For over half a decade, the Honda Civic’s prime competitor has always been the evergreen Toyota Corolla. Sure, there are models such as the fun-to-drive Mazda 3 and Europe’s favorite, the Volkswagen Golf, but one could say the Honda and Toyota have long defined that segment.
But as China’s car industry grows outside of its home market, the homegrown automakers are looking for bigger fish to fry. That brings us neatly to Chery, more specifically its Omoda brand.
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Omoda is primarily aimed at young, upwardly-mobile professionals and families. The Chery Omoda O5 GT fits the bill and right in the territory of the Honda Civic. But does it have the stats to, at the very least, match it?
The Chery Omoda O5 GT is essentially a sportified version of the Chery Arrizo 5 GT. It gets unique styling features over the Arrizo 5 GT, namely a unique grille with sharper-looking bumpers. Of course, no sport-oriented model would be complete without black highlights, and that’s exactly what’s happened here. Faux carbon fiber adorns the rear bumper, along with four exhaust pipes.
Red highlights are scattered throughout the interior from the dashboard to the seats. A wide ‘floating’ panel is home to two wide screens on the dash, one serving as the instrument panel and the other as the infotainment system.
In terms of size, the O5 GT is close to the Civic. The Chinese car measures in at 4,691mm long, 1,814mm wide, 1,493mm tall and has a wheelbase of 2,650 mm. Meanwhile, the Honda is 4,678mm long, 1,802mm wide, 1,415mm tall and a wheelbase of 2,735 mm.
And for the important bit, the engine. Per Chery, sorry, Omoda, the O5 GT’s 1.6-liter turbo pumps out 194hp and 213Nm of torque. It holds an advantage over the Civic in terms of horsepower but is behind in torque. With a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, the company claims it can do the 0 to 100kph sprint in about six seconds.
Of course, what the Omoda doesn't have is a long track record of being around in the segment. Then again, everyone starts from nothing, right? Either way, it'll have to do a lot more than pull headline figures to win over the crowd.
