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Honda Civic vs Volkswagen Polo

What's the difference?

VS
Honda Civic
Honda Civic

$47,200 - $72,600

2024 price

Volkswagen Polo
Volkswagen Polo

$22,490 - $43,880

2022 price

Summary

2024 Honda Civic
2022 Volkswagen Polo
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Turbo 4, 2.0L

Turbo 4, 2.0L
Fuel Type
-

Premium Unleaded Petrol
Fuel Efficiency
8.9L/100km (combined)

6.5L/100km (combined)
Seating
4

5
Dislikes
  • Price, maybe
  • Limited availability
  • Likely a swansong

  • Solid service pricing
  • No rear centre armrest
  • No adjustable rear air vents
2024 Honda Civic Summary

Before we dive in, this isn’t your typical road test. 

That’s because there’s no road, per se. Instead, the majority of what you’re about to read comes from The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia.

You’ve read the headline, though, so you’re probably putting it all together: a Honda Civic Type R on a well-liked race track must be bliss. Let’s find out.

A very quick catch-up for those not in the know. The Honda Civic Type R (or CTR if you like) is the brand’s only performance model on sale after the demise of the NSX supercar. 

The current (FL5) CTR is a little over a year old, having been launched internationally in late 2022, but has only been on Aussie shores for a little while. In fact, we’ve already reviewed it for the road, back in April.

But Honda Australia was keen to get media behind the wheel in a setting it says the CTR thrives in - a racetrack. Its predecessor was a car loved almost universally, can this one live up to the new standard?

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2022 Volkswagen Polo Summary

The hot hatch wars, an on-going automotive conflict, fired up when Volkswagen lobbed a massive, Golf GTI-shaped salvo into an unsuspecting global car market in the middle of 1976.

Peugeot may have run a bold out-flanking manoeuvre with deployment of the 205GTi from the mid-1980s, and other skirmishes broke out soon after with the likes of Suzuki’s Swift GTi, but so far the German maker has retained majority ownership of those three little letters that mean so much.

Fast forward to 1995 and application of the GTI tag spread to the compact VW Polo, which close to three decades later brings us to the current, sixth-generation version.

It arrived in Australia in 2018, and four years down the track it’s time for an update, with subtle cosmetic tweaks and a significant safety upgrade included.

Volkswagen Australia invited us to the car’s local launch including a varied drive program, topped off with a hot-lap track session, to get a first taste of how it shapes up.

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Deep dive comparison

2024 Honda Civic 2022 Volkswagen Polo

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