Honda Civic Review

Performance2.5/5

At the moment there are 2 petrol engines available, a 1.4 i-VTEC and a 1.8 i-VTEC. Don’t buy either of them. The 1.4 produces 99bhp, it does 0-62mph in a truly underwhelming 13.2 seconds, has a real lack of guts going up hills and by the time you’ve got to the top speed of 118mph you’ll be so fed up you’ll wish you hadn’t bothered. The 1.8 is better, but for the size of the engine it is still disappointing when compared to smaller engines in the VW Golf or the Ford Focus. The diesel is the only option then, and this comes in the shape of a 2.2 i-DTEC. This gives you the power you’d expect from a diesel with plenty of grunt lower in the gears; it can hit 135mph and hits 62mph in just 8.5secs. There is a 1.6 petrol model in the pipeline, which is expected – and can’t really fail to be – better than the rest of the petrol offerings.

Handling3/5

The Civic’s steering baffles me slightly, as you turn in you feel like the car isn’t going to do enough, and then it’ll suddenly turn in taking you tight into the corner, but other than this little idiosyncrasy it is a fun car to drive, feeling quite nimble. The ride is fairly bouncy though, not dealing with rough road surfaces particularly well; this does improve the faster you go. All in all it is a bit of a mixed bag.

Exterior3/5

Honda seem to have taken a more conservative approach with this new Civic. The old model was striking, which put some people off but at least made the car distinct. This new design is softer, not as angular and on the whole not as exciting. It has been lowered and widened and the 3 door option has been removed, you might well call it a more mature car, but that would be code for duller.

Interior3.5/5

This is a marked improvement from the old Civic, the materials used inside have a feel of quality to them, and the whole thing feels more spacious, more organised but somewhat less fun than the old model. The boot is where the Civic really excels with a class leading 477 litres available. The rear seats can flip forward or be folded back which gives you more options. The seats are comfortable even on long rides and there is plenty of leg space for all.

Equipment4/5

Hondas are usually pretty well equipped and the Civic is no exception. There are 4 trim levels available, the SE, ES, EX and the EX GT. The most basic trim is the SE which comes with 16 inch alloys, a USB port which attaches to a 4 speaker audio system and you get auto wipers. The ES turns your climate control into dual zone and adds 2 speakers to the 4 you get with the SE, it also gives you Bluetooth, a rear parking camera, cruise control, alarm, front fog lights, a leather steering wheel, power folding mirrors, and alloy pedals. The EX gets you leather trim, heated front seats and sat-nav with traffic messaging. The top of the range EX GT means you get a panoramic sun roof, front and rear parking sensors and 17 inch alloys.

Safety4/5

The new Civic is yet to be tested by the Euro NCAP tests but the old Civic scored 5 stars, the new Civic shouldn’t have any problems either. New features include adaptive cruise control and collision mitigation which allows the car to break if it feels a collision coming. Dual front and airbags come as standard, and ISOFIX child seat fittings are located in the rear. ABS and electronic brake force distribution come as standard.

Buying & Owning4/5

If you buy the 2.2 diesel your car will hold its price well. Honda have worked hard to make the new Civic economical and they have done a good job, with the 2.2 diesel again being the best of the bunch. Honda have an excellent record for reliability and there is no reason to expect the new Civic to be any different.

Reviewed by cars2buy