A very un-diesel diesel captures the imagination
The tenth generation Civic is a hugely important car for Honda. It’s got stand-out looks, drives really well, and also has a hugely impressive diesel engine.
Did I say ‘diesel’? Well, yes I did and, despite the market for such engines having taken a massive sales hit and having to cope with sudden and widespread public disdain, Honda has come up with something of a cracker — priced from €25,550-€31,950 as tested.
Indeed, the company has taken something of a gamble developing this engine, especially in the face of the ‘the diesel is dead’ movement. But if diesel is now dead as an automotive entity, then someone forgot to tell Honda — or they weren’t listening.
And if the company was ignoring the blindingly obvious worldwide trend against diesel, they did so on the basis that they were hugely confident they had engineered something which brought a whole lot to the table by comparison with anything the opposition has to offer.
In fact this oil burner engine in the new Civic is perhaps the single most sophisticated small diesel powerplant I have come across in some time.
It is cultured, smooth, and economic, and it is a joy to live with. It is refined and yet at the same time complex and high-tech.
This is not the workaday blue-collar engine we have come to expect from manufacturers of mass market machines.
No, it is smooth, quiet, fine-tuned, and powerful, and it is allied to a nicely weighted short-throw six speed gearbox which, again, appears to be rewriting the manual on how these are made and perform on the road. You simply do not expect this level of complexity cleverness, and engineering erudition from an oil burner. Or even, in fact, a family-sized oil burner.
The all-aluminium engine, in fact, is a completely new version of the old 1.6 DTEC turbodiesel engine in the last Civic, but it has been completely revamped.
Strengthened pistons, a lightened cylinder head, and lower friction cylinder bores have all been adopted and the benefits are obvious.
Although the power output and torque figures (120bhp at 4,000rpm and 300Nm at 2,000rpm) remain the same, top speed is now 201km/h, the 0-100km/h is under 10 seconds and fuel consumption has been increased to 3.5 l/100km (80mpg) and CO2 emissions reduced to 93 g/km. But, whatever about the figures, it is the smoothness and civility of the unit which impresses most.
To be sure the new Civic is not the paciest car you’ll ever drive, but what’s on offer is more than adequate and the one thing drivers will revel in is the very un-dieselness of the whole experience.
I really liked the classiness of the cabin too; from the comfort of the chairs — not always a given with Japanese cars — and I also liked the design of the semi-digital speedo and tacho and the manner in which they imparted the information you need.
That said, the infotainment screen was a little small and slow to keep up with driver demands.
On top of that, some of the warning and safety systems were way too sensitive and bloody annoying at that, but other stuff like the adaptive cruise control work well.
As far as ride and handling are concerned the Civic is very convincing; the handling is spot on, although you could argue there is not enough power to trouble it, while the ride is very well sorted and well capable of coping with the often gruesome nature of the Irish road network.
One could say the look of the car induces the ‘Marmite’ equation in people as it will certainly not appeal right across the board. I quite liked it — all angular and very modern as it is — but it is easy to see why many would not.
Indeed there was a time when a certain age/sex demographic came into play with the Civic and it is fair to say that at one point a majority of the car’s drivers were elderly ladies, but the look of this car will surely not appeal to that grouping anymore and that means Honda are looking towards a more youthful crowd. I think they have found the balance needed to achieve that.
One word of warning if you are interested in this car: You will have to have a very large annual mileage to clock up. As has always been the case with diesels, this will not suit you if you’re only using it to go to the library every Tuesday.
But, if you do clock up the mileage, then you will find a car which will delight you in many ways, not least because it is a very un-diesel diesel and that fact itself should ensure a large and satisfied fan club.
