New Civic quick test

[Heppubansan]

My moms car was in for a service today and the garage gave her a new 1.8 petrol Civic 6sp manual as a courtesy car. I personally only had the car for about 45 mins and traffic was very heavy so these are just some initial impressions. For reference, in this car segment I’ve driven the 1 series, new Focus and the previous model Civic.

Styling

This is of course a very personal thing and I think we are all capable of making up our own minds as to what we do and don’t find attractive. I will say however, that pictures do not do this car justice. It looks much more resolved and complete in the flesh, whilst the official photography has (to my mind) made it appear very awkward. It has a wide, aggressive stance and overall I found it quite attractive. I would definitely recommend you go have a look at one, rather than making any judgments based on photos. Some of the details are a little fussy, and overdone, but on the whole it is a cohesive design.

Interior (sorry no pics)

This is where the car is light-years a head of the previous model. The design take some time to get used to as it has a multi-layered layout. Again it works much better in the flesh than in the photos. The cabin has a very snug cockpit like feel very similar to the 1 series which I personally like, but unlike the 1er it has plenty of room and a huge trunk (boot). Controls felt well made and substantial. The sports seats were very comfortable, they held you in all the right places an were upholstered in a very nice alcantara-like fabric. Three things I especially liked were the panoramic sunroof, steering wheel and the aluminum pedals. Ergonomically it was very well thought out with a layout very similar to that of the S2000. Quality on the whole was good. Much more VW/BMW than Ford but there were cheep plastics and some fixtures like the cup holders, cubbyhole lid and glove box were kind of flimsy. BUT crucially it was no worse than the interior quality of a 1er (without leather) and better than a Focus. The interior did seem over-done however, with various gimmicks like an “economy meter” which only purpose it seemed was not to measure economy but to confuse and irritate my mother… Another thing that bothered me was the lack of a gaiter around the gear stick, with such a nice and tactile steering wheel I was expecting the gear stick to have a similarly nice leather boot, but it instead has a kind of round plastic cover (you can see in the photos) which I did not like the look of at all. Rear visibility was really bad though and if I were to buy one I would definitely get the optional parking sensors.

Driving

I didn’t really get a great opportunity to drive the car, but here are some impressions.

Gearbox - very smooth, with a short positive shift action, very similar to the Ford Focus. I felt the shift in the Focus was a bit light this one had more feel. Compared the 1er, it was a much shorter throw, but not quite so much fun to use. It also had 6 ratios which seemed a bit unnecessary.

Engine - More low down torque than a usual Honda engine, but it still develops most of its power at the top of the rev range. It really has to be revved to get the most of it, but when you do the noise you get isn’t particularly nice, the 1er’s 4cyl had much nicer noise and actually felt a bit quicker. On the motorway despite sixth gear it was still pretty noisy and I felt that the 1.6VCT Focus had much more engine refinement. Overall good, but nothing to write home about - as for MPG Im sure its pretty good its only a 1.8 after all…

Steering/handling/suspension - I didn’t really get a chance to properly test it, but from what I did it felt very similar to the Focus. Steering was lighter than the 1er but slightly heaver than the Focus. It was not overly light and was fluid (unlike the old model). Personally, I prefer the meatier steering feel of the BMW but that is really a personal thing. Ride and handling were pretty much the same as the Focus, the BMW gives slightly more feedback, but the 1er can feel a little jittery over rough surfaces. The Civics’ drive was very smooth and composed with little body roll and plenty of grip. It felt much more tied to the road than the old model and for day to day driving I would say is on-par with the Focus. I cannot comment on its abilities when pushing on harder, but the use of a torsion beam rear suspension doesn’t seem to bode well. On the motorway it was very comfortable, and was not really affected by crosswinds, but it was noisy - I would say the Focus was more refined. One thing I did like was the use of a floor mounted accelerator - generally the pedals felt much more substantial than before and were not overly light in there action (a criticism I have of the Focus) with positive brakes and low biting-point clutch .

Overall build

Seemed well constructed and has a much, much more solid feel than he previous model. Doors close with a thunk and little things like having wheel arch liners all-round and more substantial door handles show that Honda has moved away from the tin-can engineering it adopted in the previous model. There was a squeak when opening the cup holder, but nothing else, unlike the Focus I drove. However there was painted metal visible in the B pillars which is something the BMW does not have, although the golf too has this and it is cheaper than the BMW so what do you expect. Some of the visible welds were a little messy, but not really anything that would put me off.

Overall I would say that this is a very good effort from Honda, the fact it stands up well in comparison with both the Ford and the BMW 1series shows it is a very well rounded, quality product. Of course its not as much fun as the BMW, its not quite as well made as the Golf and the Focus was slightly more refined, but I think on the whole it is a good compromise between all the features one would look for in such a car. The new Civic is truly a huge leap forward from its predecessor and is just a hell of a lot more interesting than a Focus. At around 16,000 pounds its also quite good value and is very well equipped. I think if you want to save money and get a Focus or spend more money and buy a 1 series or a Golf your not going to regret it, but equally if I bought the Honda I would stay awake at night wishing Id bought another car. CRUCIALLY, this car has convinced my mother its time to buy a new car and that in itself is a HUGE achievement!!!!

Damn that was long, and these were only my “initial impressions” hahaha… don’t ever get me to do a full road test!! But I guess it was about time I actually contributed something to TSN…. Oh and as a final note, this really is a British made car, unlike some supposedly ‘British’ cars I might mention… cough X-type, cough MINI cough cough… engine, body, suspension, gearbox, all made in the UK - kind of ironic…

[Heppubansan]

Oh something I forgot to mention - the keys, VW group and BMW group keys are much nicer IMO... another pic

[Heppubansan]

Rear 3 quarter shot

[CarMad]

Great little review. I have to say I quite like the look of them. Apparently Toyota have gone back to the drawing board with the new Corolla as a result of seeing the new Civic as it was a little boring.

[bazza_g]

great review there - my little bro should have orderd his new Civic by now - will update all when I know more