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Honda has just launched its new four-door Civic here in South Africa. We headed down to sunny George to see what the new sedan was all about. The Honda team was quick to remind us journalists that this car's predecessor was SA Car of the Year back in 2007, so we were keen to see how the new one stacks up.
The range will consist of a 1.8-litre engine as usual but now there will be a 1.6 on offer as well, a sign of the difficult economic times we find ourselves in. There's some clever packaging with the new Civic as well, things like the car being shorter overall than its predecessor, yet rear passengers will have 40mm more legroom.
Styling wise, it looks like a four-door Civic. The changes are minor and do help to keep the design fresh, but it's nothing revolutionary. The rear styling is a bit weird though. If you're following closely behind one of these, it looks nearly identical to a Toyota Camry, get a bit further away though and it looks more like a Mercedes CLK. Anyways, it's definitely not an ugly car and should look good in anyone's driveway.
Inside things are a bit less convincing. There might be an innovative interior design that gives the car more interior space, even though the new Civic is smaller, but it feels a little cheap inside. The actual design of the dashboard is relatively attractive but the plastics not only feel a little hard and scratchy, but they look it as well.
On top of this the automatic version has a gear lever that looks like it was lifted off a 1980's auto. It really looks out of place when compared to the rest of the cabin, which definitely doesn't come from the 80s.
There will be three spec levels available, Comfort, Elegance and Executive. The 1.6 comfort comes standard with a height-adjustable steering wheel, MP3-compatible sound system, air conditioning and speed-sensitive door locks.
If you get the 1.8 comfort, then you get heated mirrors, and curtain airbags. Moving up to Elegance, you’ll find a leather steering wheel, Bluetooth, iPod and USB connectivity, cruise control and automatic climate control. Finally in the top spec Executive model you get paddleshift controls for the automatic gearbox, electric folding mirrors, Vehicle Stability assist, automatic headlights and rain-sensing windscreen wipers.
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