50 and still going strong
Maker of Canada’s bestselling passenger car has so much to offer — but the Civic’s still a riot to drive
Honda Canada’s history stretches back to 1969, when the company began selling motorbikes and power equipment. Only in1973, with the introduction of the Japanese company’s Civic, were Honda cars officially sold here.
The original Civic was a runaway success — the right product in a period of volatile fuel pricing and availability — which happened also to be well built and reliable compared to many of the day’s competitors. It particularly appealed to us more practical Canadians, who bought them (and the larger Accord, launched three years later) in substantial numbers.
Along the way, Honda has opened three assembly facilities in Canada; Alliston Plant 1, 1986 (currently producing Civic sedans and coupes); Alliston Plant 2, 1998 (CR-V); and an engine assembly plant (new in 2008) that makes fourcylinder engines for the Civic and CR-V. Combined, they produce around 430,000 vehicles annually.
Given that the Civic has been Canada’s bestselling passenger car for 21 years, and the long-popular CR-V is neck-andneck with Toyota’s RAV4 (also made in Ontario) for top crossover in this country, manufacturing them locally makes sense. Honda claims that more than 50 per cent of the195,000-plus Hondas and Acuras it sold here in 2018 were built here. That’s no small thing.
Refreshed for 2019, the current Civic is the 10th generation, available as a sedan, coupe, and U.K.-built four-door hatchback with several levels of performance (from 158 to 205 hp depending on trim). There’s also the 305-horse Type R hatchback, which is both impressive and a smile-making riot to drive.
The Accord uses the Type R’s 2.0-litre turbo four as its optional engine, albeit detuned to a less frantic 252 horsepower — base Accords use a 192 hp 1.5 turbo.
And while most Accords use a 10-speed automatic or CVT, folks, you can and should still buy an Accord Sport with a delightful driver-engaging sixspeed manual transmission, paired with either engine.
Poke around the Fit hatchback, which is a packaging efficiency standout, with its deep cargo area and flip up-or-down rear seats that provide surprising space and flexibility for both people and stuff. That it’s no penalty box to drive just because it’s small is a bonus.
If fuel efficiency or greener motoring are priorities, look for Honda’s three electrified sedan models; the Civic-based Insight, the Accord Hybrid, and the plug-in hybrid Clarity.
Traditional cars face intense pressure from crossovers and SUVs, and with the introduction of Honda’s new Passport for 2019, it now offers four CUVs (plus the Ridgeline mid-size pickup and Odyssey minivan).
Yes, there was a Honda Passport before now; sold only in the U.S., it was a re-badged Isuzu Rodeo, built in a Subaru-Isuzu joint venture plant in Indiana between 1994 and 2002.
The new Passport is all Honda and not in any way like the old beyond its basic SUV shape and two-row seating configuration. Slotting between the smaller CR-V and the Pilot, it’s actually a 10 cm shorter version of the latter that sacrifices some of that model’s mature sophistication (and a row of seating) in the name of a more youthful, active-lifestyle vibe.
Starting at $41,990 and otherwise similarly equipped — right down to the 280 hp 3.5-litre V6 and standard inclusion of the Pilot’s available nine-speed automatic — I expect the Passport to be a strong seller when it hits showrooms in mid-March, probably even stealing sales from the compact, four-cylinder only CR-V.
At the other end of the size spectrum, Honda’s smallest crossover, the Fit-based HR-V, has received design and content updates for 2019, including the standard fitment of Honda’s Honda Sensing active safety system.
There’s much to see from Honda’s premium brand, as well. With the substantial revisions for 2019 to the compact ILX sedan and 573 hp NSX hybrid supercar, all of Acura’s models have moved away from the brand’s previous chrome-beaked fascia, most adopting the attractive new “Diamond Pentagon” corporate grille. The ILX now resembles its mid-size TLX and flagship RLX sedan brethren, which were both thoroughly reworked for 2018.
Acura’s crossovers have received attention, too; the allnew 2019 RDX became available this summer and is already a strong seller, and for 2019 the larger MDX joins the RDX and most of Acura’s lineup in offering a more handling-focused A-Spec trim, which brings wider wheels and tires (but no added power) to the brand’s threerow model.
One final thing to check out, something that Honda has on display that few — if any — other automakers can claim to offer: the current generation of the type of products that helped establish the company in Canada 50 years ago — motorcycles and power equipment.