CIVIC FACELIFT FIRST IMPRESSIONS
HONDA Malaysia has opened bookings for the 2019 Civic facelift, which will be launched in the fourth quarter of this year.
Cars, Bikes and Trucks flew to Bangkok this week to test drive the car prior to its Malaysian launch.
The new Civic gets a minor facelift, but more significantly, it will come with a full Honda Sensing suite, with features such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Low Speed Follow (LSF), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), Lane Keep Assist System (LKAS), Road Departure Mitigation (RDM), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Auto High-Beam (AHB), Driver’s Cruising Aid, Frontal Collision Deterrence and Side Collision Deterrence.
The features are similar to the Honda Sensing suite in the 1.5 TC-P CRV or the Accord 2.4 VTi-L Advance. The Civic is the third Completely Knock-Down (CKD) model from Honda Malaysia to be introduced with Honda Sensing.
We had a rundown of these features with engineers flown in from Japan at Honda’s plant in Prachinburi.
It is Honda’s latest plant in Thailand, and builds the Civic and Civic five-door models as well as the City and Jazz.
As per the CRV and Accord, the Civic uses millimetre wave radar and a monocular camera to feed the car information about its surroundings.
Just like the more premium models, the Civic’s Adaptive Cruise Control allows to inch through traffic thanks to the Low Speed Follow feature.
We tested this at the plant’s testing grounds and later on the drive back to Bangkok.
We found the feature to work as advertised, even in a downpour.
The Lane Keep Assist system also worked well, even in the challenging situations posed by Thai roads, with less-than-ideal lane markings.
The assist system is one of the less intrusive ones, and you don’t get a sense that you are fighting for control of the steering wheel as in other systems.
Combined, the two systems work well to reduce the effort to drive. A few hours of assisted driving with the system and you will feel less tired compared with full manual driving.
The Honda LaneWatch camera for blind-spot monitoring of the driver’s view of left-side traffic is a welcome feature, considering the volume of moped traffic in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.
Other features in the updated car are Remote Engine Start, Electric Parking Brake and a new front sensor.
The standard safety features are six Airbags, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA), Emergency Stop Signal
(ESS), Hill Start Assist (HSA), multiangle rearview camera and ISO Fix.
The Civic’s exterior has received minor tweaks with new LED headlights and LED front fog lights, front bumper, rear bumper garnish, tailgate spoiler, new black grilles and new 18inch alloy wheels.
The tweaks are subtle, and you need to look closely to spot the changes.
The car is powered by the same 1.5L VTEC Turbocharged engine with 173PS and maximum torque of 220Nm of torque.
The car is not lightning fast, but it
has enough power to get you moving at a respectable rate.
The facelift will inject new enthusiasm for the model, which is coming to three years. Sales remain strong.
Honda says since the Civic was launched in 2016, it has captured 82 per cent of the C-segment share in Malaysia up to July this year, selling about 50,000 units.
The Civic continues to hold the leadership position in the C-segment, selling more than 133,000 units in Malaysia since 2001.
Bookings are open at all 98 Honda dealerships nationwide.