Honda Civic 1.6 Diesel

[james_tigerwoods]

Following on from my test of a Volvo V40, I've discovered that the 1.6 Civic is on my company car list - and for less money than the Volvo would work out at but with a higher spec. It's the EX trim that appeals as it gives you a ton of kit:

• Leather upholstery
• Heated front seats
• HDD satellite navigation system
• Front and rear parking sensors
• DAB radio, premium audio - MP3 compatible with subwoofer
• Video jack / USB connection†
• Auto dimming rear view mirror
• Dual zone automatic climate control
• Cruise control with speed limiter
• Bluetooth® Hands Free Telephone
• Rear view parking camera
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Power folding door mirrors
• Remote retractable door mirrors (key fob operation)
• Remote power windows (key fob operation)
• Front fog lights
• Dusk-sensing auto lights
• Rain-sensing auto wipers
• 16" alloy wheels
• Electric adjustable and heated door mirrors
• Coming home / leaving home lights
• Remote central locking

It's no firebrand, but upon comparing it to my Golf, the figures were interesting:

Honda, 1.6 diesel, 120bhp, 300nm
Golf, 2.0 diesel, 140bhp, 320nm

So I'd not lose much torque and it's still up, a long way, over the Volvo, Golf and Audi 1.6 diesels with lower emissions. My friends and colleagues are berating me over its image, but I like it regardless of what they think - I've got a test drive planned and am waiting for a call back on its booking, but if I like it, I'd get this, in EX trim, without any options as I don't really need them but 17s are a £1250 option!

If there's any interest, I'll update this further with pictures and a review.

JTW

[va1o]

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts (definetly not following you around the forum )

Spec sounds excellent that really has everything you could want. The 16" alloys are a plus point also as it means the ride should be comfortable.

I think the 1.6 diesel has the potential to make the new Civic a lot more popular as previously it didn't really have a mass market engine option. The 1.4 petrol is too small and 1.8 petrol/ 2.2 diesel too big for most. Emissions and torque figures on this particularly impressive.

[james_tigerwoods]

va1o said:

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts (definetly not following you around the forum )

Spec sounds excellent that really has everything you could want. The 16" alloys are a plus point also as it means the ride should be comfortable.

I think the 1.6 diesel has the potential to make the new Civic a lot more popular as previously it didn't really have a mass market engine option. The 1.4 petrol is too small and 1.8 petrol/ 2.2 diesel too big for most. Emissions and torque figures on this particularly impressive.

Stalker!

I'll update when I know when I'm getting it and again when I drive it - The spec is impressive really and the 16s don't bother me that much as rural Lincolnshire requires a comfortable drive. I fail to see what else I might want apart from cosmetic nonsense that, as it's a company car, I don't care about.

I really ought to just get up off my arse, walk half a mile and just have a look at one at the Honda dealership up the road.

[james_tigerwoods]

Had a look in the boot of one yesterday after having sat in an EX on Friday - It's a nice place to sit and feels great - the boot is enormous and pretty damned clever.

I am drawn to this car due to it's practicality and spec...

Funnily enough, I was chatting to the owner (I think it was) at the Shorpe dealer and chatting about the Civic and I observed that I did briefly consider the hybrid at which he said "you're not there yet"

[sjg]

I had a previous gen one which was great - huge boot and I used the flip up seats a lot too. I'm not convinced by the styling of the new one (really just a major facelift, the hard points are all the same) but suspension is meant to be much better and that new 1.6 diesel very good for economical everyday type use. I'd pick it as a company car over just about anything else.

[james_tigerwoods]

sjg said:

I had a previous gen one which was great - huge boot and I used the flip up seats a lot too. I'm not convinced by the styling of the new one (really just a major facelift, the hard points are all the same) but suspension is meant to be much better and that new 1.6 diesel very good for economical everyday type use. I'd pick it as a company car over just about anything else.

The suspension is better how?

The only thing I really dont like is the grey crap over the wheel arches - looks like a real afterthough. ....

[Squating Neville]

The current civic is a completely different car to the previous model it has not just had a major face lift, it is much better car in all areas, the grey wheel arches will be colour coded when they face lift them in 3 years time like they have done with the crv's and civic's in the past. the 1.6 is a good engine and has brought in alot of interest recently, ideal for a company car as thats what market it is aimed at.

[va1o]

You can see why people think its a facelift as Honda's design has got very evolutionary in the past few years, so all recent models bare a strong resemblance to their respective predecessors.

Edited by va1o on Sunday 3rd February 13:54

[sjg]

james_tigerwoods said:

The suspension is better how?

The only thing I really dont like is the grey crap over the wheel arches - looks like a real afterthough. ....

Previous gen was not great - quite a harsh ride mostly because of the rear suspension. I never found it too bad, but I was coming from hot hatches and a Veloce-spec Alfa 156 which was rock hard - others did complain about it though. They've moved to some fluid damped mounts and revised some other parts which are meant to give a big improvement.

[james_tigerwoods]

I look forward to testing it but I feel it's almost academic now - I've got a Golf Mk7 on test tomorrow for 3 days too....

[james_tigerwoods]

The golf is a non starter - It's just too dull.

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?...

The Honda arrives on Friday.... Watch this space

[AmitG]

I am interested to hear how you get on with it. I drove one last week and was very impressed indeed. This engine is the one it should have had from the start IMHO. It suits the car really well.

It felt very solid and seemed to be engineered to a high standard everywhere, not just in the bits you see and touch.

The styling is slightly outrageous, but it has character and it makes a change from the usual Germanic fayre, which I find worthy but rather soul-less and dull.

[james_tigerwoods]

Will let you know - If it's got solid build quality, then it's a possibility....

[Jem0911]

Tough choice, will follow to see the result.

[JonnyVTEC]

james_tigerwoods said:

The suspension is better how?

The only thing I really dont like is the grey crap over the wheel arches - looks like a real afterthough. ....

Hydraulic fluid in the rear beam bushes are supposed to make quite a difference to refinement aswell as the usual updates/tweaks.

[Glosphil]

Spent 2½ hours driving one of these (loan car from Honda) around Gloucester last Sunday as the lead car for the 10K run. However, even on the initial recce runs before the race never got over 40mph. Did seem an improvement over a 2 year old 2.2 diesel that I drove a few weeks ago except, obviously, acceleration. But the 1.6 seemed to have adequate performance if some-one primarily wants economy. If the 1.6 can produce 120hp why does the 2.2 only produce 150 (not the 165 that the same specific output would produce)? Ride and trim were improved but rear visibility and small rear door openings (particulalry at the top of the door) still a problem.

[james_tigerwoods]

You would hope that the 2.2 will improve on yhe back of the 1.6.

Rear opening wasn't something I was going to look that closely at if I'm but I'll have a proper look now.

Annoyingly the car will be delivered "between 9 and 530" - ridiculous. God knows why I can't just pick one up from my local dealer though.

[james_tigerwoods]

The Honda has arrived and I've mixed views of it already.




Am not 100% sure on the looks at the moment. Interior looks nice enough:




I see the point about access to the rear, but the space in it is phenomenal.



Boot space is pretty impressive and is far greater that any of the cars I've tested:





Initial view is mixed:

• Performance is brisk but gearing feels odd (but I suspect I need to get used to the car)
• The car feels solid
• All the instruments are clear and obvious

However:

• It's surprisingly noisy - accelerating from 2000rpm upwards seems to return a lot of engine noise
• There's noticeable wind noise too, but that's something I've lived with in the Golf anyway
• Rear visibility isn't good, if I'm honest, as the bar over the middle seems to block more than you might think
• I'm just not sure about the rear styling
• Access to the rear does seem awkward and once in, when sat, your legs aren't very well supported and I, at 5'8" wasn't comfortable so a taller person certainly wouldn't
• The plastics feel, well, cheap
• I really don't like the black arches - they're ugly, it feels lazy and a poor design choice (IMO)
• When open, the switches in the drivers door just seem to hang out in the air. Awkward like:

I hate to say it, but as much as I wanted to like this car, like I wanted to like the Golf, I'm not sure I can. Yes it's practical and all that, but there's something I don't like about it.

Maybe I'll change my mind as the weekend goes on and I live with it.

Edited by james_tigerwoods on Friday 15th February 14:06

[Jem0911]

Clever insides
Challenging styling for sure, especially at the rear.

[james_tigerwoods]

Jem0911 said:

Clever insides
Challenging styling for sure, especially at the rear.

Very clever inside, but the styling at the rear is odd - I also don't get the odd plastic trim pieces stuck on at the back just under the light cluster. It strikes me as something that is there for wind deflection as a design fault.