Honda estate is ano-nonsense joy to drive
Honda’s new estate is the gastropub of cars. No Michelin star, just hoards of happy punters getting what they want without over-priced extras
Inever bet, largely because my dad was the only bookie I’ve ever heard of who went skint, so what luck an Evans would have on the other side of the window I dread to think. Following a freakishly long frost in 1964, he opened up an hour early to get back to business as soon as possible. A few moments later, in walked his ruin: a man who usually had a punt in the next shop down the road and was as eager to satisfy his recently unfulfilled appetite for a flutter as Dad was to facilitate it.
After exchanging their mutual relief with regards to the steeplechase-slaying weather having finally abated, the two men entered into a transaction which saw Man A (the punter) lump on a substantial accumulator that would, a few hours later, wipe out Man B (my dad) for ever. To the extent that my old man had to take over Man A’s job at the factory in order to pay him off over the next several years.
If I was to have a wager on anything this year, however, it would be for Mercedes to win the F1 constructors title and Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to finish one-two in the drivers’ championship, albeit not necessarily in that order.
If there’s a safer (legitimate) bet in sport I’d sure like to know where. The customer Mercedes engines this year are making those of their rivals look like rubber bands by comparison, but the Mercedes works team engine (ie, the one they have saved for themselves) is in a class of its own, literally by miles.
Those in the know predict it’s already impossible for any other team to get anywhere near Mercedes, regardless of how much progress they make. Only four races into the season and it’s already about who finishes best of the rest. Boo!
Sitting at home, watching all this unfold, probably with a wry smile on his face, is former Mercedes boss Ross Brawn. I wonder what he makes of the present shenanigans, especially taking into considera- tion the team currently ruling the F1 roost is the former Honda outfit he accidentally acquired for next to nothing in 2009 and went on to sell a year later to the German manufacturer for well over £100million.
Nice work, Mr B, and now made entirely ironic by the fact Honda has announced their return to F1 nextyear, starting again from scratch. Which is the exact opposite of the situation it found itself in with their Civic road car, which it has been producing without any break since 1972.
This latest incarnation of one of the world’s most enduring and successful motoring models (with sales of an eye-watering 20 million and counting) is the boldest step yet in its evolution, and the Civic Tourerisbasicallyaverygoodcar.But my main beef from the off is, is she really a tourer at all?
OK, she enjoys an added 235mm overhang stuck on to the rear of what essentially remains the existing chassis, but that alone doesn’t instantly make me want to jump in and drive her to the South Of France, or even to the South Circular for that matter. And definitely not with a party of four or more adults on board. The Tourer’s not exactly tight for space but she’s no Tardis either.
Although that’s only where humans are concerned – the dog, luggage and kids’ buckets and spades have oceans of room in what is a huge cargo hold for a vehicle in this class – one that can be further increased, by almost three times, with the help of what Honda calls its unique ‘magic rear seats’.
Ooh, I was very excited when I read about these, only to be equally underwhelmed when I discovered the alleged magic is no more than the Tourer’s rear seats folding up and forwards instead of forwards and down, as in most other cars. A bit different, perhaps, but hardly something that’s
going to send Derren Brown off into a tailspin.
The rest of the interior is tried and tested Civic, leaving the designers free to concentrate their efforts on the outside instead. This has seen them capitalise on the Tourer’s extra body length (the wheelbase remains the same) by extending the original roof line, transforming her into a long and flowing affair.
A wow? Actually, yes, I think she’s verging on gorgeous, and that’s in spite of her salient wheel arches teetering on the brink of going a bulge too far but thankfully just about stopping on the acceptable side of flare-tastic. (NB to potential buyers: the darker the better I suspect when it comes to colour choice.)
From a driving point of view, she
A WOW? ACTUALLY, YES. I THINK SHE’S VERGING ON GORGEOUS’
handles like a retired polo pony, precise and perfectly weighted but without frightening the pants off you. Her steering combines harmoniously with plenty of poke, and her performance is made all the more impressive when you bear in mind the size of her engine (1.6 litre) and the fuel economy she delivers.
I had already driven her for a good two hours before the fuel gauge even thought about moving away from the ‘F’ for full mark, her wallet-warming 75mpg fuel efficiency representing what’s probably the stat of the day. Other