[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by SR-71

Slightly off topic, when we talk about BS6 ready and modifications that can be done, would it be simple ECU remapping for a petrol car if the manufacturer says its BS6 ready ?
.
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How about petrol engines, are there additional components that come into play ?

Well, thankfully it is much more simpler to make a gasoline engine meet the BS6 norms, that is precisely why many car makers are giving retirement to their diesel engines after the BS-6 norms kick in.

The biggest change for a modern gasoline engine would be to additional precious metals in the catalytic converter, which typically has Palladium and Rhodium in a gasoline application. Along with this, the ECU will be remapped to make the engine run more precisely and emit lesser pollutants (lesser at the source always helps).

[BANDHAV]

Back in 2006 when the Civic was launched, I used to handle Corolla sales for one of the Toyota dealership in NCR. After the launch of Civic, selling the Corolla became so difficult that given option of selling a Corolla or climbing the Everest without oxygen cylinder, I would have happily opted for later. It was such a striking looking car that even I was convinced that no one should buy a Corolla over it. It was out of the world, looked like a spaceship. Such a remarkable looking car it was.

I spotted the new one in white color today, if not for being an Auto enthusiast interested in cars, I would have surely missed it. Point being this one is not the Civic I used to know. It had a reputation to save and I am sure it would have a hard time in doing so.

[PB10rider]

Originally Posted by urajkumar

I am currently in the lookout for a car in this segment and was confused between compass vs tuscon but civic has left me totally confused. While being a tall guy I wanted a suv to walk into comfortably, civic seems to be a compelling alternative - my only 2 grouses being low seating which I am going to check out next week and lack of black color - now I have seen the civic in dark blue aboard and it looks wicked with the LED headlamp and the brown just does not look the same. Honda must remember the previous gen white and black were quite in demand.

Hope someone from Honda is reading these forums 😁

White Civic looks ravishing. As far as road presence is concerned, it can give all SUV's of this price range, a run for their money. I wanted to buy an SUV only till I visited a Honda showroom last Sunday.

[sleepyk]

Originally Posted by BANDHAV

After the launch of Civic, selling the Corolla became so difficult that given option of selling a Corolla or climbing the Everest without oxygen cylinder, I would have happily opted for later. It was such a striking looking car that even I was convinced that no one should buy a Corolla over it. It was out of the world, looked like a spaceship. Such a remarkable looking car it was.

The Civic launch has already drawn the battle lines...

News about the Elantra facelift and the next gen Corolla coming to India has already been "leaked".
While the new gen Civic might not be revolutionary in itself, it's still an improvement over the current crop of sedans...
Better performance than the Elantra, better looks than the Corolla and much better reliability than the Octavia.

Hopefully the competition will improve their game too, especially Toyota with its obsolete looking Corolla.

[balderash_12]

+It looks stunning! No 2 ways about it!
- Unfortunately the cuts and creases and its low-slung nature might go down well with the chauffeured owners. It is definitely radical for the conservative (relatively) segment.

But Honda has made a big mistake by not offering the diesel AT.
- Why are you afraid to “cannibalize” a product that does not sell (the CR-V), Honda? And overprice it? Double whammy! People who want the CR-V will buy it. There’s not much chance of cross shopping. 7 seater SUV. Low slung sedan. Period.
-The engine itself is a tad too small (but this is acceptable considering the Elantra uses the Verna’s engine and the Corolla’s produces 87 bhp ).
-The petrol MT will be missed (only by the enthusiasts).

[sleepyk]

Originally Posted by M00M

Is the civic BS6 ? Anyone knows ?

It's BS4 according to the Honda sales executive I talked with...
I asked because I wanted to know the possibility of getting the 1.5 turbo in India. He had no idea about that, just said that anything's possible in the future.

[Pancham]

Originally Posted by shobhit.shri

The quintessential dilemma! Choose a good one or the fun one

Perhaps it depends on the person's financial position, but I don't get the point of spending big money and still settling for a "sensible" choice. If I really want to be "sensible", I would buy a City - that is 90% of the civic - and save 50% of the money. I have driven this Civic abroad and I don't think it was much better than my Skoda Rapid. Spending 25L on this civic will only make sense if you are planning to own it for 10 years.

By the way, I bought newly launched Skoda Rapid in 2012 and driving a used Honda city these days. I agree with you on the points above. .

You said it right. Choose the right one or the good one.

However, I would say the definition of 'big money' is entirely subjective.

Although the Octavia is still my favourite, I feel this segment was still missing that reliable sedan which would meet the needs of most Indians. For long has the common man waited for a decent and reliable sedan around 20-25 L range that would bridge the gap between an outdated but relatively reliable Elantra and a fun to drive Octavia. I think Civic does that to a great extent.

If there was a "Honda Civic" stock in the market I would put my money on it and with great confidence.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by Pancham

For long has the common man waited for a decent and reliable sedan around 20-25 L range that would bridge the gap between an outdated but relatively reliable Elantra and a fun to drive Octavia. I think Civic does that by taking certain levels of both.

If there was a "Honda Civic" stock in the market I would put my money on it and with great confidence.

You probably missed Corolla! Yes, it's a generation old but reliability is something that cannot go wrong. The Civic looks stylish and is better to drive but the corolla had better space and ride. Things are only going to get hotter with new Corolla launch already on radar for India.

[bansal.sushant]

I have gone through all the posts on this thread, most people seem to love the Civic. The only sore point being highlighted is the rubberband effect of the CVT, that too some don't seem to mind and understand it's a natural tradeoff of the CVT.

I only wonder what will happen when Honda decides to launch the Civic petrol manual version in India.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by bansal.sushant

I only wonder what will happen when Honda decides to launch the Civic petrol manual version in India.

That will not happen. According to Honda, the engine is only available in this variant. Also, the potential sales numbers would not justify ARAI homologation expenses

[imidnightmare]

Originally Posted by Pancham

You said it right. Choose the right one or the good one.

However, I would say the definition of 'big money' is entirely subjective.

Although the Octavia is still my favourite, I feel this segment was still missing that reliable sedan which would meet the needs of most Indians. For long has the common man waited for a decent and reliable sedan around 20-25 L range that would bridge the gap between an outdated but relatively reliable Elantra and a fun to drive Octavia. I think Civic does that to a great extent.

If there was a "Honda Civic" stock in the market I would put my money on it and with great confidence.

I wouldn't even actually put the Civic and the Octavia in the same class. The Octavia has so much more power, is exceptionally fun to drive and has the DSG. The Civic is comparatively very underpowered and the CVT is a nightmare for driving experience. Admittedly, I'm an Octavia owner and clearly biased, given I deliberated a lot and went for the Octy, but a year into the ownership, I can safely say that (for me, at least), unless money is a massive constraint, Civic v/s Octavia is a no-contest. Frankly, in the D1 segment, the Octavia v/s any other sedan is a no-contest right now (unless there's been a new launch I've missed).

[urajkumar]

Originally Posted by imidnightmare

I wouldn't even actually put the Civic and the Octavia in the same class. The Octavia has so much more power, is exceptionally fun to drive and has the DSG. The Civic is comparatively very underpowered and the CVT is a nightmare for driving experience. Admittedly, I'm an Octavia owner and clearly biased, given I deliberated a lot and went for the Octy, but a year into the ownership, I can safely say that (for me, at least), unless money is a massive constraint, Civic v/s Octavia is a no-contest. Frankly, in the D1 segment, the Octavia v/s any other sedan is a no-contest right now (unless there's been a new launch I've missed).

We all agree that the Octavia is far ahead but there are couple of reasons why civic has an edge at the moment

- The current generation Octavia is at the end of its life cycle & will get replaced within the next 2 years maximum. This will impact resale value
while the Civic being a new model (at least in India) will be around for next 3-4 years
- Honda service experience is far more reliable & easy compared to Skoda (We have owned both & hence the view, at least its like that in chennai)
- Honda looks sporty & much better (in my view) than Octavia at the moment
- Octavia petrol Top model is 29 Lakhs Vs Honda 25 Lakhs which does not seem justifiable

[jailbird_fynix]

Got the chance to check out the new Civic today at the showroom after our City's service. There were 2 cars on display - a red petrol & a grey diesel. I found the red Civic to be way more better looking than the grey one. The coupe design element of the car is very apparent, especially in it's long, tapering bonnet when viewed from the front. Also, I found the alloys to be actually good looking in person than through pics( I had initially disliked the design ). Overall, exterior- wise, I must say that it's definitely an impressive, beautiful looking car.

Got into the driver's seat and found the seating position to be not as low as some have stated in this thread ( in comparison to our City ). I could easily adjust the seating position to the same as the default in our City in no time( maybe its because I'm 6 feet tall and am used to low seating ). Although, I did find the center console and the adjacent gear area to be a little bit raised ? I don't know if this is the trend in such D-segment sedans. But, armrest and steering wheel positioning was practical. Noticed that the seats had better under-thigh support than the City and that the space in the rear seat was lesser. Sunroof placement and it's operation is the same. Although I'm not a fan of cockpit-styled interiors with umpteen number of buttons, switches and digital MIDs - this one did look & feel quite luxurious in comparison to our City. Doors felt better built than the City's but the closing "thud" is nothing compared to that of any German car. Boot space is visibly lesser.

Looking forward to the test drive next week and to build an overall impression.

[abhi.maverick]

Originally Posted by urajkumar

We all agree that the Octavia is far ahead but there are couple of reasons why civic has an edge at the moment

- The current generation Octavia is at the end of its life cycle & will get replaced within the next 2 years maximum. This will impact resale value
while the Civic being a new model (at least in India) will be around for next 3-4 years
- Honda service experience is far more reliable & easy compared to Skoda (We have owned both & hence the view, at least its like that in chennai)
- Honda looks sporty & much better (in my view) than Octavia at the moment
- Octavia petrol Top model is 29 Lakhs Vs Honda 25 Lakhs which does not seem justifiable

The price differential is actually likely to hit twice and add up for Octavia buyers:
- First on initial purchase when one pays more for the higher price of Octavia compared to Civic (justifiably though in my opinion)
- Second at the time of resale where the Civic is likely to hold its value better and thus one receives less (compared to initial cost) while selling it out.

One time I would have happily absorbed as I loved Octavia, but losing money twice for the love of the car itself was feeling like an indulgence. Civic isn't that much worse! Infact i always liked the Civic and felt I would like to own one, whenever I saw in person the current generation pre-facelift model in other countries. Thus my vote goes to the Civic. Can't help but wish that Skoda as a brand could do more to change that perception/reality.

And, off topic, here goes my first post as a (proud) new member of team-bhp!

[nivatakavacha]

Last weekend, I had gone to the Honda showroom/service center to change the wipers on my city and chanced upon the Honda Civic. I am a Civic fanboy, hence my lenses are likely to be colored. I took a test drive of the 1.8 petrol CVT on GST road Chennai (in traffic), and hence, did not get a chance to give it the beans properly.

1. I loved the layout of the interiors and the general theme of the dashboard. This is the first experience with the electronic break and it did open up a lot of space in the center area. I also liked the stop button which can be engaged at the red light (so you can remove your foot from the brake pedal).
2. The seat adjustment was electric and coming from the already low slung City, I took to it like a fish to water. When I initially sat in, to my horror, my head was hitting the roof (over 6 feet tall) but I was able to sufficiently lower the seat, and find a good driving position.
3. Loved the console doing a clean sweep on startup. I also loved that the engine start button glows in red on entry.
4. One interesting feature is the left side lane assist camera. On triggering the left indicator, the camera view gets displayed on the IVI. But I dont know if it is something I can get used to as my natural reaction is to look at the ORVM and behind my shoulders.
5. Now to the driving experience - As I have stated above, I just could not find a gap in the traffic to test the engine but I have to say that in "normal" mode, the car is a relaxed cruiser, which I believe is what most people are looking for. There was nothing special about the performance, but there was nothing to complain about either. On the other hand, I liked the "Sport" mode where there is a noticeable change in performance and grunt and the paddle-shifters were pretty easy to use as well. But how often would we want the "Sport" mode? Only on highways runs I guess. I am in general, a sedate driver and I think I can live with the 1.8 CVT. I did not test the infamous "Eco" mode.
6. The ride also was pretty smooth but of course, the GST road is a pretty good road, hence I cannot comment about the suspension.
7. As is typical Honda, the engine bay is neat and everything is neatly tucked in its right place.
8. Once I had parked the car, the SA also showed me how to start the car/AC from the key FOB. I thought it was an interesting feature; especially summers in Chennai can be brutal.
9. Exteriors - I really liked the look of the car, but I guess it is subjective. GC also looks more or less equal to the city.
10. Back seat - I dont know if I am in the minority here, but I liked the back seat of my Honda city more than the back seat of the Civic. Are there others as well?

Would I buy the car? Yes if I had expendable moola I am definitely more a sedan guy than an SUV guy but my love affair with my honda city is far from over (acceleration in 3rd gear)!

It would be really interesting to see Civic's journey in our market now. They had not gone all out for the "Front Seat" psyche (Aka driving enthusiast) or the "Back Seat" psyche (Aka upper middle class person) and have taken the middle path.

I am sorry but I did not take any pictures that day.