Honda Civic
It took eight generations of Civic for Honda to make the car look great -part pyramid, part jet fighter, with a trophy cabinet glittered full width across the nose- and, as is so often the case with automotive design, just two to ruin it again.
Nothing demonstrates the hopelessness of the if-it-works-fix-it mentality more completely than Civic Mk 10, which is a litany of clumsy proportions, superfluous divots plasticked over with fake grilles and hilariously over-wrought detailing. Predictably, the only thing that actually did need fixing -the view-bifurcating split rear screen sans wiper- wasn’t.
Happily, however, generation 11 is much better. That isn’t to suggest a return of mojo sufficient for the newcomer to replace the imaginary Lamborghini Espada in my imaginary garage, but at least the whole is tidy, clean, has a one piece rear screen with a wiper, and won’t frighten the children.
On board, all is as crisp, calm and straightforward as a fresh fall of snow. Switchgear and instrumentation is a pleasing blend of analogue and new 9-inch infotainment system, with the proper dials, knobs and knockers you want for control of air-conditioning and such.
Nice air vent detailing catches the eye, but that’s about the only flashy touch. All seems properly thought out, and build quality is nothing short of impeccable. Everything you touch is trimmed with soft-touch fabric or aluminium, and even the door pulls are padded with leather. Shame, then, about that scratchy plastic on the centre console…
The driving position and attendant ergonomics are unimpeachable; the seat’s comfortable and unfussily snug, and the steering wheel perfectly sized. Space up front may be splendid but, despite a 35mm increase in legroom astern, headroom’s a mite tight aft, especially in the Advance grade model I drove, which boasts a soffit-lowering, bouffant-buffing sunroof.
On the plus side, building on the LED headlights, 10.2-inch digital gauge cluster, heated and electric everything, wireless smartphone charging and rear view camera from the grade below, top-of-range Advance specification lobs in a 12-speaker BOSE audio system. Now, I wouldn’t normally bang on about such equipment specifics but, thing is, in the new Civic, you can actually hear it…
And that’s because, with the notable exception of the forthcoming Type R, the 11th generation Civic has no truck whatsoever with once trademark high-revving engines and snicker-snack manual gearboxes, and has, instead, ploughed off down the hybrid furrow.
But hang on. Before your yawn reaches molar filling-exposure proportions, you should know that this is a far cry from the frantically mooing CVT hybrid powertrains we’ve come to know and not love at all. So much so, in fact, that it’s something of a catastrophe to have badged the Civic ‘e-CVT’ at all…
What we have here is a new, 2.0 litre, 141bhp four-cylinder petrol engine developed specifically for this powertrain, a 181bhp electric motor and a 1.05kWh battery pack, all not remotely combined through complicated planetary gear sets like Toyota offerings of yore.
Rather, the electric motor powers the front wheels, and the petrol engine generates the necessary electricity. So you basically have electric drive until you’re in the cruise at a respectable speed, at which point the engine takes over. No fiddly gear reduction between the engine and front wheels though; a clutch pack directly links the engine to the wheels, sending drive to the tarmac at a 1:1 ratio, and that’s it.
And this means that the system is notably quiet. At no point during my tenure did it sound as if branding iron and heifer were being bought together under the bonnet. In the noises off stakes, then, the Civic’s engine falls very much into the background category…
Except in Sport mode, wherein the rev counter (or power meter to be more precise) movement suggests that steps have been introduced in the manner of gear changes, this combining with an augmented engine noise through the speakers to make the whole sound surprisingly appealing. Even, dare I hazard, entertaining.
On the move, having breathed a sigh of relief on discovering that you don’t have to crank the BOSE system up to eleven to mute the powertrain, the next thing you notice is the quality of the ride, which is remarkable; supple, planted, assured, yet delivering comprehensive road surface information through the seat of the pants. Just how you want a sporting car to be (but all too rarely is); no jarring of teeth, but all the information you could ever want, at all times.
Lob in meaty, accurate steering and a weight penalty of only 36kg because the battery has no range concerns, and the Civic handles extraordinarily well. You can fling it down sinuous A roads or bung it through roundabouts and it just gets on with it. Smooth, fluid, drama-free, very little body roll, and absolutely no fuss whatsoever. And the car feels incredibly well screwed together; not a creak, groan, thump or rattle…
There is, it must be said, quite a deal of road noise, and at speed wind noise predominates. But that’s always been a hallmark of all too many Japanese cars; the use of what we might call ‘thinsulation’ in the interests of weight saving. This reflects the long-running issue of the oriental ear disliking bass registers the most whilst the occidental ear dislikes the higher frequencies more. Same as it ever was, but not that intrusive once familiarity breeds content.
This, then, is very much return to form for Honda, in a somewhat unlikely guise. The clever simplification of the hybrid powertrain from the Toyota-aping default is to be applauded, and it’s only a shame that this artful, easing of complication engineering isn’t reflected in the Civic’s asking price. Drive it, however, and you’ll be smashing piggy banks to find the extra dosh.