All New 1.5T 2016 Honda Civic Suitable for Pakistan or a Disaster?

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There has been much of debate about the release of all new 1.5 turbo Honda Civic 2016. No doubt it’s a great car, but the question is, will it suit the conditions in Pakistan. The answer to this question is quite disappointing. There are a number of reasons for this disappointment.

Recently, Honda has issued some guidelines about the all new Civic. Honda dealers claim that the most popular variant is the 1.5l turbo. According to them 1.5L turbo variant will require Hi-octane fuel only. And the thing is it can be really hard for people, even in a city like Lahore, to find hi-octane, then what would be the situation in smaller cities?

Also Read: PKDM 2016 Honda Civic: A Pandora Box Full Of Confusion

Another thing wrong with the all new civic is the price factor. Talking about the 1.5 turbo variant, it will cost you around 30 Lac. Now 30 lac is just too much. The strongest competitor i.e. Toyota Corolla Grande is available in much less price (around 25 to 26 lac). But I think that the most dangerous competitor for Honda Civic is the popular Hybrid Boys in town like the Honda Vezel, Toyota Prius, and the Lexus CT200h. There are other readily available hybrid cars in our used car market as well. I don’t know what the drive quality of the Honda Civic 2016 is but the standards set by these used imported hybrid cars are really high.

Looking at the numbers of units booked, there is no doubt that a large number of people are attracted towards the all new turbo 2016 Honda Civic but the question is, will it be suitable for Pakistan? If you go to PakWheels forums, and look at the 2016 Honda Civic threads, you will find many people who felt betrayed by Honda Atlas. But let’s see how everything turns out to be. Real life experience might be completely different than the expectations.

 

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52 Comments
  1. Kashif says

    What the hell is wrong with Pak wheels.
    Stop criticising new turbo Honda Civic.
    Audi A3 is turbo as well. It’s on the roads of Pakistan for nearly a year. And by the end of this year most of petrol pumps will have 91 grade petrol, that’s what Honda recommend. And it’s none of Pak wheels business to say bad things like it too expensive, higher grade of petrol will be a problem. Batter appreciate it.
    How u r comparing turbo engine car with imported hybrid car

  2. M.B says

    Lol…! What is this? What’s new in this blog? Ended so quickly…

  3. Ehs says

    I don’t understand the negativity seriously brothers.

    At least for a change, in Pakistan we are actually assembling a modern 1.5 T Civic car. It should be appreciated.

    One should let the car perform in the market for a few months before jumping to conclusion.
    Nobody here has even driven the car yet we are all so quick to criticize it.

    We are getting another option in locally produced auto lineup. It should be appreciated. Other than a relatively higher price everything else in the car is comparable to modern international cars.

  4. Taimur Khan says

    Haven’t been on PW for few months. Came back today and same old same old. It’s very apparent PW, either been paid by Toyota or they are huge fanboys of it. I own a Toyota and a Honda. Everytime I came here, the articles were literally the opposite of what I experienced with both brands. It’s retarded how biased PW is.

  5. Umar Ashfaq says

    Well brother if you own both of them, You know both have their own strength and weaknesses but do tell me if you can challenge even a single line about this article? We are here to discuss on every aspect. You can also find other articles on Pakwheels that are describing how good Honda is.

  6. Umar Ashfaq says

    I completely agree that we should appreciate them for giving them another option in local lineup. But tell me one thing, if this car is increasing ur local lineup then it should be according to local conditions. Most of the LOCAL Petrol Pumps do not have Hi-Octane fuel for you. And Why are we comparing them with other international cars because brother those are better options. JAB B KOI GAAARI LETA HAE WO COMPARE KRTA HAE KE USKO KYA MILL RAHA HAE.

  7. Umar Ashfaq says

    Short, smart and Sweet.
    i dont want to bore :p

  8. Umar Ashfaq says

    Well we are comparing ur turbo engine with imported hybrid cars because these are better options. These all are called “FAMILY CARS” most of the people do not race here in Pakistan. Therefore these hybrids are more efficient, comfortable and effective. (ask someone who owns a Honda Vezel you will get the answer)

  9. Aaqil Khattak says

    Well guys lets not be so angry on the blog. The writer want to point out the real thing. Let have one example you want to visit Northern Area & with your turbo tell me how could you manage the hi Octane. putting in the trunk filled with Cans of hi Octane.. You people don’t have idea living in cities also our fuel quality is very bad and petrol pump do frauds with you by putting less fuel etc. Other thing is about Price yes its too high y the steel cost you this much with basic features if you compare to outside world cars. No doubt Car is owsum but it is for elite class. with tax and registration it cost you more than 31 lac.

    One more thing people are right the blogs are of same material but i hope once car hit the roads you will get better information from PakWheels team. They are doing their best to provide us information with proper details… Also we Pakistanis have enough money we have spend this much of amount on the car which is not officially launch in Pakistan.

    I hope we will get detail information about this car soon once launched in the local market. Will also check the millage which is shown by imported cars which show 41 mpg and 39 mpg i,e 15 to 17 KpL because milage is also a big factor for us.

    Last but not least i also noticed that less people are interested in the blogs for New Civic dont know why.

    PakWheels Keep it up and provide us the latest information once car launched.

  10. Umar Ashfaq says

    Exactly my point. Hi-octane is not available in every city.

  11. Muhammad Mansoor says

    To all people who are dissing the the blog, how crystal clear did u guys really wanted it to be accepted that the turbo wouldn’t do kuch Business. U want it go get it, it will always be ametures vehicle and will stay this way such as cr-z practically and market wise.

  12. M.B says

    More of a click bait from PW. :p
    BTW thumbs up for your effort in writting.

  13. Shahab Nasir says

    Ridiculous. The title itself is so annoying. at first we crib, we cry we don’t get all the good engines and options. so for once we are getting one. if u can afford to maintain one please buy it. if it is too much for u then who is stopping u from opting for the usual 1.8. Please let people be happy about having a better option available

  14. Umar Ashfaq says

    Bhai we are here to discuss what is happening kya faida agr gaari ko show piece bna kr ghar me hi khara krna hae apne?

  15. Ali Faraz Haque says

    What a ridiculous reply, the author clearly wrote an article that reflects the common perception of the majority of the honda customers. If you wish to live in a fools paradise then by all means go for it, but it is true Honda Pakistan is launching a car whose fuel is not available in more than 90% of the country, aisi gardi ki sirf batti ban sakti hai jo aap shok se bana lena bhai.

  16. Guest says

    Click-bait.

    The title is promising as if the article would somehow tell whether the 1.5T would be suitable or disaster. Butthe article mentions the general sentiment and ends with a “let’s see”.

    Is PW blog stooping to new lows so much that now click-bait articles will also appear here?

  17. Guest again says

    You got it wrong.

    Honda always had good engines which didn’t even need extraordinary caretaking. If you remember, Honda came up with the first EFI when Toyota was selling their 2E. At the same time, Suzuki came up with Baleno whose engine was also advanced but had special requirements. As a result the public did not accept the advanced engine of Baleno but they did accept the advanced engines of dolphin and EK9 and even preferred them over Corolla’s 2E.

    People want good engines to come in Mehran and the likes. Honda already had good engines but now they are pushing the limits by being a “special-needs” child. The market would react. People want a good car, not a headache.

    It is not about the money (afford) to maintain. For me, I want a simple engine which does not need occasional works on weekends and turbo replacement every 2 years and overall poor performance because it cannot provide pleasure of driving on the poor quality of fuel we got. I have all the money, but I’d rather spend my time having something which does not require so much attention.

    People don’t even like high-maintenance spouse and this is just a car.

  18. Guest yet again says

    If you do not understand the negativity, at least try to attempt. You are intelligent enough because you are a Pakistani. Therefore if you do not understand, it may be due to laziness rather than lack of capability.

    Nobody likes to be cheated or shafted. Honda has better engines which would be more suited to our market, but they did not selected one of those engines. Rather, they selected something which has “hype”. They could have put R16 (only one option) and have made a loot sale, as the new thing about Civic X is not only the engine but the shape, chassis, features, crash safety, etc. etc. endless improvements. Yet they give to Pakistani market only the engine which has special requirements to operate and would need more expensive and rare fuel, and they have stripped the car of other newly-introduced highly demanded features (LED headlight, new instrument cluster, passenger entertainment system, auto dimming rear view mirror). Buying fuel would be a chore as people would have to go out of their way to reach specific petrol pumps and pre-plan their trips to purchase fuel every time they need. Highway driving would be out of question.

    Atlas could have saved money on the engine and put other, more relevant features, yet they chose not to do so. This is the reason of the negativity, because historically Atlas have been providing better options to the customers compared to the Indus and PS. Potential customers who go for Honda again and again did not expect Honda to do this, so they feel betrayed and the trust is broken!

    Hope you understand the negativity now.

  19. AHMAD FAROOQ says

    Lets accept the reality
    HONDA 1.5L TURBO will be a very good car but fuel availability is a big question mark.

  20. Waleed Ahmed says

    IT seems to me that Atlas has appointed a whole unit on defending their behinds in case of any article that goes against them, I perfectly remember when they had launched Looser HR-v then their were a Whole bunch of Crazy Fanboys (that were actually some ATLAS employed RETARDED LOOSERs for sure) tried to defend the Function Less Super Expensive 3.5Millio HR-v with a Honda City engine 1.5ltr engine.

    You frauds really don’t have receptive minds in case of customer needs and wants that is becoming Important day by day, you people are just focusing on money making & yes it’s the craxy show-off people who encourage you to out these HEFTY Price tags on your Stupid Vehicles.

  21. Waleed Ahmed says

    You’re Right, The Problem here isn’t the Engine, It’s the Fuel availability & Use of regular fuel in case of Non-availability of hi-octane.

    I Live in Lahore, A big City, Even here the hi-octane isn’t available at all pumps & many times the ones who have it say that “Sorry! But we’re out of Hi-Octane fuel for now”

  22. Waleed Ahmed says

    The Biggest concerns that the article focuses on whatever the title are that:

    1.Would the hefty price tag of PKR.3000000 for a saloon would really justifies what we’ll get in this scenario where the fuel availability is a big issue, It can drastically effect it’s durability?

    2.There are many other options available in the market with same or more/same horse power , More Functionality & Not to forget the Quality which atlas has decreased it.

    3.The local competitor has much lesser price than yours, do you really care about the customers or Do you care about your DEEP pockets that were not SOO FULL since the Launch of Grande, Because Very Few People bought 9th Gen?

    You can never give proper answer to these questions, Other than Just Blah Blah Blah!! Stop defending yourself with stupidity & start some actual customer care & show honest concern , which SADLY you’ll never do!! :/

  23. Waleed Ahmed says

    It’s not the Pakwheels who are sad about the Hefty Price tags, these are the customers who wanted to buy your civic, Yes it’s their Damn business to show concern on it, which the Atlas doesn’t care about their Afford-ability, Talking about A3, Mostly people who buy it take it out for special occasions & the ones who use it live in Posh areas like Gulberg or DHA where Hi-Octane is available Mostly!! & it’s AUDI, A German Luxurious Top Class Brand not Honda which is known to be a AFFORDABLE BRAND in other countries.

    Probably the Mind of Atlas is Sick who just Think about their Deep Pockets which were remained low after the launch of Grande (Or ksi nay 9th gen ko Ghass bhi nai Daali) Now they’ve came to fill it & don’t worry their are many Fans more of Slaves who’ll fill it!!

  24. Salman Ahmed says

    Let these dump first buyer get the lesson for their hastiness

  25. adnan syed says

    I think Honda Atlas wants to kill its 1.5 turbo by itself by making statement that hi-octane is recommended only. Go to honda canada site check civic. Available in 2.0 lit nd 1.5 turbo. Fuel recommendation for both is regular. As per canadian standard regular means 87 Ron. Which is equivalent to our regular standard as well. Then who is a lier in this case. Honda Pakistan or Honda Canada.

  26. Aaqil Khattak says

    Share the link please.

  27. Guest says

    my sincere advice to all PakWheelers.

    Let the car launch and run for some months before making conclusions. How are people here reviewing a car without even driving it?

    As for 1.5 Turbo issue, u can always opt for 1.8 if u have reservations. Secondly, the PKDM Civic would be tuned to fuel quality of Pakistan. Furthermore, good news is by the end of the year Pakistan is upgrading its fuel quality and RON numbers will increase.

    Please wait for car to launch before criticizing guys. Even Suzuki recommends to run Swift 1.3 AT on Hi-Octane.

    One thing to note —-> The 1.5 T engine gives 174 HP output, which is even higher than 2.0 158 HP output engine used in USDM Civic..

  28. Khuram Shahzad says

    Dear Fellows!
    By profession I am an Engineer.
    The Good news is that Your Turbo civic will be able to run in Pakistan.
    Here is the reason Why?
    The Octane requirement depends on the compression ratio of an engine to reduce or eliminate knocking / pinging probability of an engine which causes premature failures of engine components. Higher the compression ratio higher the requirement of RON nob.
    please note that your :
    1. Existing R18A NA Compression ratio is 10.6 : 1
    2. 1.5 Turbo Engine is also 10.6 : 1
    3. US 2.0 L NA Engine is 10.8 : 1

    Now the common thing is that your old civic R18A (1.8L) as well as 2.0L & 1.5T new one requires same US unleaded RON 87 which equals to European or ours RON 91.

    so Guys no worry except loss of some little 5 to 8 BHPs and 8 to 10 N-m torque .

    Further more another good news is that Total’s regular HI Super is tested RON 90 in pakistan. so please don’t be panic.

    This is a gimic played by Honda Atlas as they have limited Nobs of 1.5Turbo Kits for assembly thats why they are forcing new bookers to book 1.8L civic which again need RON 91. hahahahaha

    Rest asure i have seen Audi A3 and A6 as well as Porche Cayyan Turbo filling regular Petrol due to shortage /unavailability of Hi- Octane.

  29. Khuram Shahzad says

    Plus one more thing which technical friend will second me. All engines equipped with direct injectors creates cooling effect within the combustion chamber which reduces pre ignition (knock detonation tendency) and creates uniform combustion……….like your Mark Xss, and many more.

    Go to wikipedia for direct injection engines details……..

    Chill up fellows……………. be confident and come out of confusions.

    Civic Turbo will be a hit

  30. Khuram Shahzad says

    yaro Hi octane ki shortage mein bhi mercedezs, BMs, Audis chal hi rahi hain naa…..

    aur sab say bari baaaaaattt. ……..pichlay………….9 saaalon say hum 91RON wali 1.8 civic bhi chala hi rahey hein naa……hahahahahaha

  31. Mohsin Barlas says

    Anyways i can sure you all the new civic is only for straight roads .. It will be delicate as hell it has too many sensors and its way more advanced that in a few years very very few people will be able to fix this crap.
    Coming to price 30lac? seriously 30lac only 10 percent of the whole PAKISTAN will be able to afford this car.
    For 30lac i will never go for it ever … why not mercedes or bmw

  32. Khuram Shahzad says

    AOA!!

    Guys check Owner Manual Book of COROLLA GRANDY 1.8 Dual VVti……?????…….You will be surprised……….It also recommends RON 91 only…….
    Things are pretty much clear.

  33. adnan syed says

    Where honda Pakistan geniuses get this recommendation as no such thing on honda canada site they recommend regular or 87RON. Any guess? . Go to honda Phillipine site and u find 91RON recommendation for 1.5 turbo. In Pakistan hi-octane is 95RON. As Phillipine is the first asian country to get new civic. So honda Pakistan geniuses get their brochure and without knowing nd doing any resarch they just copy paste the thing. Making their own launch in jeopardy, create confusion and hopefully nobody cares at honda Pakistan as what their marketing team is doing is an absolute blunder. They r killing their top of the line variant.

  34. adnan syed says

    Same blunder get brochure from thailand or Phillipine and without knowing their fuel grades. Handed over to customer nd confused them and get confused itself too.

  35. Guest says

    Horsepower is not constant across the entire RPM range.

    174 hp at which RPM?
    158 hp at which RPM?

    At normal cruising (2000-3500), what power is available? I don’t want to wait till the engine reaches 6500 to offer all its power, then wheelspin. If the engine is loaded, it may not have enough power to pull itself to an RPM at which higher power is available, happens a lot with smaller Suzuki engines.

  36. Aaqil Khattak says

    Yes you are right…

  37. Khuram Shahzad says

    Guys Please Note

    RON 87 US UNLEADED === RON 91 ASIA UNLEADED

    1. PURANI CIVIC COMPRESSION RATIO = 10.6 : 1

    2. NAIIIIII ANAY WALI TURBO CIVIC 1.5 == 10.6 : 1

    3. USA WALI 2.0L CIVIC NEW

  38. Khuram Shahzad says

    Dear Adnan!!

    US unleaded RON 87 === Asia & Europe RON 91.

  39. adnan syed says

    As per this comparison what fuel we r using in old civic is also ok for 1.5 turbo. Honda had 2.0 lit and 1.5 turbo for US and Canada market. And 1.8 and 1.5 turbo for asian markets. Previous model of civic in US and Canada were also 2.0 lit. as std.

  40. Guest yet again says

    Compression ratio for turbo engine is lower to create allowance for the compression created by the turbo itself.

  41. Muhammad Rizwan says

    advance booking se 2 baaton ka pta lagta he
    1-logon k pas haram ka itna paisa he k samajh ni ata kahan kharch krein
    2-in logon ki asal mein mat mari gai he jinhon ne gari dekhe begher paisay de diay

  42. Sarmad Naveed says

    Friends! i am from a family of engineers and a mechanical engineer myself.I have booked 1.5 turbo and totally second khuram’s comments below. Using lesser grade fuel only creates more carbon bi products ( in simple english more visible smoke) with some degradation in the efficiency. Here are some answers from my research.

    1) Q: Honda says 91 Ron Fuel is required?
    Ans: NO, it is recommended. There is difference in recommended and required.again using lesser grade fuel will decrease the power a little bit with more bi products of carbon.

    2) Q: Will using lesser grade fuel will damage the engine/Turbo?
    Ans: A BIG NO,

    Engine
    Look! Most of the mechanical equipment are normally designed to bear the loads ( heat/Stress etc) from 1.25 to 1.5 % of the required operating conditions. So higher grade fuel only means more efficiency and vice versa.

    Turbo
    I have discussed this with a friend of mine in Honda and seen the video of the designer as well. It says the material of the turbo is inclonel. This material mainly contains nikel & CS alloy and very efficient of bearing heat loads.and honestly speaking it doesn’t have any thing to do with the fuel quality as all it does is that it supplies more air to the engine for better combustion quality.

    3) Q: can Regular and HI octane can be mixed and used ?
    Yes, No issues. If you can find high octane 🙂

    Heard this news but cannot verify through my contacts, the reasons for Honda not promoting 1.5 turbo,
    1) It contains imported parts which decreases Honda sales margin on 1.5 turbo.
    2) Honda has received turbo orders more than they anticipated so they needed to limit the orders as per their production line capacity. current delivery of my 1.5 turbo is September as per the dealership which i am going to push of course.

    I am after this and will update you soon if i happen to find out the truth.

    ONLY for FYI : I have drove Audi A3 on both REGULAR and Hi octane fuel and couldn’t even spot the difference. ( this model is turbo charged as well)

    Again this is a purely technical discussion which is not focused on prices if you feel 1.5 is expensive then go for 1.8 but for me if one have that kind of money to buy civic then it should not be a problem to buy a with 2-3 lacs difference specially when you are paying for some new additional features as well. ( paddle shifters, remote plus push button start up and turbo of course). So i believe it is worth buying.

  43. aubadges says

    Thanks bro, if you own Audi A3 and run on both regular and hi octane without any issue so you are right 1.5 turbo will be workable on both fuels also! i was upset i also pay for 1.5 turbo but i was worried to know only hi octane fuel as its not available in all pumps. maybe Honda have less profit in 1.5 turbo and have old engines stocks and want to sale these first. if any other Audi A3 owner add comments so it will be highly appreciated!

  44. Sarmad Naveed says

    you are welcome but a little clarification. I don’t own , i drove…. and a friend of mine is using regular fuel in A3 since the start without issues so we are good.

    I strongly believe that engine metallargy would remain same for both 1.5 and 1.8 engines ( as it wouldn’t be cost effective for a company to research and establish a new metallargy for two same class cars) and minor difference in fuel quality normally doesn’t effect the engine it self except lowering firing temperatures and combustion efficiency hence loosing some power.

    I did read on some forums that the 91 RON was required for the previous civic models as well which is yet to be verified.

  45. sonic says

    you stupid ass, what kind of engineer you are. you dont know the basics. lower octane rating will cause engine knocking and can damage the engine. also, the engine will start spitting oil into the catalytic converter if you run it on lower octane rating fuel.

  46. Sarmad Naveed says

    You stupid ass. do you even know how much difference you need in the octane to make the engine do what you are suggesting below? Secondly it may have been applicable to engines of higher grade cars specially those for which the OEM REQUIRES, let me say it again, requires NOT recommend the high octane fuels. Refer to engine manufacturing standards if you can afford to have one. Again…you stupid ass.

    Its OK to have a different opinion in technical discussions but being rude shows the family you belong to. Hiding behind the internet and making statements that you dont know shit about is easy.

  47. Hamd Sheikh says

    So civilized of you.
    1.You think you are the only one with Halal money and your jealousy tells you that anyone with more is doing something wrong because obviously you’re the best, nobody can be in a better position than you. Instead of judging others, why don’t you go get a better job so you can afford nice things too.
    2. The Civic has been deployed for quite a while, we’ve all seen it, we don’t live in a cave like you. Are you honestly suggesting a company with tonnes of goodwill all over the world would sell you something wrong?

  48. Muhammad Alee says

    answer me this Sir,
    what happens when inefficient combustion results in knocking ? don’t you think that will degrade your engine with time , and knowing conditions in Pakistan and fuel quality , i d give it a couple of years max, I don’t believe in turbo needing hi octane because that’s stupid But what the turbo is trying to do will somewhat be negated by shitty fuel in Pakistan.
    So i’d think twice before buying it. Having said that, the competition is also not free of this problem, those so called Japanese hybrid cars also (require or are recommended ) to use hi octane as normal super here is 87 RON just on paper in Pakistan we all know its way lower than than in reality.
    So its a bit of a pickle.

  49. Zohaib Hasan says

    Feeling so dishearten to book the car without confirming the led head lamps, electric seat adjustment, honda sensing feature suite. so disappointed & not to mention Hate that sound system

  50. Sarmad Naveed says

    Dear Alee,
    I totally agree to the phenomena you stated above. It will in turn degrade the engine specially considering the fuel quality in Pakistan. The intention of this discussion was to clarify the question that it can seize the engine and damage the turbo which in my opinion is not going to happen.( I have heard this from a Honda employee as well).

    Lets consider the fuel is dirty then there are fuel filters which will filter the fuel before it gets to the engine, plus we are going to use the same fuel in 1.8 too. i have seen a Toyota fuel filter and have seen it inside out, amazingly the Toyota original fuel filters filter ratings are pretty good. ( Typically, they are located under the back seat),

    There is an agreement between you and me on the degradation factor but a couple of years means fours years at least and personally i am not willing to keep a car more than 5 if have money to spare. Again this could be a personal preference which could be different from person to person.

    I had a long a tiring discussion with the Honda city sales rep yesterday.The company statement is

    ” Recommended fuel is 91 RON but you can use regular as well if needed which will decrease the performance and will not void the warranty”.

    I had the opportunity to have the turbo test drive as well. The car is amazing but unfortunately the cars build quality didn’t impress me and the additional features were not as the one i drove abroad ( it has the motorized seat adjusters and side mirror blind spot cameras. The paddle shifters and the meter was way way better) plus the cost comes down to be as 3.2 mil and with every thing included that i need 1.8 cost me 2.7 mil so i am thinking about changing my booking to 1.8. ( i am not a big fan of leather seats)

    I hope it clarify my point of view.

  51. Muhammad Alee says

    yes it clarifies it and i agree 100% especially on the fuel filter part that , if we regularly change it or get it cleaned , degradation should be minimal.
    But as you stated above, 3.2 mil is WAYYYYY too much for this car. we can get same and even more features with prius es and if you dont want import , corolla offers almost all the features

  52. anonymous says

    turbos need hi octane because it doesnt explode easily under stress….

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