Yup, the headline is no bait. The Volkswagen Scirocco is a constant presence in this Thai ad of the Honda Civic Hatchback. We don’t really understand the ad (Thai language experts, or those with friends from the Land of Smiles, help is welcome), but presume that this rare occurrence of a rival car in an ad means that Honda sees VW’s three-door, low-roofed hatch as a target. True rivals?
Honda launched the 2017 Civic Hatchback earlier this month in Thailand. The five-door hatch is available in a sole 1.5L Turbo CVT variant, priced at 1.169 million baht (RM149,094). Like the sedan, the L15B7 turbo-four produces 173 PS at 5,500 rpm and 220 Nm of torque from 1,700 to 5,500 rpm. No six-speed manual option for Thailand.
The Civic Hatchback’s styling is differed from the sedan with unique front and rear bumpers that have large, faux inlets and outlets, the latter of which is fitted with fog lamps. Meanwhile, the shortened rear hosts a tailgate and roof spoiler and C-shaped taillights.
Dimension wise, the hatchback shares the same width (1,798 mm) and wheelbase (2,700 mm) as the sedan, but it’s taller (+20 mm) and shorter by 112 mm. The hatchback also trades some rear passenger space for extra cargo room, where a claimed 727 litres is available with the rear seats up, against the booted car’s 519 litres.
Standard kit include 17-inch alloys (with 215/50 tyres), LED headlights/DRLs/fog lamps, dual-zone air-con, a digital instrument panel, seven-inch touchscreen head unit (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), paddle shifters, multi-function steering wheel and black leather upholstery.
Also in are smart entry and push button start, remote engine start, cruise control, auto brake hold, 60:40 split-folding rear seats, reverse camera, and powered front seats. Safety-wise, the Civic Hatch comes with six airbags, VSA and Hill Start Assist. Black Burgundy Night Pearl is the signature colour for the bodystyle, and it’s a 6,000 baht option. Also 6k baht dearer is Crystal Black Pearl, while Orchid White Pearl is a 10,000 baht option.
Like what you see? Will you have the sedan or hatchback, if the latter was sold here? For once, I’d have a sleek Civic sedan over a Civic hatchback, as this writer prefers straight backs (Golf, 308) over hunchbacks (Lancer Sportback, Suprima S, Mk2 Focus).
GALLERY: Thai-spec Honda Civic Hatchback
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Fake.. scirocco will dust in easily..
Whatever it is, despite the Civic not being a match to the VW, at least, the Civic will not judder and breakdown. Don’t forget, Thailand also hot weather like Malaysia
Cvt not juddering? Hahahahahahahah funny u
Well VW’s gearboxes are like super unreliable, so it’s a win for Honda….
Civic no match for a Rocco la
These are low life ads that encourage our Y generation to speed and race. Such ads encourage our Mat Rempits to syiok also.
The ad itself is wrong. It teaches people that cars are meant to be for racing. And everything is a competition.
In real world, noone wants to race with sissy civic
Because they’re afraid the Myvis will interfere. Eh…
From the start, the add features civic hatchback in the lead with the VW tailgating till almost the entire add. Can’t conclude anything based on the add itself. If its a drag race or time attack then we’ll have the answer. But seriously, Scirocco? Not Golf?
Who are we kidding man ?! A Civic 1.5 turbo with a CVT will never, I repeat NEVER be able to “Match” any Focus, Scirocco or any 2 liter turbo car unless they use similar output/cc.
Make no mistake guys, the Civic HB is a handsome car by itself. It will take U anywhere in comfort & sit 4 comfortably with ample space to carry your bags & necessities. If U want a performance HB, buy the 2 liter turbo.
Maybe it was a 1.4TSI “roc”
Yeah throw the 1.5T in to the mix with any of the 2.0T group and it would be minced meat. The 1.5T is surprisingly quick for a 1.5T (as compared to the other 1.6T) but no where near what the 2.0T can do.
I have been driving a Civic 1.5T off and on for a bit now but I find its cruising speed stability (100-130kmh) is slightly off. Not quite sure if there is something wrong with that particular car. Seem to have lateral stability issues, especially with cross winds, and road camber. Feels like the rear toe has been set to toe out (or a bent frame, techie car guys will know that feeling) but everything checked out on the machine.
Suspension feels a little slighly underdamped too, not matching the spring rate.
Didn’t like the steering. Gone was the old direct Civic steering.
In theory and practice, 1.5l turbo could be souped up to match 2.0l turbo performance. Piece of cake for Honda. Just beef up the internal engine components and turn up the boost knob. Maybe the turbo lag will be slightly more noticeable, but modern turbo charger tech. and better gear ratio would alleviate that.
…and in theory and practice, a 2.0 turbo can also be souped up.Piece of cake also
scirocco will break down civic wouldnt
Err civic turbo engine might get overheat
Looks like the Scirocco is checking out who is the new kid on the block B4 deciding to out-sprint this Civic after the train past.
This usually happen when a guy wanted to have some fun But don’t want to be caught off-guard by unsuspecting Type R Civic.
Seriously why compared with an almost 10 year old car. The platform is 2 generations behind. Compare with something newer for gods sake. So i buy the latest civic and tell people “hey my car is better your 8 year old car, suck that”
Same for the new city what. Start button? Paddle shifters? EBD? Had these on my car 6 years ago..
Fake rival…scirocco can smoke this honda easily…best car in vw was scirocco r & golf r…my brother fd2r cant even overtake those car on karak highway..
Not cvt but vtec maybe can…bring the new type r 2017 and thats we call rival…not this rubbish cvt
a scirocco?, this is an insult, even my FD 1.8 vtec can outrun any scirocco..
many time i smoke vw with my FD 1.8 vtec NA only maa..hahaha, even the GTI is having difficulties to to keep up with me, maybe the golf R can la..i think.
my secret is surbo!
if really want to use a vw, should use golf R instead, than it is comparable with the new civic hatchback TURBO because the civic FC is damn to powerful for any non R vw including GTI`s..take that VW fanboii
I’m not a vw fansboy
But everyone know u such honda fanboy trying to smoke lol pls
Yes you do smoke with your NA 1.8 when vw is cruising right
Don’t day dream dude, lol.
Forgive him bro. He probably overdose bcos of smoking TOO much. He he he.
Huh? Golf GTI slower than Golf R? You must be joking.
if u guys dont have money to buy civic, just shut up ok, i own a civic, and i know how powerful the vtec is.
Maybe VW owners dont want to bully ur cheap old fd
Joke of the year 2017
XD
Dude , are you in cloud nine? You are making youSelf a laughing stock? Volkswagen cars are synonymous with performance. Forget about the GTi or scirocco, even their Passat and Jetta, heck even the Vento tsi can outclass cars their segment. Enough said.
Bad advertising. It’s just showing everyone that the Honda cannot outrun a Volks.
Was this ad made for Honda or was it for Volkswagon?
Wrong car dude, try Civic Coupe instead rather than the 4 door Civic hatch back… and please put the 1.4 TSI for the Scirocco cause that’s a more proper comparison with the 1.5 Civic engine.
make sure this ad dont go public, or else audience who drove Scirocco will sue Honda. How could Scirocco unable to overtake civic turbo? Even Scirocco tyre puncit, it still can over take civic peacefully.
if you dont have money to buy a civic, you can always bad mouthing it rite?..my civic FD 1.8 eat any 1.4tsi alive..even the cc is more bigger than the 1.4..hahaha, is comparable to any GTI`s, because the vtec is very powerful.
you joking right? see spec please.. when a kancil challenge you to race? do you entertain?
Civic FD 1.8 can’t even overtake my 1.5 Myvi in highway. hahaha
Cuz U havn’t notice the speed camera yet. hahaha
i read the different message from this ad.. it try to show the new civic HB to stand for gentlemans who wanted sporty outlook/performance yet drive it with brain on…on opposite note it show scirocco as boyracer car.
Maybe they have another ad to continue the story. Just wait and see.
I dun think this civic hatchback can tapaw scirocco even the 1.4 roc…maybe top speed can laa..but for pickup no way man…civic only have 220nm vs scirocco 1.4 250nm. horsepower civic slightly wina little ponny only…power to weight ratio overall scirocco 1.4 win… don bother fight with scirooco 2.0 normal one la and dun dare talk about Volks version R type haha. Jepunis car now no future in high performance car industry. haha
Spot on. Totally agreed.
Stupid ad. Boy racers must race to show off who has the bigger penis. Honda Civic Generation 10 is suppose to be the grown up Civic so this ad does not reflect the brief. Besides, target audience for hatchback are usually family man who wants the extra space for the baby pram and perhaps the family labrador. Boy racers target audience is the Type R.
this honda ad is very polite. a crude one will see the Scirocco tailgating and eventually had to stop because the gearbox went up in smoke.
The civic turbo is a good car but it still misses the mark and a twincharged Volkswagen with DSG can beat the civic. Now that Volkswagen has dropped the supercharger, it is a little easier for the civic though. But cvt vs dsg, well the clear winner is dsg without a sweat. Anyone who has driven a VW dsg knows that is can switch gears with extreme speed. This also translates to driving pleasure.
Eventho Volks drop their supercharger..the new turbocharger tech still enough power to smoke that civic…the volks no need to reflash his ecu if wanna tapaw that fancy civic. hehe
“Like what you see? Will you have the sedan or hatchback, if the latter was sold here? For once, I’d have a sleek Civic sedan over a Civic hatchback, as this writer prefers straight backs (Golf, 308) over hunchbacks (Lancer Sportback, Suprima S, Mk2 Focus)”
I 100,000% agree with Danny on this, I think the Civic sedan with that side and rear profile looks much, much better than the Civic hunchback. I really don’t like hunchbacks at all.
Civic is slow poke. Can’t even run away from Scirocco.
Civic macam lembik in acceleration. Scirocco is more dominant in chasing up.
Didn’t u see the civic has to constantly block off Scirocco to overtake it by driving left and right. And scirocco backing up from the civic when stop before the train because afraid of civic’s reckless driving by stopping abruptly lol…
All will lose out to my Proton Wira, modded to the max…..Lots of performance parts, very cheap to play….
yup agreed…maybe your wira can tapaw those at straight line only, and go goyang gerudi at sharp corner. btw wira suda tua maaa no style and umphh…cheers!
Likely to have a sequel… type R
The tagline at the end of the ad says “this is what a car really is, need to follow closely and look”. Well, Honda could be making fun of VW. It really depends on how you interpret it
The commentary nearing the end of the ad is “this is what a car really is, need to follow closely to look”. Well, Honda could be poking fun at VW but really depends on how you interpret it
From the ad. I can tell the driver win from beginning. Not the car. For example any race pro. driver can drive better than any ah beng driver with better specs car on hand. This ad. didn’t prove which car is powerful. It shows he is a good driver because of the driver stop in front of the rail track, instead in here, driver want the train stops.
At the end of the add said ” This is the car that you should keep your eyes on” (direct translation from the Thai word).
This ad means the back of the HB civic is nice, that the vw just tailgate it all the way just to see the back of the car. That’s all. There is no speeding or competition.