A few weeks ago I was handed the keys to Honda’s updated Civic. It made me think just how long this vehicle has been with us. Did you know that the first Civic was introduced in 1972? It was a great looking machine. Recently I managed to sit inside a model from 1978 and I was reminded of that scene where HighTower rips out the front seats of one of them in Police Academy – do you remember it?
Over the years I have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Honda Civic. I look back at their first generation model from the seventies and I think “wow, what a rocking little car”. The early eighties saw some of this pizazz lost as the car became more angular - but the engines were more powerful.
1978 Honda Civic - we're told this will be on the press fleet soon!
Between 1983 and 1991, the Civic became exciting again – but in Ireland these generations tended to get over-souped by the time the 1992 version was introduced (it was definitely a boy racers favourite – along with the Toyota Starlet). Between 2000 and 2005 I had pretty much lost interest in the car, and even the next model after that bore me a bit.
To be fair, I’m starting to fall for the Civic again. Apart from the great technology installed in the current updated model – it’s starting to look more exciting, and the Type R is making me want to get out on a track and enjoy what that was built for.
Honda Ireland gave me the updated version to enjoy for a week, and from the second I stepped into this machine I realised that the brand is getting some of that spark back. The first thing you meet in the cockpit is a brilliantly laid out dash, and one of the simplest infotainment systems I’ve ever had to navigate. I sat outside Honda’s offices on the Naas Road and had my phone tethered to the system within less than a minute – trust me, I’ve had problems with other systems in the past.
I am super-aware that manufacturers are making their cars more connected. All of them are striving to get their cars online. I’ve been on the internet in a good few cars and I still find it hard not to be impressed. The video below shows me browsing the Newstalk motor section from the dash of the Honda Civic (Apologies for the video quality below – I’m not a camera man!).
Honda gave me the Civic "Si" – which is a newly introduced trim. It has a sportier-looking body which mirrors the Type R design. This car looks hot. It’s not too often that people stop while I’m in traffic to wave at a car, but it happened on three occasions during the week that I had it. I’m not joking, people actually waved at this car. It turned heads, and this made me like it even more. The Civic I tested donned a front mesh grille, a body-coloured rear spoiler, black interior roof lining, privacy glass and alloy pedals. It sat on 17” alloys which were finished in a stunning black gloss.
The car I drove had a 1.6 i-DTEC engine and the on-paper fuel economy of this vehicle come in as 3.6l/100km – as always, I didn’t achieve this fuel economy, but I did find it to be efficient. It also helps that this car will only set you back €180 per annum to tax (at today’s rates).
The ride can be a bit firm, but it handles smaller country roads nicely. The steering is responsive, and the handing and suspension aspects seem to be aided nicely by Honda’s Agile Handling Assist system.
In terms of safety, all Civics now come with City Brake Active Systems as standard – this uses radars to monitor the front of the vehicle, if the system senses a collision the car applies the brakes (this system works between 5 and 32km/h).
Four trim lines are available; Comfort, Sport, Si (my test car) and Executive. The cars are powered by a choice of three engines (Petrol: 1.4 i-VTEC and 1.8 i-VTEC automatic. Diesel: 1.6 i-DTEC (my test car). Starting price is €21,895 for the 1.4 i-VTEC with Comfort trim and the prices rises as far as €29,395 for the Executive trim. My test car will set you back from €26,795. You can view Honda’s PCP rates here.
