Nuggety Nugget
21-03-2012, 10:02 AM
Hey all, I've been browsing these forums for a few days now and got a lot of useful info. I didn't see much point creating two threads so this might be a really long read, sorry. Firstly, I bought my 07 Accord Euro (base model) earlier this month and so far I'm loving it! I got it in blue which wasn't what I was after, but after seeing it in the metal I'm glad I got it. The blue really sparkles. I agree with everyone that the 16" wheels look way too small. I might shop around for new wheels soon.
Previously I've owned a 2000 WRX with 200KW @ the wheels. Great car but after a few years of driving to and from work it got really tiresome to drive. It was loud, stiff, and not fun to drive after a 12hr shift, not to mention the cost of insurance, petrol and attention from coppers. So then I decided to get something that was still fun but easier to drive and less noisy, a Fiesta XR4. The Fiesta was really fun to throw into corners and was so light and nimble, but the clutch was annoying. The friction point was really high and you had to really ride the clutch to take off smoothly which wasn't fun in bumper to bumper traffic. I then made the decision to get an auto but kind of lost the plot and got a Lancer station wagon - biggest piece of s**t. I dunno what I was thinking, it was ugly and boring as f**k, handled like a boat, and was bad on petrol. I sold that within a month.
So now I've got the Accord Euro and at the moment I'm thinking it is the best overall car I've ever owned. It's smooth, comfortable, so easy to drive, and I reckon it handles like a dream. It does feel heavy but I love the way it steers. I think it has more than enough power for our roads too (give it a month). I know people complain about its power when coming from more powerful cars but for what it is I think it's almost perfect. Pretty much the car I've been searching for.
Now finally to Hanny's service. It's probably the most recommended workshop in Sydney on these forums so I decided to go there. Going from advice on these forums I went there with a bottle of Motul 8100 and Redline D4. When I arrived they thought I was nuts to perform my 40,000km service at 34,500km. I told them that the last service was over 6 months ago but they didn't think that mattered. So they just did it as a second 30,000km service. Now to the Redline D4, Robert strongly recommended that I use the genuine Honda gear oil but after reading a few threads on these forums I told him to use the Redline and he reluctantly did. He had never even heard about Redline before and a few of the mechanics were looking at the bottles and laughing and shrugging their shoulders, which got me a little worried. I remember one forum member said they were humiliated when they went in for a service at Hanny's and I can see how a more sensitive person could be, but I wasn't too bothered. Robert told me to stick around because he was curious on how the Redline D4 would perform so I did. I like the idea of a service while I waited, it was good to see them actually do the work and it was a slick operation. They ended up using probably about 4ltrs of the Redline. Robert took the car for a spin and came back smiling in relief. He said so far so good but pleaded that I take the car back at the first sign of trouble. So I think it's really good that he was genuinely worried about my car, he's the kind of mechanic that you'd want. Price was great too. I think the Motul oil has made a difference, there seems to be a lot less vibration in the gas pedal. I'm not sure if the Redline D4 made much difference, I dunno if I should ask them to do another flush as they didn't think it was necessary to change the gear oil in the first place. And they didn't drain it from the sump, they used a suction thing to suck it out from the top somewhere. Can you flush the gear oil that way? They also told me that I don't need to change the timing belt because I have a chain one - I never knew that. Robert recommended that I change the oil every 5,000km which I think is a bit excessive on this kind of car. I thought the fact I used fully synthetic oil meant it would be okay to change every 10,000kms.
So to conclude, I'm very happy that I bought my Accord Euro and I highly recommend Hanny's Performance. Sorry for the long read...
Previously I've owned a 2000 WRX with 200KW @ the wheels. Great car but after a few years of driving to and from work it got really tiresome to drive. It was loud, stiff, and not fun to drive after a 12hr shift, not to mention the cost of insurance, petrol and attention from coppers. So then I decided to get something that was still fun but easier to drive and less noisy, a Fiesta XR4. The Fiesta was really fun to throw into corners and was so light and nimble, but the clutch was annoying. The friction point was really high and you had to really ride the clutch to take off smoothly which wasn't fun in bumper to bumper traffic. I then made the decision to get an auto but kind of lost the plot and got a Lancer station wagon - biggest piece of s**t. I dunno what I was thinking, it was ugly and boring as f**k, handled like a boat, and was bad on petrol. I sold that within a month.
So now I've got the Accord Euro and at the moment I'm thinking it is the best overall car I've ever owned. It's smooth, comfortable, so easy to drive, and I reckon it handles like a dream. It does feel heavy but I love the way it steers. I think it has more than enough power for our roads too (give it a month). I know people complain about its power when coming from more powerful cars but for what it is I think it's almost perfect. Pretty much the car I've been searching for.
Now finally to Hanny's service. It's probably the most recommended workshop in Sydney on these forums so I decided to go there. Going from advice on these forums I went there with a bottle of Motul 8100 and Redline D4. When I arrived they thought I was nuts to perform my 40,000km service at 34,500km. I told them that the last service was over 6 months ago but they didn't think that mattered. So they just did it as a second 30,000km service. Now to the Redline D4, Robert strongly recommended that I use the genuine Honda gear oil but after reading a few threads on these forums I told him to use the Redline and he reluctantly did. He had never even heard about Redline before and a few of the mechanics were looking at the bottles and laughing and shrugging their shoulders, which got me a little worried. I remember one forum member said they were humiliated when they went in for a service at Hanny's and I can see how a more sensitive person could be, but I wasn't too bothered. Robert told me to stick around because he was curious on how the Redline D4 would perform so I did. I like the idea of a service while I waited, it was good to see them actually do the work and it was a slick operation. They ended up using probably about 4ltrs of the Redline. Robert took the car for a spin and came back smiling in relief. He said so far so good but pleaded that I take the car back at the first sign of trouble. So I think it's really good that he was genuinely worried about my car, he's the kind of mechanic that you'd want. Price was great too. I think the Motul oil has made a difference, there seems to be a lot less vibration in the gas pedal. I'm not sure if the Redline D4 made much difference, I dunno if I should ask them to do another flush as they didn't think it was necessary to change the gear oil in the first place. And they didn't drain it from the sump, they used a suction thing to suck it out from the top somewhere. Can you flush the gear oil that way? They also told me that I don't need to change the timing belt because I have a chain one - I never knew that. Robert recommended that I change the oil every 5,000km which I think is a bit excessive on this kind of car. I thought the fact I used fully synthetic oil meant it would be okay to change every 10,000kms.
So to conclude, I'm very happy that I bought my Accord Euro and I highly recommend Hanny's Performance. Sorry for the long read...