Welcome to Autoxchange - Honda City: Makeover

You own a 2002 (Type II) Honda City 1.5. It's more
of a drivers' car than anything else on the market at
the moment – anything you can afford anyway – and
certainly much more so than the current Honda City.

The problem is that the car has about 50,000
kilometers on the clock, the paint's slightly faded,
and the suspension is a little worn. Frankly, the
car's started feeling old – it's lost a little of its zing.

MID LIFE MAKEOVER

What is it going to take for you to make your car 'like new' again?
Join us, as we find out.

FIRST:
The Mechanicals

First things first, since the appeal of this car is focused around the driving experience – we need to attend to the mechanicals before anything else.

The 1.5 litre engine may not have the ability to push you back into the seat under acceleration, but it does the job in the Indian context. Moreover, its power can be easily exploited, and you never feel like anything's going to give way – even after consistent and continuous up-shifts at 6000rpm.

The engine itself doesn't require much TLC, other than regular oil changes (anywhere between 5,000 – 8,000 kilometers is healthy). The only other attention the engine gets at this point is a bottle of Valvoline fuel injector cleaner, which claims to eliminate deposits that develop in the injectors. There's no easy

way of checking how effective it really is – suffice to say that it can't hurt, and psychologically anyway you feel the engine is performing better afterwards.

The clutch was starting to slip, which is not too uncommon at this mileage. It's, therefore, given a new clutch plate and clutch bearing. As a result, the clutch now feels lighter than most new cars, and it's easy to put the power down from a standstill.

The majority of work is centered around the suspension, as it's those components – which range from shocks, to tie rod ends and ball joints – that develop the most wear and tear.

At this mileage, even if you hold off on a few of these replacements, you won't be left stranded on the side of the road.

However, it's these components that directly affect the driving experience in terms of how the car handles and feels, especially steering feel. The last item that needed attention were the brakes, which merely require a set of new front pads.

After all this, the car accelerates, turns into a corner and brakes much better than before. However, we'll have to wait for the new wheels and tires to really exploit the renewed performance.