Honda Civic 2012 News

Just a week after US President George W. Bush told a Sydney media conference about how battery cars that didn't look like golf carts were being developed, the real things were displayed at the world's largest motoring show.General Motors showed off its Flextreme from its European subsidiary Opel. It's a small commuter car with an electric-diesel hybrid that can travel 55km on a single charge before switching to fuel. It is a concept car, meaning it may or may not go into production.Volvo will also unveil its plug-in hybrid concept at the show. Called the Recharge and based on its C30 hatchback, it uses four separate electric motors to power each wheel, augmenting a 1.6-litre four-cylinder Flexifuel engine.Meanwhile, Volvo said a fully charged model can travel about 100km before it needs to be recharged. And it is not a slug. It can reach 0-100km/h in nine seconds on the way to a top speed of 160km/h.VW is claiming fuel consumption of as little as three litres per 100km for its spiritual successor to the original people's car, the Beetle.The Up concept is a miniature four-seat city car powered by a rear-mounted two or three cylinder engine,  the first rear-engined car VW has made since the original Beetle. VW said the car would be low-priced and a fuel miser. It has claimed 3.5litres/100km with a target of reducing that to less than 3litres/100 km.That's better than Australia's current best the Toyota Prius hybrid at 4.4litres/100km, the Citroen C4 diesel at 4.5litres/100km and the Honda Civic Hybrid at 4.6litres/100km.It is also better than the new-age Fiat 500, which will have a diesel model with a claimed consumption of 4.2litres/100km and the next generation Smart car.VW boss Dr Martin Winterkorn said: “This is VW reinventing the Volkswagen. It is what the brand stands for — mobility for everyone.”Dr Winterkorn said show visitors' reaction to the car would decide whether the Up goes into full production.Volkswagen Group Australia managing director Jutta Dierks said: “If the philosophy stays the same as it was for the original Beetle, to be a car affordable to everyone, then it will certainly be a good fit into our market.” Volkswagen Up2 or 3-cylinder engine Fuel economy of 3.5l per 100km.Available in 2011.GM FiextremeElectric-diesel hybrid.Can travel 55km on battery power before switching over to diesel fuel. Volvo RechargeFour electric motors plus a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine.Can travel 100km on battery power before re-charge needed.Top speed of 160km/h. 

The explosive Civic Type R, which is a hit in Europe and has a completely different look to the familiar Civic sedan, will land here in about June. But that does not mean the rest of the Civic hatch range will come here, according to Honda spokesman Mark Higgins. “We have to have a business case for bringing the (standard) hatch here,” Higgins says. “It’s made in Britain which makes it a different proposition price-wise from the sedan, which comes from Thailand. It would have to be more expensive (than the sedan) and we have to be mindful of it being competitive in the segment. “But the Type R is something a bit different. It’s a high performance model that sells at a premium so it makes a different case. All its competitors are special cars and many come from Europe. But we still intend to bring it here at a very competitive price.” The three-door Type R hatchback is powered by a 2.0-litre with 148kW at 7800 revs paired with a six-speed manual transmission. Pricing won’t be announced until mid-year.

"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.