Honda Civic 2008 News

"Of course we would love to be able to get it, but it is early days," says Honda Australia spokesman Gareth Rees. "We have to make a business case for the car and that will most likely happen over the next six months or so. "One of the unknowns is how much the car will cost. It will be the first Type R car to be built in Europe rather than Japan and that could make it simply too expensive." Based on the Civic Type R concept unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March and confirmed for production just last week, the three-door Type R will be built alongside the five-door hatch at Honda's Swindon plant. It will be displayed for the first time at next week's Paris Motor Show. The Type R will be powered by a free-spinning i-VTEC DOHC 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder putting out 150kW of power. Honda claims the new Type R will put the sprint to 100km/h behind in 6.6 seconds and on to a top speed of about 235km/h. The car is also claimed to be more refined and flexible and offers a stiffer chassis than the outgoing Type R. It will have a suspension package and steering system unique in the Civic range. The Type R will feature many of the bodykit features from the original concept car with a deep front spoiler, larger air intake, triangular fog-lights and a black honeycomb mesh grille.

But picking up the keys for my new car, little did I know that within days I would be $333 out of pocket. And that's not counting the cost of my humiliation. The exorbitant fee was not a hire cost. Nor was it the cost of petrol or any other hidden costs. It was the price of my mistake that saw me reluctantly handing over my credit card to unsympathetic Adelaide City Council bureaucrats. It all started two days after one of The Advertiser motoring writers handed me the keys, telling me to enjoy my new wheels. Pulling up in an on-street car park, I was impressed at how smoothly the Civic glided into place. Never before had parallel parking been so easy. Returning two hours later, I was a little bemused to not recognise my car anywhere. Don't panic, I thought. These new cars all look the same. And for some reason, many of the cars in the street had Victorian numberplates like mine. Clinging to hope, I walked along the line of parked cars pressing the alarm button on my key waiting to see those familiar flashing lights. But there was no flashing. My bemusement quickly turned to panic. "It's been stolen," I cried to my equally panicked companion. "I can't believe it. I'm sure I parked it right here," I said, pointing to a vacant space. It was now his turn to look bemused. "Um, that's in front of a garage roller door," he said. That's how I ended up in the council offices the next morning – paying the costs of my car being towed from the front of a serviced apartment block's roller door and stored overnight, plus a $48 parking ticket. But even in my short time with this stylish vehicle, I learned there were many things to love. For a so-called "small sedan", this baby has plenty of room to move and a large boot which means adequate space for all those shopping bags. And for a girl whose usual mode of transport is a 1.2-litre two-door hatch, I loved the grunt of this 1.8-litre "beast". One touch of the accelerator and off you zoom. The interior light that automatically turns on when you turn the engine off is a nice little touch. It fades out when you shut the door. There really wasn't much not to like. Only a couple of little nitpicks – the dash gear display and tacho were partially obstructed by the steering wheel, at least from my position, and the handbrake got a bit in the way of the gear shift. So, towing ordeals aside, this beauty surpassed my expectations and was a pleasure to drive – from what I can remember of our few hours together. LOVE IT LEAVE IT Honda Civic VTi Auto Price: $22,990 LOVE IT The power. The roominess cleverly combined with a sleek design. Electric seat adjustment. Automatic interior light. Digital speed display. LEAVE IT With the seat adjusted, I found it hard to see the front left-hand side of the car. Dash gear display and tacho partially blocked by the steering wheel. Handbrake a bit in the way of gear shift.