Honda Civic Tourer Review 2015

Honda Civic Tourer Review 2015 – Practical And Handsome.

Well-Equiped With Great Interior But Not Cheap.

For – high quality, looks good, terrific utility.
Against – pricey.
**** out of 5
Price £24,355

The Honda Civic Tourer is a bit longer than the saloon it is based on and the added bodywork certainly makes it look better from the side and the rear.

The Tourer does have a prodigious amount of space, and the rear seats fold down easily to provide a flat floor. It took my mountain bike with its wheels on. With the seats in place the boot is pretty big too and swallowed my golf bag and trolley with ease. Honda says you can double that. All this space is thanks to a layout which sees the fuel tank located under the front seats. This allows for unparalleled interior space and includes Honda’s innovative Magic Seat system, just like in the Honda Jazz.

The car exudes quality, from the pearlescent paint job on the outside to the leather interior on this version, which even had the nifty stitching that makes you think premium. Like the Civic, the speed is indicated from a digital read out in a top panel which sweeps across the top of the dashboard. The test car had six-speed manual gearbox which worked very well, feeling very accurate and snicky. Not surprisingly, performance was adequate rather than breathtaking, but on the motorway it bombed along at slightly over legal speeds with ease, flexibility and quietness. The steering felt tight and nicely weighted. The test car had a ton of technology that I never had time to master. I would have found a way to silence the constant binging and bonging you get when driving down narrow country lanes if I’d had the time. I’m not sure if I would have tracked down an irritating buzz-come-rattle that emanated from the steering area. The price though raised my eyebrows – £24,855 including £500 for the paint job.

Five-stars
Buyers can choose either a 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel or the 1.8-litre i-VTEC petrol engine. The Tourer features a full list of safety technologies available on the Civic hatchback, allowing it to carry the same coveted five-star Euro NCAP rating for safety. There’s a Driver Assistance Safety Pack, and sensor based active safety systems that use a combination of cameras and radar. The new technology package includes City-Brake Active System, Forward Collision Warning, which detects the risk of collision by recognising the vehicle directly in front, High Beam Support System, Lane Departure Warning and Traffic Sign Recognition System.

Prices start at £20,270 for the 1.8 i-VTEC S manual. The smaller diesel engine is a bit more expensive at £21,375. Prices peak at £27,690 for the 1.8 i-VTEC EX Plus auto. There is a confusing range of choices, starting with the S, and building through the S-T, SE Plus, SE Plus-T, SR to the EX-Plus. The base model has stuff like 16 inch wheels, climate control, heated door mirrors, and magic seats. Content builds up through the range and the SR had voice activation controls, bigger wheels, adaptive dampers, leather interior with heated front seats and navigation with DVD player. The top of the range EX has smart entry and start and Xenon headlights which automatically level.

An excellent car which does everything required of it with quality thrown in. The price puts it into contention with a bunch of premium German models, so I’d expect negotiation to bring the price down substantially.

	Honda Civic Tourer 1.8 i-VTEC SR
Engine:	1.8 litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power:	140 hp @ 6,500
Torque:	174 Nm @ 4,300
Gearbox:	6-speed manua
Drive:	front-wheels
Acceleration:	0-62-100 km/h – 9.2 seconds
Top Speed:	210 km/h- 130 mph
Fuel Consumption:	claimed combined 44.1
CO2:	149 g/km
Emissions class:	Euro VI
Length:	4,355 mm
Width:	1,770
Height:	1,480
Weight:	1,280 kg
Wheel-base:	2,595
Suspension:	McPherson/torsion beam
Competition:	VW Golf, Ford Focus, SEAT Leon, Mazda 3, Peugeot 308, Renault Megane, Vauxhall Astra
Rating:	****
Price:	£24,355
For:	high quality, looks good, terrific utility
Against:	pricey

 [print_gllr id=14017]