Honda Civic VTi-S 2015 Review

Honda Civic VTi-S
Road Test

The Honda Civic hatch has just received a mid-life update that adds to its appeal as a competitively-priced, quality small car. And at a pre on-roads opening price of $24,450 for the five-speed automatic VTi-S, it’s nothing if not ball-park. The question is: Where are the compulsions to choose it over an array of highly-credentialed competitors?

The Honda Civic hatch has long been a style leader in the small car segment. It speaks volumes for its designers that it continues to stand out after two generations, beginning with the FN-series in 2008 and following up with the current FK-series that was launched in 2012.

The 2008 model was sold for some time as a bordering-on-premium small car, mainly because its British-built origins negatively affected the pricing. Exchange rates at the time didn’t favour the five-door hatchback Civic, with its price at one stage hovering around $40,000 – making it something of a rarity on Australian roads.

Today the story is different. The Civic hatch sits squarely in the middle of the small-car market, price-wise, size-wise, equipment-wise and competency-wise.

Still built in Britain, it sits alongside the Thai-built Civic sedan, sharing its 1.8-litre powerplant but little else. Except for its shorter length, it is slightly bigger, slightly heavier and has a more generous footprint (wheelbase, front and rear track measurements) than the sedan. And while it has a MacPherson Strut front suspension like its four-door counterpart, the rear-end is a basic torsion beam arrangement that contrasts with the sedan’s more sophisticated independent multi-link setup.

As far as the body goes, there is not one interchangeable panel although, to be honest, the hatchback is hardly any less stylish than the sedan. That is until you walk around to the rear end, past the hatchback’s hidden rear-door handles, to the uplifted tail and the Honda-signature glass panel between the tail lights (that suggest but don’t really offer a better view of the world behind you), that present a somewhat cheekier persona.

The same applies to the futuristic two-tier instrument panel. Both cars share the concept, but not the hardware. Although the actual ergonomic functions and control placements are essentially the same – apart from the five-door’s sportier three circular-dial instrument readouts complementing the digital above-steering wheel speedometer – about the only thing that really looks the same is the three-spoke multi-function steering wheel.

With all this, Honda obviously reckoned the Civic hatch looked good enough without doing too much when the time came for a mid-life refresh this May (2015).

The visual changes are limited to re-shaped bumpers front and rear, as well as new side mouldings and “guided-tube” daytime running lights and tail lights. Inside, the company’s Honda Display Audio System makes its Civic hatch debut with an all-embracing connectivity that includes Bluetooth, audio streaming, “mirroring” functionality (with compatible iPhones) and a reversing camera that is now enhanced in both entry-level VTi-S – as tested here – and sat-nav equipped VTi-LN (N for navigation) models with new front and rear parking sensors.

The VTi-S also gets a hill-hold function, which is handy in manual-transmission versions, as well as a tyre pressure sensor and climate-control, while a bit of a spruce-up on the passenger’s side of the dash. New seat fabric for VTi-S and VTi-L models pretty much completes the picture.

A more important upgrade is the adoption on all variants of Honda’s AHAS Agile Handling Assist System that is able to bring the brakes into play to assist the stability control.

Spending a week in an automatic-transmission VTi-S Civic hatch confirmed the Honda’s positioning in the segment as an entrant with plenty of style and individuality, but with nothing about its dynamics or its packaging that stand it above the rest. When you’re talking about the likes of Mazda3, Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf and Hyundai i30 as competitors, that’s not as backhanded a compliment as it might sound.

The Civic’s quality remains its chief raison d’etre.

The feel-good factor is enhanced with a pleasing mix of trim materials and a meticulous joining-together of all of its parts that continues to impress beyond initial showroom-floor reactions. It takes a skilled eye to find any flaws in the way the Civic hatch is put together.

This is backed up by a cabin that will fit at least four adults comfortably, in terms of legroom, while the driver appreciates the tactility of the controls and the prevailing sense of ergonomic soundness; as well as the possibility of finding a comfortable position behind the wheel.

The seats are good too, offering support in all the right places, while the single-action “magic” rear-seat fold-down mechanism quickly and easily presents a flat loading area when the hatchback boot – with its space-saver spare wheel – isn’t enough. The main negatives are that the hatchback is a bit tight on rear-seat headroom and vision towards the rear three-quarter and the back window is marginal. The rearview camera and sensors are greatly valued here.

On the road, the efficient 104kW/174Nm 1.8-litre single-cam i-VTEC engine is thoroughly competitive with its 1.8-litre atmo rivals (Toyota Corolla and Hyundai i30) and does a decent job, although it does need to be worked a bit.

The torque maximum comes in at a high 4300rpm, which means it struggles bit in the mid-range, a factor exacerbated by the five-speed automatic (an expensive $2300 option) which never really seems to give the Civic a fair go as it hunts around trying to find the correct ratio. The steering wheel paddle shifters tend to come into play quite a bit.

On the credit side, our overall test fuel consumption figure, albeit favoured at the end by a bit of country running, came reasonably close to the official 6.5L/100km combined figure with a best of 6.9 – although this is partly negated by the fact that Honda asks that you use premium unleaded fuel.

The hatchback’s relatively quick, light, electrically-assisted steering helps the Honda point well, despite the fact it’s equipped with pretty conservative 205/55-series tyres (on 16-inch alloy wheels) and is at best predictable and at worst uninspiring.

Same goes for the ride quality, which is helped in terms of bump absorption by the tending-to-fat tyres. The Civic’s all-disc brakes in previous tests have proved to be a little less than confidence inspiring in extreme circumstances but function well enough in normal to quick driving.

The hatch is pretty quiet on the road too, hushed enough at highway speeds to allow normal conversations and right in there with the best of its competitors.

In the end, the Civic hatch is an appealing, though not compelling entrant in the small car segment. It’s certainly up there in terms of value, looks and the general air of quality, but it’s very much middle-of-the-pack in terms of overall function. This is reflected in sales, where the Honda is struggling in the wake of its competitors, from market leader Toyota Corolla to the underperforming Ford Focus.

There might be plenty to like about the Honda Civic hatch, but there’s nothing to get too excited about.

2015 Honda Civic VTi-S pricing and specifications:
Price: $24,450 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 104kW/174Nm
Transmission: Five-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.5L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 155g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

Also consider:
>> Mazda3 Maxx (from $24,390 plus ORCs)
>> Toyota Corolla Ascent (from $21,790 plus ORCs)
>> Hyundai i30 Active X (from $24,390 plus ORCs)