Honda is good in making engines, but making car wise.. herm... As ppl say "Buy Honda Engine, and the car is for Free"

For car enthusiasts, now Civic turbo got no competition

Toyota can easily fit in the NA 2L dynamic force engine M20, it is a simple drop in. For around the same price as the archaic 1.8L we have today, I will snap it up without hesitation and dump my Civic. Alas, its the South East Asia strategy to hamper itself in this segment, perhaps to sell more SUV's.

I guess that is where Subaru and BMW come in to fill the gap. The Lexus IS350, RC350 with the 2GR come close as enthusiast cars but that is a different segment.

I mean at least its not as if they need to do RND. The Corolla with 2.0 M20 engine already exists in many other production lines, only not in the Thailand line.... Of course I don't mean it is as straightforward as aftermarket change (mountings, GB, drive train all ready).
I for one, do not mind less power, less kick, less torque than the Civic.    I just want something that is not as sedate as the current 1.8L, it is very sleepy at low RPM and CVT never lets you get to very high RPMS anyway, and by then the noise sucky.

the only brands that could give Honda a run for the money when it comes to engine power is VW, Hyundai/Kia, and any China brands using 1.6T.

but I've heard the fuel economy on that is kinda insane. Almost hybrid levels if you just drive it casually

what's your real world average fuel economy in Kl traffic? 1 full tank can go how many KMs?

I'm still contemplating between Civic and Corolla Cross now

The thing that makes me avoid Honda these days is the quality gap between JPN-CBU/JDM and our local CKD. It really is huge. Once I experienced a JPN-CBU model (Odyssey), all the CKD versions felt like rattling junk. I would say the CBU-to-CKD gap is wider for Honda than any other car brand I’ve owned.

My mechanic abuses me quite often, telling me to stop abusing the car and stop wasting money, and to drive slower. So you get the idea 

Haha unfortunately not, he's a bm specialist in kuchai who dailies classics.

I guess your friend cares about your safety and wellbeing too.