2018 Honda Civic: Hits and misses

Honda Civic is one cool customer. It is a hallowed nameplate and honestly, I am one of the millions who like the 2009 version. It was a Japanese race car which doubled up as a family sedan. Cut to the new Civic and it is more of a revolution than just an evolution. There is no relation at all to the older car and that is good in a way. Honda has also added a lot of gizmos to go with the image of the car and this has helped HM Honda in Malaysia to find the Civic around 30,000 new homes within a span of a year. There are also two petrol engines on offer and a bunch of transmissions to go along with them. But has Honda really hit the nail on the head. We find out the plus and the minus points of the new Honda Civic in this story.

Hits

1) Looks

That the Honda Civic boasts a lineage is a good thing but the best part is none of the cars look like each other or bear a resemblance. However, now with the advent of the family look creeping in with everyone from Proton to Lamborghini, it is but obvious that this theme is toed here too. The car looks like a mini-Accord. It may be recollected that the Civic has single-handedly revived the mid-sedan segment. This was the position which was dominated by compact SUVs and the larger ones. On the top-spec 1.5 TC-P trim, one gets LED headlights, LED fog lights, chrome door handles, and more. While the one without the LED treatment, the 1.8S does look a bit left out, it in no way takes away the appeal one will associate with the Civic. The tail lamps too are attractive and so are the 17-inch alloys on the TC-P.

2) Safety

Honda was known to be quite stingy when it comes to providing for safety equipment in their cars. However, the new Civic doesn’t carry forward that anomaly. In fact, there is no single safety feature difference between the bottom and top variants. The safety dragnet includes the six airbags, three-point seat belts for the front and rear passengers, ISOFIX child seat mounts, Vehicle Stability Assist, Electronic Brake Distribution, ABS, Auto Brake Hold, rearview camera, rear parking sensors, tilt and ultrasonic sensors. This is one loaded car and as the ANCAP ratings prove, is one of the safest too with a maximum five-star rating.

3) Features

Honda has gone full out on this new Civic. It is not only one of the safest cars around but has also got features to back it up. These include the LED headlights, powered driver’s seat which is 8-way adjustable, remote engine start, door lock while one walks away from the car, push-button start, cruise control, 7-inch touchscreen display unit with 8 speakers, navigation, rear AC vents, sunroof and more. Compare this to the previous generation car and you feel like you’ve hit the jackpot with the new Civic.

4) Engines

Now earlier, Honda had a lone 1.8-litre motor. That motor still continues but also brings along a new 1.5-litre engine that boasts a turbo under the hood. In its turbo guise, the engine makes 173 PS and 220 Nm. The 1.8-litre naturally aspirated VTEC motor also gets a power bump and now makes 141 PS of power and 174 Nm of torque. Both the engines can be ordered with only a Continuously Variable Transmission or CVT. The engines are utter fun to drive and provide high octane entertainment in a small package.

Misses

1) No Manual Option

Now, the engine begs for a manual transmission. Sadly for our market, there is no manual options. Globally, there is a 6-speed short throw manual gearbox available as well. This is a dampener considering that rowing your gears physically in an enthusiast car makes sense.

2) Ride Quality

The Civic’s ride quality is not really pliant. In this segment, comfort is primary and the Civic being stiffly sprung and all isn’t really a chauffeured customer’s dream. However, load her up and the ride quality becomes a tad absorbent. But Honda could have looked at a different tuning for the Civic’s shock absorbers here in Malaysia.

So, here are the hits and misses of one of Honda’s most successful nameplates in the world. Do let us know if we ‘missed’ something here.