Honda Civic 2016 Review

Honda Civic RS
Road Test

Honda has gone all-out with its 10th-generation Civic. It’s bigger, safer, slicker, faster, thriftier and less polluting than its predecessor. And, in semi-sporty RS form, it’s generously equipped and comfortable too. There’s a question though: When you have the $33,750 (plus on-road costs) top-level VTi-LX model hovering just $1800 away, why would you choose the RS?

Honda can rightly claim to be a pioneer of space-saving, front-drive small car design.

The company was a very early adopter of populist front-drive technology when it introduced the first-generation Civic to Australia in March 1973. The little 1.2-litre two-door was ahead of even the first generation Volkswagen Golf which launched locally in 1976 – and way in front of Toyota’s first front-drive Corolla which didn’t come until 1985.

For all this, Honda was not new to front-drivers – it sold the tiny two-cylinder Scamp in equally tiny numbers in the mid 1960s, and the then-audacious Z coupe in the early 1970s. But it was the Civic that really sealed the company’s small-car credibility.

In essence, Honda designers were the first, since Alex Issigonis and his game-changing Morris 850, to make practical and broad-ranging use of the space-saving benefits of a laterally mounted front-drive engine.

All the small cars that have followed – Volkswagen Golf, Mazda 3, Hyundai i30 and Ford Focus to name a few – owe a lot to the humble Honda Civic.

So even if today’s small Honda is just another brand in the bursting small car segment, you could never argue that it doesn’t have some experience behind it.

43 years, 10 generations and some low points later, the Civic today is a fully-rounded small car package that is able to match it with the best of its competition.

With independent rear suspension, a 127kW/220Nm 1.5-litre direct-injection turbo engine (supplementing the ageing 104kW/174Nm atmo 1.8-litre used only on base models) and a long list of new-generation electronic safety engineering (more on that shortly), the 10th-generation Civic is a long way from that simple, four-cylinder two-door sedan of 1973.

It’s bigger, too: So far only available in sedan form, the Civic is longer (in this dimension, Volkswagen’s Golf-derived Jetta is an exception), lower and wider than its main sedan competitors and scores on important decision-making factors such as the luggage-gobbling 517 litres of boot space. In fact the Civic, in terms of overall dimensions, is closing in on the now-defunct Accord Euro.

Second from the top in the new range is a new designation for Civic: RS.

At $31,790 pre on-road costs it is a mere $1800 below the top-tier VTi-LX, and $4000 above the VTi-L – which, in turn, lords it over the VTi-S and the entry-level VTi – and brings an extensive list of standard equipment including practically everything except the new Honda’s latest-generation safety technology.

Only the VTi-LX flagship comes with the “Honda Sensing” suite of safety electronics that includes autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward-collision and lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, road departure mitigation and adaptive cruise control.

What’s more, none of this is available, even as an option pack, on other Civics. If you want the best chance of avoiding a crash, your only option is to buy the top model. One can only speculate that making an optional safety package available for other versions of the Thai-built Civic has – so far – been relegated to the too-hard basket.

That said, the 10th generation Civic is a step or two ahead of most of its rivals in this respect. The number of competitors featuring even some of the technologies could be counted on one hand.

Our RS test car was otherwise a pretty complete package: Over the VTi-L Civic, it comes with standard LED headlights, power sunroof, leather-trimmed seats – heated in the front and including eight-way power-adjust for the driver – specific 17-inch alloy wheels and a 452-Watt 10-speaker sound system. Automatic climate control, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring are also part of the RS package.

Satellite navigation is an omission in the RS (although if you have an iPhone, sat-nav is available via a somewhat clunky interconnect), and it makes you wonder – in concert with the added safety electronics – why you wouldn’t simply spend $1800 more and opt for the $33,590 (plus ORCs) fully-equipped VTi-LX.

Taken in a more generalised context, the RS looks pretty good against the only other semi-sporting small sedan, the Mazda 3 SP25 which is tagged at $31,990 (plus ORCs) and does factor in some safety tech – including standard AEB and blind-spot monitoring – which is not available in the RS.

So what’s it like to live with a Honda Civic RS for a week?

If at first you are taken in by the low-slung style, the more conventional (than previously) but entirely functional dash presentation and the clear evidence of further quality upgrading, you’ll soon learn to also appreciate the Civic’s people and luggage-carrying abilities as well.

The seats might be a bit knees-up in the back, but the Civic’s low profile, and any intrusion by the sunroof, doesn’t affect headroom – and there’s plenty of legroom to savour too. The seats themselves are well shaped and supportive and the dash layout is entirely driver-friendly with clear readouts (the speedo is digital) and intuitive controls. Phone connections are made quickly and easily, while the decent-size colour LCD teases with its lack of sat-nav.

There’s heaps of storage space too: The centre console has twin cup/wine bottle holders and the deep lidded bin is hugely appreciated, as are the spaces above and below the forward end of the centre console. And the boot is not just capacious at 517 litres: It’s also well-shaped and easily accessed by a lid that swings open to a fully vertical position. The rear seatbacks drop down via in-boot levers to make the whole thing even more useful – although it’s a bit of a disappointment to find a mere space-saver sitting under the floor.

And the drive experience is pleasurable. Although it’s somewhat uncharacteristic to hear a turbo engine working away in a Honda, the actual outcomes are pleasing: With a claimed 6.0L/100km fuel consumption (better than the 6.4L/100km claimed for 1.8-litre versions of the Civic), and a 140g/km CO2 reading, it’s at the top end of the class. And we came relatively close in real-world fuel consumption with a reading of 6.7L/100km over a week of road testing.

The reworked CVT does its share of work when accelerating too, although the usual characteristics are there, even if the whole stepless operation is less highly-strung than in some other systems and a degree of “manual” paddle-shift override is available.

The power-weight ratio is favourable, better than most of its competitors apart from the Mazda 3 SP25, and makes for satisfying responses either from a standing start, or out in the traffic. It would be nice to have the option of a six-speed manual though.

You’d never say the Civic RS is truly sporty. It’s still not a Euro in terms of ride-handling balance, although you’d have to admit it manages pretty well. The ride is satisfyingly absorbent and it steers quickly enough too (2.3 turns from lock to lock), while the grip, via the 215/55-series tyres, is strong. But it doesn’t quite have the sure-footed handling finesse and linear, normally aspirated power delivery of its departed sibling.

Nevertheless if you weigh not just the RS’s attributes, but those of the whole 10th-generation Civic range against its many competitors, it’s clear Honda has done a thoroughly competent job here.

By any measure it’s among the leaders of a lean, hungry and ruthless pack.

2016 Honda Civic RS sedan pricing and specifications:
Price: $31,790 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 127kW/220Nm
Transmission: Continuously variable
Fuel: 6.0L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 140g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: TBA

Also consider:
>> Mazda3 SP25 GT sedan (from $31,990 plus ORCs)
>> Volkswagen Jetta 118TSI Highline (from $34,290 plus ORCs)
>> Toyota Corolla ZR sedan (from $30,990 plus ORCs)