Now those readers who know a thing or two about long-term test car may move on to the next paragraph. For others, here goes what a long termer is. We get a car or two every week as soon as the launch takes place . We drive them over a considerable distance for many days before giving you a reasonably accurate review. What we cannot tell you however is how the car will be like after a couple of month’s usage, whether it will still run effectively or will it break down whenever you are in a hurry to reach somewhere, how much fuel economy you can expect from it over the time and whether servicing and taking care of it burn a hole through your pocket. It is to know these cars better that we get long term test cars from companies. These cars will be in our fleet for a considerably long period, and we’ll be using them as our own cars, doing regular stuff that you would do if you were to buy them. Depending on our experience, we suggest you to buy one tomorrow or perhaps today afternoon itself, if you have the time or to keep your money in a safe and hand over the keys to your mother to be taken care of.
Over the years we have had quite a big number of long termers, some of which have done no more good than consume valuable parking space at the garage. So when the decision came to have a new fleet of long termers, it is the idea to have only the very best ones in their respective segments that won most applauses. We didn’t want to know what the weaknesses of the ‘average Johnies’ were. Instead we thought it much better to retest and highlight the real talents and flaws of the best in the segment. Also, a long termer is always under the threat of being called ‘useless and seriously flawed’ at any moment and for this reason only the most confident companies send us their long term cars. So when Honda sent us the Civic Automatic, we were more than happy to make way for it. The Civic is a highly desirable car and we wanted to know more about it. And the best part is that it looks dramatic.
Honda has achieved a very slippery body which also looks special. The style looks more futuristic than contemporary with sharp creases and a flowing body line. The short bonnet and the cab forward nature are well hidden by the fluidity of the design. Despite being nearly a year old it is still like a powerful eyeball magnet attracting glances from the young and the old alike.
Stepping inside makes one feel like an aircraft pilot. The tachometer dial has a fluorescent blue backlighting, white lettering and white needle which looks great. The speedometer, fuel gauge and temperature gauge are digital affairs which are at line of sight with the base of the wind screen. The advantage is that you need not look down to see them. But in fact, they are so clear and large that you are kept informed from time to time without having to look at the gauges every now and then.
The Civic is a low slung sedan which means getting in and out of the low seats is a small problem as most people pointed out. You need to exercise your calf muscles to get out of it which means you need to spend only less time in the gym. The seats are quite comfortable once you settle in. The back rest angle, the additional thigh support and the well padded central arm rest make life comfortable at the rear. The rear armrest comes with audio controls within the armrest, great when you have a chauffeur.
The 1800cc engine, is mated to a 5speed automatic gearbox, is a perfect combination. It puts out 130bhp which is adequate. The paddle shifts work wonders too when you are in a hurry. The automatic gearbox with provision for manual override allows the engine to be revved right up to the red line. When driven carefully, the Civic auto is almost as fuel efficient as the manual version. We manage to get around 11.8kmpl under regular 50:50 highway / city use which is commendable for a 1800cc automatic weighing 1.2 tons. More on the engine - performance and driveability later.
The Civic was showered by many awards including the ‘Car of the year’ by several magazines. Even Autocar crowned it as the ‘Car of the year 2006’. But all of them did miss out something. What they really wanted was to pick the best car launched during the year, but the Civic was more than simply being the best for that year. Nothing this brilliant has come our way until the Civic and nothing will, atleast for the next two years. They could have called it the ‘Car of the decade’ or something like that.
Over the years we have had quite a big number of long termers, some of which have done no more good than consume valuable parking space at the garage. So when the decision came to have a new fleet of long termers, it is the idea to have only the very best ones in their respective segments that won most applauses. We didn’t want to know what the weaknesses of the ‘average Johnies’ were. Instead we thought it much better to retest and highlight the real talents and flaws of the best in the segment. Also, a long termer is always under the threat of being called ‘useless and seriously flawed’ at any moment and for this reason only the most confident companies send us their long term cars. So when Honda sent us the Civic Automatic, we were more than happy to make way for it. The Civic is a highly desirable car and we wanted to know more about it. And the best part is that it looks dramatic.
Honda has achieved a very slippery body which also looks special. The style looks more futuristic than contemporary with sharp creases and a flowing body line. The short bonnet and the cab forward nature are well hidden by the fluidity of the design. Despite being nearly a year old it is still like a powerful eyeball magnet attracting glances from the young and the old alike.
Stepping inside makes one feel like an aircraft pilot. The tachometer dial has a fluorescent blue backlighting, white lettering and white needle which looks great. The speedometer, fuel gauge and temperature gauge are digital affairs which are at line of sight with the base of the wind screen. The advantage is that you need not look down to see them. But in fact, they are so clear and large that you are kept informed from time to time without having to look at the gauges every now and then.
The Civic is a low slung sedan which means getting in and out of the low seats is a small problem as most people pointed out. You need to exercise your calf muscles to get out of it which means you need to spend only less time in the gym. The seats are quite comfortable once you settle in. The back rest angle, the additional thigh support and the well padded central arm rest make life comfortable at the rear. The rear armrest comes with audio controls within the armrest, great when you have a chauffeur.
The 1800cc engine, is mated to a 5speed automatic gearbox, is a perfect combination. It puts out 130bhp which is adequate. The paddle shifts work wonders too when you are in a hurry. The automatic gearbox with provision for manual override allows the engine to be revved right up to the red line. When driven carefully, the Civic auto is almost as fuel efficient as the manual version. We manage to get around 11.8kmpl under regular 50:50 highway / city use which is commendable for a 1800cc automatic weighing 1.2 tons. More on the engine - performance and driveability later.
The Civic was showered by many awards including the ‘Car of the year’ by several magazines. Even Autocar crowned it as the ‘Car of the year 2006’. But all of them did miss out something. What they really wanted was to pick the best car launched during the year, but the Civic was more than simply being the best for that year. Nothing this brilliant has come our way until the Civic and nothing will, atleast for the next two years. They could have called it the ‘Car of the decade’ or something like that.
0 comments:
Post a Comment