Honda Civic hatch 2013 Review

They were beautifully screwed together, too, and while they weren’t cheap new, they held up commensurately well at resale. The proof of that pudding lies in the numbers you find on the streets to this day.

Then, the Civic went off the boil. The sleek, shooting brake silhouette went dumpy and anonymous, the offering livened up only by the Type R hotties.

In recent years, the UK-built Type R has been left to represent Honda alone in the segment, a high-end car at a high-end $40K. They brought in the Brit-built five-door Si a couple of years ago, then tacked a joke price-tag of $40K on it. For that kind of money, no one cared if it was a decent car – it was up against Mazda3, Golf and Corolla variants for not much more than half the price. By the time they chopped $10K off the price in 2011, they needn’t have bothered.

Honda needed to do something. The segment to which it gave birth is, after all, now the busiest in the local game.

Enter the ninth-generation Civic hatch. It looks rather like its predecessor – wedgy, with a new rear end that could have been penned by Citroen. It’s bound to polarise, and in the current crowded market environment that’s good. It’s also decently equipped and decently built. They’ve put a fair bit of work into interior ambience, both stationary and on the move, to considerable effect. It’s roomy and practical, with a couple of neat USPs – flash dash, ‘magic seats’ – to give substance to the visuals.

But most importantly, it’s priced right. With credit approval harder to get than it’s been in years, that’s more important than ever. Jumping out of the blocks at $22,650 plus ORCs (or $24,990 driveaway), the Civic returns with enough cachet and kit to jangle the nerves of the segment leaders.

As Honda Australia sales and marketing chief Stephen Collins declared at the car’s launch, ‘we’re back’…

The new Civic runs on to the field in two specs. The base VTi-S starts at $22,650 with six-speed manual transmission; five-speed auto with paddle shifters adds $2300. As an added tempter, Honda is also offering driveaway deals on VTi-S models, at $24,990 manual or $27,290 auto. There’s not a lot in the way of savings there, but, well, you can drive it away.

The standard equipment list is what you’d expect, plus a little: 16-inch alloy wheels, tilt-telescopic steering, six airbags, climate control and USB/AUX/iPod audio inputs. Extra niceties include keyless remote entry, heated wing mirrors, hill start assist and ‘intelligent multi-information display [i-MID] with warnings and customisable wallpaper’.

The upspec VTi-L, starting at $29,990 plus ORCs (no driveaway price), adds 17-inch alloys, a leather interior, dual-zone climate control, heated front seats, sensor-driven wipers and headlights, foglights, a reversing camera, upgrades to audio and ambient lighting, sports pedals and a rear armrest with cup holders.

There’s a couple of minuses to take the gloss off. A glaring omission in the base equipment list is cruise control. It’s standard in the VTi-L, with a  speed limiter, but it’s not even available as an option in the VTi-S. And while the VTi-L gets the full Bluetooth treatment – phone and audio – standard, it’s a $500 dealer-fitted option, which means phone only, on the VTi-S.

No sat-nav is available yet, but it will come on stream. With those gaps plugged, this would be a mighty complete package.

As it is, the Civic has several unique selling points bound to find appeal among buyers. It inherits the clever ‘magic’ seats already known to Jazz owners. The split-fold rear seat cushions fold up to sit vertical against the backrests, opening up a floor-to-ceiling walk-through space between the rear doors – ideal for toting tallish items like sofa tables and pot plants, or as a space for dogs to travel without getting the
seats all, you know, doggy.

The Civic also takes the Eco Assist ‘driver coaching’ system from its hybrid stablemates. It uses changing ambient and warning light colours in the instrument pod to advise drivers of how economically they’re working the machine.

They’ve put a lot of work into detail, for example in shaving weight off the camshaft. And they’ve put a lot of thinking and European testing kilometres into refining the ride and cutting NVH on every front to improve cabin ambience. They’ve remodelled the front MacPherson struts and the rear torsion beam suspension to stay more upright round corners and better absorb excesses of topography.

True to the maker’s tradition, the engine is quite peaky and high-strung, producing 104kW at 6500rpm. That’s no problem for a Honda, but having to push it up to 4300rpm to find its modest peak torque of 174Nm can be a problem for drivers. If, as Honda execs said at the launch, the company used Volkswagen’s Golf as a developmental benchmark for the car, they certainly weren’t looking to go head-to-head on output specs.

Wolfsburg’s $25K Golf 90TSI serves up less wattage but more torque – 200 Newtons at just 1500rpm. Which is where it counts for the average punters at which the Civic is aimed.

Low-end torque equals ease of operation, so if there’s one big hole here in what is otherwise a pretty nice drive, it’s the lack thereof. Letting the boy-racer off the leash in the manual solves the problem to a degree, but the auto’s often annoyingly sluggish anywhere off a freeway.

And that, mind, is before you push the big green Econ button this Civic inherits from its hybrid sedan sibling and the CR-Z. Econ reduces he power feed to energy hungry HVAC functions and remaps throttle responses to discourage overenthusiasm. It also... zzzzzz.

As the Germans have shown over and over, flattening and lowering the torque curve is also the logical way to optimise an engine for low fuel consumption.

A note here on the Econ mode. It’s too lethargic to be of use in commuting. The only way it’s really usable is with cruise control, on long, flattish stretches like freeways. This makes the absence of any access to cruise at all in the base spec even more irritating. The Civic launch drive wasn’t long enough to find out here, but in the CR-Z and the Civic Hybrid, Econ does effect noticeable cuts in fuel consumption.

On top of all that, it prefers 95 RON PULP. But Honda does say this Civic is uses 10 per cent less fuel than its predecessor, with a similar reduction in CO2 emissions. They claim 6.1L/100km combined for the manual and 6.5L/100km for the auto. CO2 emissions are down to a creditable 146g/km.

The launch drive program suggests these figures are achievable, certainly in the manual, which returned 7.2L/100km on a run with a fair bit of revving. The auto returned 8.2L/100km on a slower, hillier, twistier run. We spent very little time in Econ.

This Civic upholds the reputation. Up front, there plenty of space for small and large alike. The seats are a little soft for this backside’s liking, but that’s subjective. The rear seats set a new benchmark for the class for legroom and practicality. Those magic seats are more than just a gimmick, and when it comes time to fold them down, grown-ups will find loads of legroom – enough for a six-footer behind another six-footer sitting comfortably at the wheel. Some rear passengers might find headroom a little tight above the doors.

Build quality is good, with decent upholstery and softish plastics on the dash top and door-caps. It’s worth mentioning that under that raked windscreen, they might need a bit of regular TLC – silicone spray or the like – if the car spends much time in the Aussie noonday sun.

Storage is decent, with an okay glove box, a drink and nic-nac holders on the console ahead of a reasonably deep centre box, and door pockets with room for a 600ml bottle front and rear.

Instrumentation is in keeping with Honda’s well established bi-level, multi-coloured motif. A conventional three-barrel binnacle sits behind the wheel, with fuel and temp gauges flanking a large central tacho. Set above and back from it is a curved wave-face facia housing a digital speedo and the i-MID. Unusually, there’s no obvious spot in the centre stack for a sat-nav or central command screen, at least without extensive modification. The VTi-L’s reversing camera image appears in the i-MID screen.

Cargo space of 400 litres expands to 1130 when the split-fold seats drop. The space is flat and well accessible through the rear. There’s a space-saver spare under the floor.

Like all cars made for the Euro market, it has the now compulsory LED daytime runners, while its bulbous tail light clusters are mounted high for extra visibility. Both specs have a rear wiper and foglights; front foglights are standard on the VTi-L and optional on the VTi-S.

In Australia, the company has its work cut out. The sub-$30K volume C segment isn’t so much a greasy pole as an overpopulated one. Past the Mazda and the Volkswagen, buyers face a bewildering choice, ranging from that fallback standard, the Corolla, through established lines like Ford’s Focus, the Subaru Impreza, Holden’s Cruze hatch, Hyundai’s i30 or Accent or the Kia Cerato.

That’s before we get adventurous and wander further afield across the European offering: that close relative of the Golf, Skoda’s Octavia, PSA’s 308/C4 platform, Renault’s Megane.

The Civic’s unusual looks could also give it a look in against funked-up product like Kia’s Soul and Toyota’s Rukus, or Chrysler’s Dodge Caliber.

Oh, and there’s a fair bit of compact SUV competition looking down over the fence on to the sub-$30K hatch patch, too. Just because vehicles like ASX/4008, Sportage, Tiguan/Yeti, CX-5 and X-Trail/Dualis are in a different segment on paper doesn’t mean they’re ignoring not vying for hatch buyers.

Spec for spec, the Civic has its pluses and minuses against all these competitors. But alongside pros like the magic seats and the green driving technologies, it has another useful card in its favour. Developed first and foremost with European buyers in mind and built at Honda’s Swindon plant in Britain, it’s well positioned to bridge the aesthetic and perception gap between Euro and Asian product. This, one must say, it does with aplomb.

Visibility could be better, but at least dealer-fitted parking beepers are on offer.
The self-shifter comes with paddles, but they’re almost a why-bother proposition. Under their command, cog-swaps are leisurely. As those output figures suggest, it gets a little livelier higher up the rev range, but the auto isn’t conducive to getting and keeping it up there.

For those prepared to put in the effort, the six-speed manual is the way to go. The reason is simple – this engine needs a poke in the pedal to give of its best, and the manual gives more immediate access to its torque sweet spot. It’s a high revver overall by segment standards, up near 3000rpm in top gear at 110km/h.

The good news with the manual is the effort required is minimal. It’s a nice shift, light and short in the throw. Clutch action is light too, with relatively short travel.

From this driver’s point of view, a manual VTi-L would be a welcome addition indeed.

Redesigned trailing arms and fluid filled suspension bushings in the rear give the Civic one of the better, more compliant rides in its segment, at once absorptive and capable of holding it quite flat through corners.

The FWD understeer is manageable, but pushed through a couple of tricky corners on wet tar, it wasn’t that happy turning in on a couple of occasions.

If the steering isn’t up to the Golf or Ford’s Focus for feel, it’s quite responsive and linear – a worthy contender in the company it keeps.

The chassis work has paid handsome dividends in the cabin, with remarkably little road noise for a car of its size and class, even on coarse surfaces. To Honda’s credit, it imparts a solidity below stairs that belies its modest 1200kg mass.

The Civic has also spent bit of time in the wind-tunnel to great effect. On paper, it registers in an eight per cent drag reduction, getting its Cd down to 0.30 – creditable for a small car. Where it counts, on the road at freeway speeds, it shows up in a virtual absence of wind noise.

Overall? A terrific car with disappointing engine. Yes, times and priorities are changing, but does the 2012 Civic’s engine really have to fall short of smaller, carbureted forebears predating it by 20 years? Especially considering the 1992 EG Civic returned an official 6.6L/100km combined.

This isn’t a complaint that it’s not fast enough. It doesn’t have to be. The problem here is that this engine feels out of kilter with the car’s expressed priorities. It’s not efficient.

More’s the pity because, save for a couple of other gaps, this Civic is a very well-rounded package.

On the upside, there is relief on the way, in the form of a 90kW/300Nm 1.6-litre diesel Honda will add to the lineup in 2013. Specs were scant at the time of writing – it’s brand new over in the UK, where the car is made. But it’s a good bet that for a small premium it will help push the Civic towards the class leadership Honda so craves.

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