Honda Civic
MODEL TESTED: Honda Civic e:HEV Sport PRICE: £31,795 POWERTRAIN: 2.0-litre 4cyl petrol hybrid, 181bhp
IN entry-level Sport trim, the new Civic is priced from a competitive £31,795. However, at the time of going to press, Honda informed us that “due to customer demand beyond expectation and ongoing supply chain disruption, Honda is temporarily closing order books for the Civic”.
Tech highlights
FOR the 11th-generation Civic, Honda has produced a more polished, grown-up product – and that goes further than just the understated exterior design. The body is more structurally rigid than the previous car’s, while the suspension components – similar in design to the previous Civic’s – have been revised with the ultimate aim of making the latest model both sharper to drive and more refined.
As with the Toyota, the Honda uses a hybrid powertrain, but the methods of combining petrol and electric drive are quite different. The Civic’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine can either drive the wheels directly or disconnect from the driving and act purely as a generator to a 1.05kWh battery.
Here, there are two electric motors, and the overall aim of the powertrain is to give a level of response that’s closer to that of a fully electric car, rather than a combustion engine merely boosted with electrical energy. It produces 181bhp and 315Nm of torque.
SAFETY: A five-star rating was awarded to the Civic when Euro NCAP tested it in 2022, with all four categories being rated in the 80-90 per cent range. An array of eight sonar sensors are better at recognising potential hazards more accurately and reliably than the radar-based system used by the previous Civic.
Additional bracing that has been integrated into the doors is meant to future-proof the Civic against more stringent side-impact standards.
On road
OF these three, the Honda feels like the most sophisticated car to drive. It’s impressively refined across the board and, save for a little jiggling at low speeds, it’s comfortable, too.
AROUND TOWN: For the most part, the Civic feels more like an EV to drive in urban areas, bringing benefits such as smoothness and responsiveness usually reserved for pure battery-powered vehicles. The engine kicks in at times, but only introduces a subdued hum into the background. At these speeds, the ride is more fidgety than in the other two.
A & B-ROADS: At higher speeds, that fidget soon disappears, and what’s left is a car that displays sophisticated damping and excellent body control. There’s plenty of grip, while the brakes are well weighted, which makes the Civic a confidenceinspiring car whether you’re driving enthusiastically or not.
The steering is also very slick; Honda has developed new software for the electric powersteering system, which takes the edge off the previous self-centring effect. In practice, it responds cleanly and weights up quite naturally.
With the most power here, the Civic is, quite predictably, the quickest. The instant response of the powertrain means that it feels as quick as the car’s 7.9-second 0-62mph time suggests. On the occasions that the engine is working hard, it’s a little more audible than the Toyota’s, but not by much.
MOTORWAY: High-speed stability at the wheel of the Civic is excellent, and its impressive ability to isolate suspension knocks not only helps at low speeds, but also relegates road noise to a distant rumble on a motorway.
“The latest Honda Civic is impressively refined across the board”