2007 Honda Civic Reviews

Another week, another hot hatch. The calendar is crammed with touchdown times for compact cars as more and more makers introduce stars in the booming compact class.This time it is Honda putting the punch into its Civic, using a hotrod Type R hatch being shipped from Britain.It has taken more than a year to nail the deal, to give Honda a car to run up against everything from the Ford Focus XR5 to the Volkswagen Golf GTi, but there is plenty to like.The Type R has a hot 2.0-litre engine with 148kW, a six-speed, close-ratio manual gearbox, big brakes, alloy wheels, sports suspension and tightly wrapped bucket seats. All at a benchmark $39,990, despite the potential threat of exchange-rate variations between the pound and dollar.Even better, the Type R looks hot.The three-door hatch has all the flair and fun factor that is missing from the regular Civic sedan, which is built in Japan and aimed at conservative customers who would never consider a Type R.Then again, the youngsters who will fall in love with the R car — despite, or perhaps because of, its raucous, revvy engine and go-kart suspension — would not look twice at a standard Civic.They are expected to shop it against the XR5 and GTi and all the rest of the hatch hotties, but also to run it up against a Subaru WRX or Lancer Evo as a potential funtime friend.Honda says the Civic R will sprint to 100km/h in 6.6 seconds and has a top speed of 235km/h.Fans of the R car are going to have to move fast to get one because Honda Australia is getting only 100 cars a month. It's a simple numbers game because production in Britain is limited by the number of R engines coming from Japan.Then again, Australia has been allocated 1200 cars a year and Singapore — is far smaller than Melbourne — which is getting 800. But bling is beyond big in Singapore.“We believe this car will reinvigorate our brand in Australia,” Honda Australia senior director Lindsay Smalley says. “For Honda Australia this is a branding issue, not a profit issue.”The new Civic hatch is the first Type R in the local Honda line-up since the Integra coupe, which wrote the book on extreme street machines. There were two models and both were beyond harsh and beyond noisy, but sold strongly and gave Honda some much-needed bragging rights.It will be the same with the new Civic, which was aimed at Australia from the day the Type R was unveiled as a motor-show tease.But there are some questions and some concerns.The Australian Type R is punchy, but the Japanese equivalent has more than 160kW, a difference Honda Australia puts down to local fuel. And there is only a manual, no auto.The bodywork comes only in red, silver or black. With a red/black cabin.There are also noticeable production flaws in the British-assembled cabin that would not be seen, nor tolerated, in a Honda built in Japan or even in Thailand, which supplies most of the models sold in Australia.On the roadThe Type R looks great and it is a top drive. The styling finally puts some real Gen-Y excitement into Honda showrooms, in everything from the cabin trimming — and red instrument lights, in place of blue in the regular Civic — to triangular exhaust tips. It is a car that has been built to look good.It would look even better if the plastics in the cabin actually matched and were assembled without blemishes, and if there were no rattles.But the Civic R is really about driving. It is smoother and quieter than we expected, at least from early British reports, but still has great cornering grip, nice balance and instant response to the steering and slick six-speed shift.The engine takes some work and does not even get going until 5500 revs, but will scream happily to the redline at more than 8000.It's in sharp contrast to the turbo engines used in most other hot hatches in 2007, including the XR5 and GTi and Mazda's rampant 3 MPS, which is good and bad.It has more character, sounds great and is fun to thrash through a set of bends.But you have to work harder, there is little torque for instant hit and the engine can be a cop trumpet.The brakes are terrific, there is no more noise from the tyres than expected. The traction control is not intrusive and can be switched off.There is plenty of standard equipment including cruise control, twin-zone airconditioning and the airbags.The back seat is surprisingly roomy once you get in, and the car is easy to park.The driver's seat is set too high, despite a height adjuster and the front buckets — which were excellent Recaro seats in the earlier Integra R — would be a lot better with more than just a click-change adjuster.Still, there is an awful lot to like in the Civic Type R and it is a true fun runner.Honda Australia will have no trouble selling its allocation of 1200 cars and their owners are going to be happy.  Inside viewHonda Civic Type RPrice: $39,990 on sale now.Body: Three-door hatch.Engine: 2.0-litre iVTEC four cylinder.Power: 148kW at 7800 revs.Torque: 193Nm at 5600 revs.Transmission: Six-speed manual, front-wheel drive.Safety: ESP, ABS, front-side-head airbags.Economy: 9.3 litres/100km (Claimed, ADR81/01 combined). 

It's more saint than sinner and is squarely in Honda Australia's prayers to fill the long-vacant role as a halo car for the brand that once dripped individuality and the promise of high-revving fun. The Civic Type-R is an edgy, look-at-me style statement that will bring the Type-R badge back to local showrooms but, as Honda Australia's senior director Lindsay Smalley says, with a new take on the hot hatch.“We believe buyers are starting to look beyond stripped-out boy racer specials and petrol-guzzling V8s, turning to cars more in tune with today's times,” Smalley says.“Buyers in this sector still want cars that are sporty and fun to drive yet are more refined, comfortable and practical. It's not just all about the power. It is the whole experience and grown-up buyers understand that.”It is the sort of manufacturer comment that typically precedes the unveiling of a model that falls short in key performance, refinement and fun criteria.Such is not the case with the little Civic and early impressions are that Smalley seems justified in believing the halo effect of the Type-R — the first Civic to wear the Type-R badge in eight generations in Australia and the first British-built Honda to come Down Under — will add impetus to Honda's quest to reach an 8 per cent market share by 2010. From the time the car was unveiled as a concept at Geneva in March last year it has been at the top of the Honda Australia priority list, becoming a reality for the local market only after some severe horse trading behind the scenes at the Paris show.Pricing for the car is yet to be finalised but the single specification model is expected to arrive in Australian showrooms by the end of June and will come in at just over $40,000. Meanwhile, Honda's sales predictions for the Civic Type-R are for 100 a month. And make no mistake: Honda hasn't scrimped here, with plenty of standard kit attached to pull in the buyers.Standard fare for the Civic Type-R will include 18-inch alloys with a space-saver spare, shaped Alcantara sports seats, cruise control, trip computer, stability control, six airbags (including full-length curtain bags), ABS, electronic brake-force distribution and assist, remote keyless entry, foglights, drilled aluminium pedals, multi-function wheel, reach- and rake-adjustable steering, 60:40 split rear seats and it comes in any colour you like as long as it is red, black or silver. The interior trim is a single red/black combination, which looks much better than it sounds.In addition, the wrap-around two-tier instrument display is easy to read.Super Aguri F1 driver Anthony Davidson was on hand at the launch.And it's when he starts to laugh out loud pumping through a high-speed, slightly off-camber right-hander that the Type-R's real potential is under the microscope.“What a great little track ... I have to learn this track,” he says, cracking a smile from ear to ear as he guides the Civic around the Hill Circuit at the Millbrook proving grounds in Bedfordshire, England. “I had no idea this was here. It is just so much fun.”It is Davidson's first half hour in the Civic and on the track, and from both, he is already extracting more than most drivers would be capable of in a month of Sundays.“I had an original Civic Type-R — the wild one — and while it was a lot of fun to play with, this one is so much more ... more mature,” he says. “It is a really nice little thing, and what a place to play with it.”At the heart of the Type-R philosophy is Honda's free-spinning i-VTEC technology, with the power band high in the maximum 8000rpm rev range.In the case of the Civic the car does not get on to the business end of the cam until 5400rpm, just when most of its rivals are coming to the end of their effective range.“Keep it smooth and keep the revs up and you will get the best out this engine,” Davidson says. “I love it because it wants you to keep revving it, it's like a baby race engine.”The naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre inline four offers peak power of 148kW at 7800rpm and 193Nm of torque at 5600rpm. While you might expect the Civic to suffer torque-envy against a bank of turbo-charged competitors — Mazda MPS, VW Golf GTi, Subaru WRX, Ford Focus XR5 — with up to 380Nm on tap from much lower in the rev range, there are other charms to be enjoyed.Getting maximum return is a challenge but one that only adds to the enjoyment. Let the engine drop off the cam — anything below 4500rpm — and you will pay a huge penalty.Urge drops away sharply and time's a wasting as you hunt down through the slick six-speed box to get back into the meat of the torque. Raw performance figures do not do the Type-R full justice. A 0-100km/h sprint of 6.6 seconds is reasonable while the claimed top speed of 235km/h seems achievable.But on the open road the Type-R's track-happy suspension displays some real-world issues. On broken surfaces, particularly at low speeds, the ride is unsettled and can progress to uncomfortable on surface types such as the cobbled European roads.Tyre roar is also intrusive on coarse chip surfaces — think Australia. But the steering is nicely weighted and pleasantly direct and the fully switchable traction control is gentle and non-intrusive until it is actually needed.The brakes are a highlight: ventilated 300mm front and solid 260mm rear discs.