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Even if you’ve been reasonably awake over the past few months, you would know that Civic is the new buzzword. Every auto mag cover has screamed its arrival, and if you’ve read any of them you would know that the car is as modern as tomorrow. You would also know that unlike David Beckham or the rest of England, the Honda Civic actually lives up to the hype. And that it’s better than anything around. Yet, to stay true to the ‘first drive-road test-comparo’ routine, it’s inevitable that a shoot-out follows. The competitor too is inevitable.
To be honest, we too thought of bringing the Corolla alongside the Honda, but frankly it’s a bit of a foregone conclusion. Though that’s not to say that we won’t be doing the story – it’s just that we wanted to have some fun with the Civic. After all, this car’s got paddle shifts and that alone is enough reason to celebrate. So we called up Skoda and got an RS. And then we PET-ed them.
The PET, or Performance Evaluation Test as BSM regulars would know, isn’t a race. It’s a one-km course that is specifically designed to bring out the best in terms of acceleration, braking, handling and tyre performance. And even the worst. To begin with, you accelerate as hard as you can from the start, followed by a lane change manoeuvre, before coming to a dead stop (braking as late as possible). A U-turn leads to the slalom (entry speed 60 kph), that’s followed by a 360-degree skid-pad simulator, leading to the start-finish line. Both cars are given an independent run, so for the record, the lead picture is for ‘photographic purposes only’.
Now, you would think that a 1799cc, 132 bhp automatic Civic would have no hope in hell against a 150 bhp turbo petrol Octy. And you are right. Except that the Civic was over a second quicker in the PET. Surprised? We weren’t. Shocked is more like it. And so we did it again, thrice, with a different driver too! The result was the same every single time. So then, has the new Civic conquered the final frontier by beating India’s only performance car? Well, not quite.
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