SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8
This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.
My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.
Posted: 7 March 2017
The numbers
Base price: R430 000
Engine: 1486 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder turbopetrol
Power: 127 kW at 5500 rpm
Torque: 220 Nm between 1700 and 5500 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 8.2 seconds
Maximum speed: 200 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7.4 l/100 km
Tank: 47 litres
Luggage: 424 litres
Warranty: 5 years / 120 000 km with 3 years’ roadside assistance
Service plan: 5 years / 90 000 km at 10 000 km intervals
We admit to being pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t just the tenth-generation Civic’s new look and features on a brand new platform, nor was it the hotter version of a familiar engine. It was simply that the CVT transmission worked so much better than previous units we’ve tried. We’ll get back to it later.
Using higher grade steel, the body is 22 kg lighter and it’s stronger than before. Further, the centre of gravity was lowered by 15 mm. If we might chip in here, ground clearance was reduced from 150 mm to 133 - that’s 17 mm, so don’t be too impressed.
The sedan's wheelbase is now 23 mm longer and its body was stretched by 109 mm. It is also 49 millimetres wider and it stands 20 mm lower. See above. To minimize NVH the Civic uses fluid-filled suspension bushings. A dual pinion steering system, along with a thicker and more rigid 30 mm diameter steering column, improves steering feel. Further, the steering gear ratio is variable, with 2.2 turns lock-to-lock compared to 3.1 turns lock-to-lock on the previous model.
External features include standard LED daytime running lamps and C-shaped LED taillights. Headlamps with LED low- and high-beams are standard on turbocharged models. The front end looks more aggressive with reshaped grille and lower air intake, new headlamp styling, revised fog lamps and bolder bonnet shaping.
The rear end is radically different with remodelled boot lid, new tail lights and number plate panel and fog lamps introduced on the lower corners. Civic Sport (our test rig) has an eye-catching wing with built-in brake lamp attached to the boot. We have no numbers, but the rear screen looks larger too.
Highlights inside include a completely restyled dash that’s now single-level and digital, with a seven-inch LCD display forming the centrepiece of its audio system. The old parking brake made way for an electrically powered tab that can be either lifted to engage or programmed to do so as you walk away with the key fob. Steering wheel, dash layout, gearshift console and vents are all new.
Redesigned seats have a broader range of adjustments and 20 mm lower hip points. The rear passenger area offers 55 mm more knee room, making it positively luxurious and headspace is sufficient for most. Honda also notes 20 percent more boot volume. It unlocks remotely by means of the key fob or an inside button, but you still have to lift and close it yourself. Such a trial, hey?
As before, the spare is a full-size alloy wheel and the seatbacks split 2/3:1/3 to fold almost flat. Release tabs in the boot, but none on the seats, are either useful or awkward depending on where one stands when deciding to lay them down. Unlike most cars’, the aperture through to the back seat is more-or-less oval, rather than the usual rectangle.
The local Civic range consists of 1800 cc Comfort and Elegance cars with 1.5-litre turbocharged Sport and Executive models making up the higher end. Highlights of the Sport version include the abovementioned spoiler with high level brake lamp, a black grille, LED front fog lights, sports pedals and model-specific black and silver 17” wheels.
Common across the range is a CVT gearbox with seven virtual ratios, a Sport setting and shift paddles; six airbags; seatbelt pre-tensioning; four- or eight-speaker music centre with Bluetooth; cruise control; automatic air conditioning (dual zone on upper models); electric windows; econ mode; ABS brakes with EBD; automatic door locking; ISOFix anchors; vehicle stability assist and hill holder.
If you want adaptive cruise control with low speed following function, collision mitigation braking, lane keeping assist and forward collision warning, the only way to get them is with the 1.5T Executive that’s priced R30 000 higher.
The “hotter version of a familiar engine” is the 1486 cc, L15B7 that we haven’t seen here before. Its claims to fame are a twin-cam head, direct injection and a TD03, single scroll turbocharger with internal waste gate, from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. This combo develops a rather useful 127 kilowatts of power at 5500 rpm that’s teamed with 220 Nm of torque, between 1700 and 5500, to make sweet symphonies.
This, boys and girls, is the kind of broad-based empowerment one needs in order to make a CVT sing. It finally does what’s been promised all along; providing the most efficient reduction ratio for the job at hand at any given moment - never howling, whining or slipping.
It still takes getting used to because engine revs remain almost constant, around 2000, no matter what. The only time this behaviour changes noticeably is when you floor the gas to deal with emergency situations. Then, instead of downshifting as a “normal” box would, the revs just climb and the car goes faster. Nice.
Finally, despite the “Sport” handle, this car isn’t particularly fast. One-hundred km/h comes up in 8.2 seconds from standstill and it tops out at 200. It’s a Civic, a family car, after all but it’s big and comfy, hauls luggage, looks cool and gets perky when it needs to – without whining when pressed to perform.
Test unit from Honda Motor SA press fleet
Save
Save
Save
Save
This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here. Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.
If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.
Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no editorial policy rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles. And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.
Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.
This site is operated by Scarlet Pumpkin Communications in Pietermaritzburg.
Unless otherwise stated, all photographs are courtesy of www.quickpic.co.za
Copyright this business. All rights reserved.
SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8