Honda Civic Hybrid 2012 Review

When Honda first introduced the Civic Hybrid to Australia -- as a variant in the eighth-generation model range -- it was priced thousands of dollars below the (second-generation) Toyota Prius, making the Honda a relatively affordable means of joining the hybrid drivers club.

But that price advantage has been steadily whittled away, by Toyota bringing the price of the Prius down, and Honda raising the price of the latest-generation Civic Hybrid. In addition, the third-generation Prius is a substantially better car than its predecessor but the Civic hasn't progressed at the same rate. And to muddy the waters further, Toyota's Camry Hybrid is hard to look past for its combination of packaging and driveability; also at an affordable price.

Honda had to keep the hybrid sedan's purchase price elevated above that of the Insight hatch, which is the Honda hybrid to buy for greenies on a budget. The Civic possibly appeals more to buyers who want to do the right thing by the environment, rather than worry endlessly about the hip pocket.

So the 'eco' in Civic's 'eco-friendliness' is more about ecology than economy. And it's not just the purchase price that's a stumbling block, it's also the car's day-to-day fuel use and running costs.

Most of the seven days the Civic Hybrid was in our possession it ran in 'Econ' mode. Despite a very mixed selection of driving environments and conditions the trip computer's average fuel consumption of 6.5L/100km was a static figure most of the week. In the final day or so before the car was handed back, driving was limited to the suburbs during the school holidays -- and the figure fell to 6.3. There's little doubt that fuel use would have fallen even further if the car had been driven with a consistent focus on economy motoring over the course of the week.

Turning the Econ mode off and driving the car harder for evaluation of the vehicle's driving dynamics had negligible effect. And sitting for 35 minutes in MCG car park traffic with the HVAC system working overtime to heat and demist briefly bumped up the figure to 6.8L/100km, but about 60km of freeway driving brought the figure back down to 6.5.

The Toyota Prius motoring.com.au drove for a month back in 2009 averaged 4.5L/100km, but the Toyota was at an advantage in calling on its EV mode during heavier bursts of traffic. The Prius uses premium unleaded, but in significantly lower quantities than the Honda uses, so that any difference in price (and therefore running costs) is more than offset by the amount of fuel consumed.

However, we would like to be able to subject the Civic Hybrid to the same sort of month-long test and check out its fuel economy properly. It's entirely possible it will do consistently better than the 6.3L/100km eventually achieved. The (smaller-engined) Insight posted that sort of figure in a worst-case scenario in the past, so we can't help thinking the Civic should do better over a longer period of testing than just a week.

Running on low rolling-resistance tyres to keep fuel use down, the Civic rode a little firmly (although it rides better at lower speeds and over larger bumps and potholes). It exhibited little body roll when pushed into a corner and the car's handling was closer to neutral than one might expect of a hybrid, once there's some cornering load on the tyres. There was even decent steering feedback when the car was cornering a bit harder.

At around-town speeds the steering felt light and slightly lifeless, but it did improve with more determined driving and the Honda delivered acceptably good roadholding too. The Civic Hybrid was more fun to drive than we anticipated, although the brake pedal had that slightly spongey feel in common with other hybrids. It lacked the harder initial feel of the Camry Hybrid, but was more consistent over a range of different pedal applications.

The Civic Hybrid was generally a comfortable car all round, although the bolsters in the front seat squabs seemed narrowly placed and not especially compliant. Otherwise we had no complaints. There was plenty of flexibility in the seat and steering wheel adjustment, and while drivers may not like the looks of the instrumentation, there's little doubt they're easy to read. By running the instruments across two tiers, they are rarely obscured by the steering wheel rim and spokes. It's a practical solution for keeping the driver properly informed.

Similarly, Honda's design of the windscreen wipers ensured both upper corners of the windscreen were swept to the very edge for better visibility forward. It's the field of vision to the rear that let the Honda down. Lacking the split rear window and hatchback tailgate of the Prius, the Civic Hybrid's high boot, rear-seat headrests and large, poorly placed centre high-mount stop light in the rising parcel shelf, all conspired to make backing guesswork.

The boot provided decent luggage space thanks to the Civic Hybrid's compact lithium-ion battery pack. There was no load-through facility to the rear seat however. Accommodation in the rear was impressively spacious. While the Prius packs a lot of space in the rear by sitting occupants upright and easing access courtesy of the high roofline, the Civic is more of a conventional design which makes Honda's efforts all the more impressive. It's a car that will allow adults of average height to sprawl and stretch out in comfort.

Since we haven't seen the facelifted Prius up close, we can't comment on Toyota's changes to that car's interior design and layout but the Honda's interior was more pleasant and ergonomically better than that of the Prius, prior to its upgrade. Honda's interior was a bit 'loungeroom-like', as one of our staffers put it, but it was soft and warm whereas the Toyota's materials have been hard and clinical.

Build quality of the Honda was up to par, with the doors closing softly but securely and the light/wiper stalks' operation well damped and solid-feeling. NVH was good where the driveline and wind noise were concerned, but the road noise from the tyres at higher speeds was quite intrusive.

Although the Civic's ergonomics were generally very good, there were two minor issues that caused concern. One was the key fob: the key doesn't fold in readily and flush with the side of the fob unless the user pushes the very tip of it all the way in. There's a possibility, with the tip of the key jutting out slightly that it will rip holes in pockets. It's not a major whinge, but it just looks a bit cheap and ill-considered.

The other niggle was the driver's side exterior mirror, which will not adjust all the way outboard to view the car's oblique blind spot to the rear. Since the problem doesn't exist on the near side of the car, it may be a symptom of LHD market design, although the Civic is a Japanese car and they drive on the same side of the road we do. Nor is it a symptom of just the one car, since we experienced it in other Civic models during the local launch and in the case of another Civic variant on a seven-day test.

Overall, we liked the Civic Hybrid and commend Honda for offering a car that's comfortable, quiet and effortless to drive around the suburbs, without using a bucketload of non-renewable fuel. But it's in the fight of its life against either of the two hybrid passenger cars Toyota currently offers.

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