a lot of hue and cry about the low ground clearance and the speed breakers scraping the bottom.
But I have tested it on each and every hump on the worst Bangalore roads and haven’t had a single scraping. Yes I do take it very slowly over the humps and that could be the differentiation. Can’t comment about the mileage since have driven it only for 200 km.
In all a great product. To all those who are considering to buy Corolla Altis, just try a test drive with Civic and if you have a taste for luxury and great looks you may very well change your mind.
(updated)
So now I have done a few hundred kilometers and the feeling continues to be great. Yes I got a bit carried away on one of the speed humps and the bottom did hit the hump with a good thud. But then I heard Hyundai Verna also hits the bottom of that hump occasionally. On the same hump the next time I got drop dead slow and this time no thud. So the Key is to slow down dead on any big speed hump and you would be ok.
updated ..... June 2009
I did take it for a long drive (Bangalore- Coorg), thanks to the recession that gave me a week off.The drive was very good. Good roads and a good car can make driving next to Nirvana.The handling was awesome on all the hilly hairpin bends and the acceleration phenomenal on straight roads.The mileage was decent at 13 kmpl with 3 on board and AC on. I am now getting a mileage of 10 in the city BTW.