Which? works for you. Which? Car review Honda Civic ( ) On sale: Oct 2000 Class: Medium cars New price: - Used price: From 895

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1 Which? works for you Which? Car review Honda Civic ( ) On sale: Oct 2000 Class: New price: Used price: From 895 Performance: Boot & Storage: Ride comfort: Safety: Well made and engineered. Spacious cabin. Performance of TypeR. Overlight steering, and engines need revving. Road noise. Poor security. handling: Reliability: Ṯotal score: Recommended models in the range Which? Car Top Choice Model 1.6 ivtec SE 5dr New price: Used price: 1,525 Fastest Model 2.0 ivtec TypeR 3dr [AC] New price: Used price: 2, mph: 6.6 secs Most Efficient Model 1.7i CTDi SE 5dr [16 in Alloy] New price: Used price: 1,975 Combined fuel economy: 56.5 mpg Cheapest Model to buy new New price: Overview One of the most spacious used hatches around, owners are full of praise for the Civic. The Civic does a lot of things well and doesn t fall down badly in any area. Suspension and performance are good, though smallerengined models need revving hard and their gearboxes stirred to achieve swift acceleration. At high speeds there is a tendency for the steering to feel woolly, and for engine and road noise to become intrusive. When braking from high speed, there can be noticeable shake from the rear of the car. The interior is welldesigned and finished to a good standard. Seats are comfortable, while the interior and boot space are adequate for most needs. Cheapest Model to buy used 1.4i S 5dr Used price: 895 Cheapest Model to Run (new) New price: Running costs: (3 years/36,000 miles) Owner s View It s given me very little trouble and requires just an annual service.

2 Honda Civic ( ) On the road The suspension works well but at high speeds there s a wooliness to the steering that doesn t inspire much confidence. The 1.6litre engine can deliver nippy acceleration but you ll need to work the gearbox hard and keep the revs high. The hybrid system in the 1.3 (marketed by Honda as a 1.4) IMA works well, but doesn t deliver enough midrange pulling power. Performance The 1.6litre petrol engine doesn t provide much in the way of lowdown torque. However, if revved hard and you race through the gearbox it can deliver quite nippy acceleration. Engine vibration is minimal and gear changes are smooth and easy, though the gear ratios necessitate frequent changing and lead to high revs at motorway speeds. Engaging reverse can cause a crunching noise if done too quickly. In the hybrid model, the car starts and pulls away using only its electric motor and is very quiet. At higher speeds when the 1.3litre petrol engine cuts in, there s a noticeable lack of pull, meaning you have to change gear frequently to get acceptable acceleration. At high revs the engine can sound rather rough. Gear changing is smooth and easy, though engaging reverse too quickly can cause a nasty crunch. Acceleration (3762mph) petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) 8.1 secs petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) 7.1 secs Ride comfort The suspension is quite stiff but not uncomfortable and only the largest bumps are felt by the passengers. The hybrid saloon version is also comfortable, but the body shakes and rattles on larger bumps, while there s noticeable bodyroll in corners. Performance We use the sophisticated electronic timing equipment to record standingstart and ingear acceleration, and repeat each test several times. Ride comfort Ride comfort is assessed by our laboratory experts who have driven hundreds of thousands of miles in a myriad of different models. petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004)

3 Honda Civic ( ) On the road continued... Handling When cornering there s an imprecise feel to the car it doesn t always go where you want it to, and that s not helped by the steering wheel s tendency not to realign quickly after cornering. Electronic stability control (ESP) and traction control were not fitted as standard, and were only available as options in a few models. When pushed in corners, it has a tendency to understeer, which is the safer option for inexperienced drivers. Although the steering itself is light, it feels woolly at high speeds and doesn t inspire confidence. In addition, the turning circle is really too large for this class of car. petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) Brakes Braking performance is average, rather than exceptional. When braking from high speed there is a tendency for the back end of the car to shake. There s an electronic brake assist system that helps the driver bring the car to a halt as quickly as possible in emergency stop situations. The hybrid saloon s brakes are also reasonable, but high speed braking can cause the back end to break away disconcertingly. This model s regenerative braking system kicks in whenever the brake pedal is pressed, converting otherwise wasted braking energy into electricity for the battery. Handling Onthelimit handling is explored well away from public roads to ensure a fair test. Our obstacle avoidance test is one of the harshest tests in the industry.. Brakes The Which? Car braking test measures stopping distance from 620mph and is repeated ten times in quick succession to highlight any brake fade issues. Refinement and noise Braking distance (620mph) petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) 41.6m petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) 40.0m Refinement and noise At legal limits noise levels are fairly low, but beyond about 80mph road noise becomes intrusive, as does clatter from the highrevving engines. In the hybrid version, noise levels are generally low and when driving slowly the hybrid drive is virtually silent. At higher speeds however, engine noise can become quite loud and intrusive. The Which? Car experts use a decibel meter to record interior sound levels at common UK motorway speeds, and combine this with subjective assessments to arrive at an overall score. Cruising noise petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) 69dB petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) 70dB

4 Honda Civic ( ) On the road continued... Cabin and controls The interior is welllaid out and controls are logically placed most notably the gear lever, which is mounted on the centre console. It takes a few minutes to get used to this, after which you find it falls to hand very easily. All windows and exterior mirrors are electrically powered, while other essential controls are easy to operate. On the downside, the steering wheel can only be heightadjusted and if positioned too high, it obstructs the view of the instruments. Seat controls are awkward and can t be operated without opening the door. Storage for small items is poor there aren t enough cubby holes, the glove box is too small, and when you open it the lid hits the passenger s knees. The overall quality of finish is good, with hardwearing plastics and upholstery. The hybrid model has a digital display that gives additional information on battery consumption and charge status. Recharging information is provided on a separate display and LED indicators remind you when to change gear. petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) Visibility and parking The low, sloping front gives the driver good visibility but it s difficult to judge where the front bumper actually is when parking. The headrests obstruct rearvision when reversing, and acoustic parking sensors were only offered as an option on certain models. However, exterior and interior mirrors are large, which overcomes some visibility issues. A minor niggle is that the windscreen washer delivers a rather pathetic jet of water. Judging the position of the rear on the hybrid saloon model is helped by the small spoiler placed on the boot. Cabin and controls We penalise cars with difficult controls, and we look for things like backlit light switches and easytouse heating and ventilation adjustments. Visibility and parking Visibility is a major issue for motorists today, so each car gets a 360degree swivel view test to reproduce the driver s eye view and any obscured areas. Turning circle petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) 11.9m petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) 12.1m

5 Honda Civic ( ) Comfort and practicality Getting in and out shouldn t cause drivers and passengers too many problems, and once inside the seats are reasonably comfortable and roomy. Boot size is average for this type of car, but folding and unfolding the rear seats can be a bit tricky. Getting in and out Getting in and out of fivedoor versions doesn t present too many problems but front passengers can bang their knees on the dashboard, and the driver runs the risk of getting a foot caught on the floormounted fillercap release switch. petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) Seat space and comfort Front seats are pleasantly firm and provide good support but the backrests aren t really high enough. The front seats can slide back to comfortably accommodate people up to 1.8m (about 6ft) in height. Headroom is generous too, but the low dashboard does limit legroom for the frontseat passenger. Rear seats are comfortable, although thigh support could be better. Thanks to Honda s clever packaging the cabin floor is flat, with no intrusive transmission tunnel limiting rear legroom as it does in many cars. So there s plenty of room for two adults in the back and you can squeeze a (thin) third person in without too much trouble. petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) Getting in and out We take measurements all around the driver and passenger s door apertures and note the height of the seat, door sills and step down onto the car floor. The best cars don t require too much bending or stretching to get in and out. Seat space and comfort We assess seat comfort subjectively, using our road testers expert knowledge and experience from thousands of different cars. And we measure the head, legand elbowroom on offer in every seat, to see how well the car caters for people of all shapes and sizes.

6 Honda Civic ( ) Comfort and practicality continued... Boot and storage The boot capacity is about average for this type of car. The tailgate opens and closes easily and, with the rear parcel shelf removed, the boot is very simple to access and load. However, there aren t any straps or lashing points provided to secure bags and other luggage, and the boot light could do with being brighter. Also, the rear seat can t be locked in an upright position to prevent it being a possible way into the boot for a thief. The rear seat can be folded asymmetrically which provides greater versatility when carrying large items of luggage as well as passengers, but folding the rear seats down can only be done easily if the front seats are slid forward. When returning the rear seat to its upright position, the seat belts and buckles can get stuck or lost under the cushions. The rear seats can t be folded down on the hybrid saloon version. Although the boot is a fair size, it loses out to the hatchback in terms of versatility. Boot space (seats up/down) petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) 340 litres / 710 litres petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) 325 litres / 710 litres Boot and storage Carmakers give official stats for boot space, but our tests are more realistic. We load the boot up with measuring blocks only as far as the rear window line, so that luggage is well secured and won t obscure rear visibility. We repeat the test with the rear seats up, and folded down (where possible). Heating and ventilation Heating and ventilation The heater is powerful and can warm up a cold car very quickly. Even when it s a bitterly cold 10 degrees Celsius outside, the heater will warm the whole car up to a pleasant 22 degrees in 14 minutes. In the hybrid, the heater brings the whole car from 10 to +22 degrees in 16 minutes (a quicker 13 mins in the front seats). petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) Feel sorry for the tester who has to warm each car up from a frosty 10 degrees in our climate chamber. Starting with a cold engine, we measure how long it takes to warm up the front and rear of the cabin. Diesel cars usually take longer. We also check the effectiveness of air conditioning, where fitted.

7 Honda Civic ( ) Running costs and depreciation Running costs are fairly average for a small family hatchback, but there are variations across the many models available. Though the 1.4litre Civic is in insurance group 4, the 1.6 is in 6 or 7, the 2.0litre TypeS is in group 11 and the highperformance TypeR in group 17. The diesels are in groups 5 and 6. Servicing is potentially expensive, though older cars can be more cheaply maintained outside the Honda franchise network; the TypeR may need specialist attention, however. Fuel consumption Official combined mpg figures are given as 44.1mpg for the 1.4itre, 42.8 for the 1.6litre and 31.7 for the sporty 2.0litre TypeR. The 1.3litre hybrid saloon should return 57.5mpg, while the 1.7litre diesel claims to deliver a similar 56.5mpg across a variety of driving conditions. In our road tests, the 1.6litre hatchback returned a combined figure of 32.2mpg which seems poor next to the official figure for this model (42.8mpg). The 1.3 IMA hybrid also fell somewhat short of its claimed 57.6 mpg: we averaged just 42.8mpg. Fuel consumption We test fuel economy under strict lab conditions using realistic test cycles to reveal the facts behind the figures. Our figures rarely match manufacturer claims as, unlike the official mpg test, we measure economy with both a hot and cold engine, and on the motorway. Petrol (combined mpg, claimed) Diesel (combined mpg, claimed) 31.7 mpg 44.8 mpg 56.2 mpg 56.5 mpg petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) Urban (claimed/measured) 34.0 mpg/34.0 mpg 32.8 mpg/34.0 mpg Extra urban (claimed/measured) 52.3 mpg/52.3 mpg 51.4 mpg/47.9 mpg Motorway (measured) 29.7 mpg 34.0 mpg Combined (claimed/measured) 44.1 mpg/37.7 mpg 42.8 mpg/38.7 mpg

8 Honda Civic ( ) Running costs and depreciation continued... Emissions Carbon dioxide emissions stand at 153g/km for the 1.4, 157g/km for the 1.6 and a high 212g/km for the TypeR. The 1.3 IMA hybrid is listed as emitting 116g/km, which means a very low annual road tax bill, and it s also exempt from the London congestion charge. Emissions Petrol (CO2, claimed) Diesel (CO2, claimed) petrol 1.4 (90bhp) manual 5door (2001) petrol 1.6 (110bhp) manual 5door (2004) Safety and security 150g per km 212g per km 134g per km 134g per km Emissions (claimed/measured) 153g per km/168g per km 157g per km/172g per km While testing fuel economy, we also collect exhaust gases to enable us to measure the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted. We also check whether particulate filters are effective at removing sooty emissions from diesel engines. Safety Euro NCAP score Here is the video of the Honda Civic hatchback Euro NCAP frontal crash test. Please enable JavaScript to access this content. Adult occupant Child protection Pedestrian protection We rate cars for safety using Euro NCAP crash test scores (where available), alongside our own comprehensive safety checklist. Uniquely, we also feed in results from our accident avoidance test after all, it s far better to steer around a crash than rely on the airbags... Security Which? safety rating Active (crash avoidance) Passive (crash safety) Child Pedestrian Security scores come from the security experts at Thatcham, who break into hundreds of cars each year. Most modern cars are very difficult to drive away, but are still too easy to steal from. Security Theft of car: Theft from car:

9 Honda Civic ( ) Which? Car Survey results The Which? Car Survey is the UK s most robust reliability and owner satisfaction survey. In 2015, drivers told us about 58,000 cars, covering more than 484 million miles in the previous 12 months (that s equivalent to driving to the moon and back a hundred times). This unique feedback allows us to rate satisfaction and reliability for hundreds of new and used cars. Note: Star ratings below are from 15 (1 is very poor and 5 is very good). Percentages shown under Most common faults indicate the proportion of owners reporting each problem in the past 12 months. Brand Honda ratings Sample size: 4,586 people Overall owner satisfaction for this brand 87% Brand reliability Dealer Sales Service Dealer Servicing & repair Model: Honda Civic ( ) Ownership ratings Sample size: 287 people Overall owner satisfaction for this range 84% Driving enjoyment Ease of driving Comfort Dash layout and controls Practicality Value for money Running costs Incar technology About our survey Brand ratings Everyone who takes part in the Which? Car survey tells us about their car and the dealers who sell and service it. We analyse this feedback across all cars to give toplevel satisfaction ratings for each brand, including the brand s reliability record over the last eight years. All star ratings are out of five. Model ownership ratings These show how owners score this car in 12 different areas, from performance to heating. Owners ratings are subjective so may differ from Which? Car test scores but they give a good idea of what the car is like to live with. Where relevant, cars are scored against other cars in the same class (e.g. for space). Owner s View Very versatile with the hatchback design. The car carries a good load when the back seats are folded down. Plenty of space in the passenger compartment. Owner s View Although auto, good mpg, acceleration and comfort.

10 Honda Civic ( ) Which? Car Survey results continued... Reliability ratings Overall Reliability About our survey Reliability ratings Up to 3 years old 48 years old Petrol cars Reliability breakdowns average annual repair cost Diesel cars Reliability breakdowns average annual repair cost All cars Reliability breakdowns average annual repair cost Breakdowns: Percentage of cars suffering a breakdown in last 12 months Average annual repair cost: Average annual cost of repairs (not servicing), in past 12 months We split reliability into breakdowns (including failure to start), faults (where parts need replacing) and problems (minor issues e.g. squeaks and loose trim). Where the car has been on sale for some time, and we have numerous survey responses from owners, we also split scores by the age of car and fuel type. Star ratings are out of five the more stars, the more reliable the car. Most common faults Most common faults Up to 3 years old 48 years old Want to know what s most likely to go wrong as the car gets older? These are the five most common faults reported by owners, grouped by age into new, recent and older cars. A score of 40% means four out of 10 owners reported problems with that part of the car over the previous 12 months. Engine electrics and nonengine electrics (e.g. windows, stereo) cause more headaches than mechanical parts in most modern cars. Failure rate: The proportion of owners reporting this problem in the last year