A couple of months ago I featured the fire breathing Honda Civic Type R in these pages.
This week I’m driving a steed that shares the same name but has a very different purpose.
The Civic Tourer may not have 306bhp and the ability to reach 62mph in 5.7 seconds. It sacrifices those in favour of fuel economy in excess of 70mpg and an inordinate load carrying capacity.
And I mean inordinate. Honda has gone all guns blazing for practicality. The Tourer sits on the same platform as the Civic hatchback but has an extended rear overhang to create a huge boot.
With 624 litres it’s easily the best in its class. In fact, you can jump two sizes up – bypassing the Audi A4 and BMW 3-Series estates – to the A6 Avant and 5-Series Touring. It has a bigger boot than those cars too.
It swallowed my girlfriend’s mountain bike with plenty of space left over. Indeed, Honda now offers an in-car bike rack as an optional extra on the Civic Tourer. It allows two bikes to be slotted in standing up and inside the car – a much more secure option than strapping them to the back on an off-the-shelf bike rack.
Ordinarily estate cars have to choose between maximum practicality (think old boxy Volvo estates) and style (Audi Avants).
Somehow Honda’s designers have managed to make the Civic Tourer exceptionally roomy and easy on the eye.
It’s very good looking indeed and that rear end doesn’t look like a hastily tacked on addition. The car has good proportions, a low slung, streamlined look, and excellent detailing.
There’s a 1.8 litre petrol engine available but almost all British buyers will go for the 1.6 litre diesel my car came with.
It’s an excellent engine. Its 120bhp gives it enough poke – 0-62 comes up in not much more than 10 seconds – and it has 300NM of torque, which means it can easily haul heavy loads.
The 1.6 replaces the old 2.2 litre diesel and is a much better unit. It’s lighter, improving the car’s handling and – more importantly – much more economical. Official fuel economy is 74.3mpg for the most frugal versions.
CO2 emissions are 99g/km meaning it costs zero in VED. Other than that it’s a smooth, quiet engine that goes about its business without any fuss.
There’s more good news on the price front: Honda has cut the cost of the Civic Tourer and prices start at below £19,000 for the base petrol model, making it cheaper than a VW Golf estate. Diesel Civic Tourers start around £20,000. My top spec car cost upwards of £26,000, which is getting pricey, so I’d advise going for a mid-spec model for a good blend of value and equipment.
All versions come with bluetooth, digital radio, USB connection and 16in alloy wheels.
Inside there’s plenty to like and a little bit to dislike. The seats can be folded easily with just one hand and there’s a hidden compartment under the boot floor.
Room in the rear is decent, while up front a digital speed readout makes it easy to see how fast you’re going without taking your gaze from the road. On the negative side there are far too many buttons around the centre console, the stereo is fiddly to use, and there’s an annoying gap beneath it in which stuff will surely get jammed in.
Aside from niggles, however, the Civic Tourer is hard to fault. It’s comfortable and refined, has class leading load space, and can cover more than 800 miles on a tank of diesel. Reliability should be good and servicing isn’t expensive. It’s no Type R but it does its job very well indeed.
jmckeown@thecourier.co.uk
Price:
£26,200
0-62mph:
10.5 seconds
Top speed:
121mph
Economy:
72.4mpg
CO2 emissions:
99g/km