Final Thoughts and Wrap Up
You know, there are times when I think why the heck did I let go of my Civic Viper. One, I needed to change over and though I could easily wait for the 10th Gen Civic (if Allah would bless me with that much life) but the fear of further depreciation in my particular model i-VTEC (M/T) after another 3/4 years pushed me to move forward. Auto transmission was the most important aspect despite the fact that I love manual tranny. As already discussed in my previous write ups, the options within my budget were limited, 1.3 GLi (A/T), 1.6 Altis (A/T) and 1.8 Civic i-VTEC Prosmatic (used).
It was three days worth of deliberation while choosing between 1.3 GLi (A/T) and 1.6 Altis (A/T). Obviously a bigger displacement engine was important to me but I needed to opt for something that will not break the bank, that will do the job just as fine and fetch me maximum value whenever I want to dispose it off. I know, Inshallah, I will opt for the 10th Gen Civic when it is introduced but I want to avoid slipping off in the resale department at that point in time. Every sane individual would want to get back maximum of his/her investment because adding obnoxious cash at the time of upgrading is a painful experience.
Additionally, by paying about 1,50,000/- or maybe more, the only single advantage was the bigger displacement. My heart was set on 1.6 Altis but the advantage was not commensurate with the hefty amount to be paid to IMC. Head unit and vintage rims had no charm. Rest it is essentially a 10th Gen GLi 1.6. You still have to add fog lamps, steering controls, horn pad, spiral cable, door tweeters etc etc. So, 1.3 GLi (A/T) was the sane way to go (keeping in mind that I would like to upgrade to 10th Gen Civic) or maybe not and that I knew that I'll be lowering the ride, getting a nice set of shoes and rubber, steering controls, so the money saved was going to go int the performance, luxury and better functionality. The 1.6 Altis definitely a better car than the 1.3 GLi (A/T), make no mistake about it but not for the additional cost IMHO.
Beauty of the PKDM Corolla sedan is that you can upgrade it to almost anything or any trim imaginable (of course not the engine/transmission) but frankly, in Pakistan the word upgrade mostly refers to cosmetic uplifts. Corolla is like a bare bone PC where the processor and motherboard come pre-installed you could put in number of hard drives of capacities of your choice, where you could add memory type and capacity of your choice, any keyboard and mouse of your liking. I checked out my Hornet today with total 4 occupants (including the driver) and cumulative weight of us four was almost 309 KGs. In "D Mode", from 0-60 it took 7.3 seconds in the first attempt and 7.1 seconds in the second attempt. This was done on a nice flat and level road.
So, my verdict is that if somebody is living in hilly areas and has to drive a lot, 1.6 Altis should be his choice. If somebody travels a lot on highways and motorways and can't help a heavier foot on the pedal, he should go for 1.6 Altis. If somebody has an issue of post purchase dissonance most of the times, he should opt for 1.6 Altis. If resale is not an issue and you are going to keep the car stock, the 1.6 Altis is for you.
For the rest of us, the 1.3 GLi (A/T) is a perfect car as a whole package with appropriate power/torque offering the same degree of luxury, comfort, robustness, very nice fuel economy and hard cash getting you back most of your investment at the time of disposal.