HONDA CIVIC ARRIVES IN NZ!

Nineteen per cent stiffer, lower, longer and VTEC turbo — the all -new Honda Civic is here in New Zealand and, according to Honda themselves, is the “most fun-to-drive Civic hatch ever”. There’s nothing quite like a Honda Civic hatch and we’ve been modifying them here in New Zealand ever since they’ve been available. Their engines and chassis lend themselves to modification, as out of the box, they’re a naturally sporty platform. Gone are the B16A, 1600cc screamer days, as they have now been replaced with a new series of engine, and in this instance, a 1.5-litre, 16-valve turbocharged VTEC engine that produces 131kW at 6000rpm and 240Nm of torque. To put the torque into perspective, compared with an older generation Honda 1500cc D15B engine it’s a staggering 110Nm more torque — almost double! Coupled with a modern CVT trans (yeah, yeah, not a manual), it’s an epic little machine to rip around in. Drivers are able to select one of three modes, depending on what type of driving they’re interested in — normal, eco, or sport. It’s not only the engine that has had a tickle up though, the front subframe has been made from aluminum to improve rigidity, there’s new lower control arm bushes, and a host of other tricks by Honda on the chassis to improve turn-in and straight-line stability. Gone are the days of grabbing your mum’s house speakers and throwing them in the boot of your older Honda; the 11th-gen Civic gets an all-new 12-speaker Bose audio system, with all the modern bells and whistles, such as Bluetooth and Apple CarPlay. We’re pretty curious to see how people will modify these here in New Zealand — so, who’s game?