Altis 2008 vs Civic FD

[Route88]

Yes, pity

[Casiraghi]

Yup I like the looks of the car now - really appreciated the wider and more bulky feel. As my SE said - it's true that Toyota typically designs cars that doesn't look the most outstanding - but in the long run it is won't look dated a few years from now. Speaking which I'm thinking of whether there are any nice bodykit available for the Altis 08 now - without looking too bengish. I've seen the TRD tuned Aurion (which is the Australian Camry) http://www.toyota.com.au/TRD/ and it looks really good. But too bad they don't have anything quite like that for the Corolla.

 

Yeah it's a pity that the engine isn't very powerful. The 1.8L Altis might be better - but the premium is so much more!

[Stooky]

u know for toyota cars the signal indicator will flash when the car doors are opened. is there a tine limit on how long it will flash?

 

just now i open my car door for 15 mins, the signal indicator suddenly stop flashing after 15 mins. is there a fault?

[Drive_carcar]

There's the difference between a car designed by marketing people, and a car designed by drivers.

 

I think the engine is probably aritificially limited to 107bhp by the ECU. Looks and fittings wise, I think altis 2008 is streets ahead of the previous generation. But a pity they just refuse to have MT for altis.

 

In the end I still bought a Civic FD..... it's a rather senseless decision. Just my heart tells me I'll be happier driving a Civic than an Altis. Otherwise I have very little issues with any brands as long as the looks fit my eye. I'm just as likely to buy an Altis / Lancer / Civic ....

 

In the end, the deciding factor for me was the SE's service I guess.

[Happily1986]

it's supposed to be like that.

[Kelpie]

There's the difference between a car designed by marketing people, and a car designed by drivers.

 

I think the engine is probably aritificially limited to 107bhp by the ECU. Looks and fittings wise, I think altis 2008 is streets ahead of the previous generation. But a pity they just refuse to have MT for altis.

 

In the end I still bought a Civic FD..... it's a rather senseless decision. Just my heart tells me I'll be happier driving a Civic than an Altis. Otherwise I have very little issues with any brands as long as the looks fit my eye. I'm just as likely to buy an Altis / Lancer / Civic ....

 

In the end, the deciding factor for me was the SE's service I guess.

 

The latest Altis do have manual option but not available here. The highest engine capacity for Altis is 2.4L, currently available in States.

 

Regards,

[Kelpie]

Yup I like the looks of the car now - really appreciated the wider and more bulky feel. As my SE said - it's true that Toyota typically designs cars that doesn't look the most outstanding - but in the long run it is won't look dated a few years from now. Speaking which I'm thinking of whether there are any nice bodykit available for the Altis 08 now - without looking too bengish. I've seen the TRD tuned Aurion (which is the Australian Camry) http://www.toyota.com.au/TRD/ and it looks really good. But too bad they don't have anything quite like that for the Corolla.

 

Yeah it's a pity that the engine isn't very powerful. The 1.8L Altis might be better - but the premium is so much more!

 

Whether or not it looks dated a few years from now. Just look at the previous generation of Altis.

 

Regards,

[Happily1986]

really tried putting the car through its paces after its safely out of the run in mileage. The engine is pretty rev happy going from the engine response but some of you might regard it as being raucous. for me personally, i dont believe in pushing it to the 3000s. I myself acknowledge that this car being quite a bit on the heavy side thus i apply pressure on the pedal till it's around 2300~2500ish. The engine response from 0~40 was decent but after hitting the 50km/h mark, it seems time suddenly stood still for the needle just wouldn't move up for some unknown reason. However the incessant engine whining and the ticking clock reminded me that it was just the car not accelerating. bummer.

 

Pretty strange for me how the car seems to run out of breath in the region between 50~70km/h. There was no problem approaching the big 100 from 80ish onwards. Able to sustain 100 on cruise at about 2300rpm impressed me especially when we all knew that the Altis 2008 was no featherlight on the run. It was quite nimble at this part surprisingly. Just that the 50~70km/h, the grey vague performance remains a big mystery to me especially when this is the region where the car is most likely to dwell in.

[Imdavidlee]

actually what is the major winner point for civic??

[Shern25]

The 'H' badge, of course.

[Kalmath]

It is general perception that Honda cars are fast and powerful. It may be true if you rev the engine to high rpm as most Honda's engine has high horsepower in high rpm curve, however, in real life scenario Toyota car has better low end torque for practical driving.

[Happily1986]

i did some minor googling and realised that the 3ZZ-FE was rated as highly as 110~118bhp particularly in the States. I understand the AD version has been detuned to a more modest output of 108bhp to meet emission standards (EURO III?) I thought that only diesel engines need to conform to emission standards namely at least EURO IV w.e.f. July 2007 since petrol engines are already considered to be quite clean in their emission already.

 

What can we do to realise the said output of 117bhp? By programming the native ECU at a workshop or do we have to do a piggyback? Are both illegal?

[Drive_carcar]

I was thinking it's not so much the emission standards. Because nowadays most countries are taking the emission standard as a requirement before cars can be sold there.

 

The Altis engine actually has lots of potential, just that in many case it is kind of detuned via ECU. Sometimes such detuning are done in order not to cannibalise other models.

 

I see Altis (another example would be the new Lancer EX) to be a very marketing oriented car. It is part of a big marketing strategy, which is why you see what you see in the showroom.

 

At the end of the day, a person's choice of car is their statement to other people about themself.

[Happily1986]

Hmmm i see your point... but being an aluminium construction wouldn't it limit the ZZ engine series in terms of the punishments that the engine block can take? Esp when we consider the predecessor AG series which is cast iron (which means it can take more crap so as to wring more power so as to speak?)

 

At the end of the day, very sad to see that the engine capability has been clamped down in favour of environmental concerns which is by all counts legitimate. It's just that isnt there any other way to engineer a better solution that doesnt compromise the driving experience? Which apparently cant be felt more than here in the Altis 2008.

 

Perhaps Toyota intentionally left this as part of the marketing strategy i.e. you pay for what you get. As we all know, the Japanese has always been big on price differentiation on their lineup.

[Drive_carcar]

The show and dance about environmental friendliness is also as much part of marketing strategy as artificially lowering down the perf to tie in with the overall product line.

 

However the ECU can be re-mapped, re-programed or piggy backed with another chip to change the perf parameters. That said, a 1.6L car is still a 1.6L car. Otherwise it's a good engine with lots of potential.

 

Too bad, only the AT version comes in here, otherwise I would had bought it because I rather like the looks.

[Happily1986]

I am not very in the know with regards to ECU modding. Does this void the AD warranty in the first place?

 

I understand for more extensive modding application i.e. applying forced induction, we have to program the ECU to alter ignition firing timings, retard compression ratios when turbo timer is in operation etc.

 

Assuming that we are merely just removing an artificial cap on bhp, does the ECU modding in this case (if it is even considered as a mod), require only very simple alteration to the loopback circuit?

 

piggyback is abit overkill for such a purpose isn't it?

 

enlightening words welcomed from all

[Drive_carcar]

Actually anything you do will void the warranty..

 

Piggybacking is power! Can do lots of wonders. Then again, like I mentioned earlier, a 1.6l is still a 1.6l.

[Happily1986]

like that better dun pull any stunts during these 3 yrs liao. if not

warranty...