Honda Civic Vs Toyota Corolla Vs Skoda Octavia

The new Honda Civic is a damn good car, but the old hands - the Toyota Corolla and the Skoda Octavia - definitely aren't giving up without a proper fight, so here we go again...

Story: Sameer Kumar Photography Kunal Khadse

WHAT'S CALLED THE entry-level D-segment here in India is quite an action-packed place to be in. The petrol-powered Toyota Corolla 1.8 and the diesel-powered Skoda Octavia 1.9TDI have, for quite some time now, reigned supreme. Others have tried to usurp their position, without much success. Hyundai tried with the Elantra - launching both diesel and petrol variants - but did not make much headway. GM tried with the Optra 1.8, found few takers, and finally got their groove in a lower niche, with the Optra 1.6. Mitsubishi made a half-hearted attempt with the Cedia. Why?! Nobody seems to know, and anyway, the car seems to have sunk without a trace. So what gives? It's simple really. The Corolla and the Octavia were the best-in-class package deals in terms of performance, refinement, reliability, resale value, and what have you. Much as they tried, other cars just couldn't come close to the big two

Enter the new Honda Civic, and things aren't the same anymore. Suddenly, the old hands are looking (and feeling...) their age. Toyota haven't significantly updated the Corolla in the last five years, and the Octavia is older still. The Skoda Laura is a brilliant car and is loaded with high-zoot technology, but it's so expensive that it's competing with bigger, more powerful cars like the Honda Accord and its D-segment ilk, rather than the Civic, Octavia or Corolla. So is this the perfect opportunity for the Civic to step in and stir things up a bit? Will the older cars prove to be sitting ducks for the sharp, aggressive new Honda, or do they still have it in them to put up a decent fight? Let's find out.

As you'd expect, the Civic's styling makes the other two cars look half a decade old. Which of course they are!

 

The Honda's sci-fi instrumentation and super-slick interiors are totally cool...

 

 

 

The Corolla's interiors are functional and well built, but look and feel dated when compared with the Civic's

 

The Octavia boasts of solid build quality, but dark interiors could do with a bit more colour. Time for a revamp, Skoda...

 

THE CIVIC CORNERS NICELY, KEEPING A NEUTRAL STANCE MOST OF THE TIME. TURN IN IS QUICK AND PRECISE AND I APPRECIATE THE STEERING FEEL...

Style Karma Styling first, and this, the 8th generation Civic, simply blows the Corolla and the Octavia out of the water. The Honda is angry and edgy and very here-and-now, and when it's around, the other two are practically invisible. Where the Civic goes, gushing adulation follows. Where the Corolla and the Octavia go, they, well, go alone. Who would have expected Honda to give the mousy old Civic, such a dramatic makeover? It's like one of those reality TV shows where a nerdy, gawky contestant is transformed into someone who's radiant, poised and confident of taking on the world. The last generation Civic was barely nondescript. This one is distilled funkiness.

How do the other two cars compare with the Civic, in the looks department? Er, they don't. With its restrained, Germanic lines, the Octavia 1.8 Rider still looks quietly elegant and understated - time has been kind to this car - but park it next to the Civic, and you realize how things have moved on. The Octavia 1.8 RS Turbo, with its 16-inch alloys (the Rider makes do with 15-inch pressed steel wheels, with plastic wheel covers...), skirts and spoilers looks hunkered down and aggressive, but the 1.8 Rider just looks too tame and civilized. Skoda really do need to get some proper European flair, some pizzazz into the next Octavia. Which could be a tad tricky, because the Laura is the new Octavia, and to look at, it's not all that different from the old Octavia. And it's vastly more expensive. And we don't get a petrol variant yet, here in India.

Source: Car India September 2006.