VSA for 2006 Civic possible?

[tanalasta]

I notice that some of the American/Canadian model civics have VSA standard. Yet the Thai made, Australian models do not.

Is it possible to install aftermarket VSA or have Honda Australia deliberately left this feature out (probably because the Euro has it).

[MiSloVic]

I notice that some of the American/Canadian model civics have VSA standard. Yet the Thai made, Australian models do not.

Is it possible to install aftermarket VSA or have Honda Australia deliberately left this feature out (probably because the Euro has it).

well, i reckon, it can be done, but at what expense? u might save heaps getting a euro.

am not too sure with the setup of the CIVIC's VSA in other markets, but usually, VSA does not rely on just a set of wheel spin sensors, it is whole lot of sensors, ECU mappings, etc. so, if u can pluck the whole set of sensors, ecu, off a civic with VSA, u should be able to install it onto the thai civic. it's not gonna be easy

[JaCe]

I don't know if you can install aftermarket VSA can you? ... in terms of a reliable install which you know will work? It's mentioned in the Civic 06 manual though that some models come with it; and checking with my cousins- it's available on the Japanese-built models for sale in Malaysia/Singapore.

[zoomzoom]

yeah unfortunately all thai made civics don't come with VSA, i mean why they do they have it exclusively for jap made models? i don't see how much VSA would jack up the pricing of the civic.

moreoever, if VSA is installed, the new civic 06 would be so much much better in terms of feature wise...

[JaCe]

Maybe Honda doesn't trust the Thai manufacturing plant to install VSA in case they do it wrong and bring on the lawsuits! LOL

</unsubstantiated comment>

[aaronng]

Malaysia's 06 civic is made in Thailand, so it doesn't have vsa. The reason it doesn't have vsa is because they are made to meet lower costs.

[MiSloVic]

mm... i always thought malaysia assembles their own civic.. maybe the parts were made in thai, but assembled in malaysia?

[aaronng]

mm... i always thought malaysia assembles their own civic.. maybe the parts were made in thai, but assembled in malaysia?
Probably, but then again, the Civic costs $41,000 there for the VTi, so maybe it's fully imported from thailand instead of being assembled in malaysia.

[jamchen]

i think honda is trying to differenciate the markets... the new civic is really nice designed and as the perception of previous generations... its hard for honda to increase price margins to put VSA or other little features as standard... u have to keep as competitive as possible...
and as someone mentioned before... with additional few ks u can get the entry level of euro which has VSA as standard.. :D
as in business... product differenciation is very important or else instead u attract other outside buyers.. u might get some euro buyers to buy civic or vice versa...
its what happen to Honda Taiwan now.. as the new 2.0 civic is just 1.5k less than its accord 2.0.. they are losing potential external buyers...

[JaCe]

Oops my mistake- I was referring to Singapore's 8th Gen Civic which has VSA in the Sport model (standard) and assumed M'sia and Singapore would both receive the same model. I guess it's probably natural for M'sia to import from Thailand since it is the neighbour- but IIRC, wasn't the protection level on import vehicles supposed to drop (significantly) sometime around now?

Link: http://www.honda.com.sg/civic/specs.htm

That link also reveals what us Aussie civic owners are missing out on... such as the chrome door handles, tweeters, paddle shifts on the 1.8 VTi-S, HIDs, front lowerspoiler (not sure what that is), rectractable mirrors, etc.. but then considering their high taxes on vehicles, I guess Honda needs to put in more stuff to 'sell' their car. Anyone from the area know what the current rate is? I heard last time I went back (in Jan) that you can now own cars longer than 10 years, and it's cheaper to buy a new car than it was before.

EDIT: According to http://www.honda.com.my/models/newcivic, the Civic there also has VSA- in BOTH the 1.8S and 2.0S models. I'm guessing aaronng must be talking about parallel importers; either that, or honda.com.my is a parallel importer.

On another note, does anyone know if Australian Civics have the active head restraints? I didn't see it mentioned in the brochure but was wondering if that is in our Civic too.

[JaCe]

Probably, but then again, the Civic costs $41,000 there for the VTi, so maybe it's fully imported from thailand instead of being assembled in malaysia.

(1.8S and 2.0S- Pen M'sia)
Sticker Price 110,003.40 120,674.80
Retail Price (Without Insurance) 110,678.10 121,392.10

... divide the number by around 3 (or a bit less than that) to get roughly how much in AUD.

... but don't forget Malaysian protection is extremely high so that's understandable. In comparison, say the base model Yaris, that costs 92,800 (sticker price). Although on-road will be much less than the Civic because road tax is proportionate to CC; and IIRC our V12 costs RM15,000+. Sure that's only $5000 or so in Aussie dollars; but remember that it's alot easier to earn $1 here, than it is to earn RM1 over there.

NB. Also take into account their cars usually come in automatic; and the Honda Civic comes in automatic according to the Malaysian website.