2019 All New Honda Civic First Drive

Exteriors of the 2019 Honda Civic

The new Honda Civic is definitely a good looker, very sporty , very athletic and very graceful.  The coupe like styling of the vehicle with its LED lighting makes it very youthful in character. The Civic comes with a sleek, swept-back bodyline, an aggressive face, a smart rear and bulging wheel arches. The new LED headlights, an aesthetically placed position lights and the fog lamps add to the good looks at the front of the vehicle. As the roof slopes gracefully to the rear, you get to see distinctive C-shaped “light-pipe” LED taillights. The vehicle sits on smart 17 inches alloy wheels.

Interiors of the 2019 Honda Civic

There is a lot to talk when it comes to the interiors of the new Honda Civic. It scores big time on space, design, quality, comfort and features.  What immediately meets your eye are a 7” colour TFT meter with digital display, a 7-inch touchscreen for you entertainment, premium ivory leather seats, 8-way power driver seat and dual zone auto ac.

The 7-inch Display Audio touchscreen uses the Android operating system that supports both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The 160-watt audio system has eight speakers. The remote keyless entry is standard equipment. The wave key design has an integrated transmitter in the handle with lock, unlock buttons. With the remote tucked away in the pocket, the driver can simply press the release button of the trunk to open it. Also for those wondering whether the vehicle will lock itself when the key is inside, need not worry, the smart entry system will not allow the transmitter fob to be locked in the interior.

Now coming to the start stop button, it activates the engine when pressed. In the diesel that comes with a manual transmission, you need to press the clutch pedal while doing so, but in the petrol automatic version, you need press the brake pedal when you press the start stop button.

The car also comes with a walk away door lock feature that automatically locks when the driver leaves the vehicle provided the key holder’s distance from the vehicle exceeds 2m for 2 seconds and when no other key is detected inside the vehicle. An audible tone sounds and the hazard lights flash to confirm that the vehicle has locked. The Walk Away Door Lock feature is programmable, and may be turned on or off as the driver prefers.

The Remote Engine Start feature is only for the petrol automatic model. The remote engine start feature is built into the key fob supplied with the vehicle. This is basically to remote start your car so that the aircon begins to cool your cabin before you step in. To start the engine remotely, the owner presses the LOCK button and then holds the ENGINE button for a second. The Civic’s hazard lights will flash, indicating that the signal has been received. When the engine is started remotely, the wipers, lighting and audio systems remain off, and the security system remains set. The engine will run for up to 10 minutes after remote starting, and can be extended by another 10 minutes using the same procedure; it will then shut off automatically if the owner doesn’t reach the vehicle within that time. When the owner does get to the car within 10 minutes – or extended period as the case may be – the engine will keep running while the owner unlocks the vehicle, gets in, applies the brake and presses the Civic’s START button, which turns on all of the vehicle’s systems.

There is another feature that is ideal for a hot country like ours. This is in both the models. You hard press the unlock door from outside and all the four windows will roll down and the sun roof slides open. This ensures that the terribly warm air that builds up inside a stationary car is dissipated by the time you enter the car to drive it. 

There is an ECON button on the floor console which when pressed, will automatically operate your aircon in a manner which is very efficient. The system calculates the temperature outside and the accordingly regulates the fan speed and the temperature. The ECON button basically helps you to optimise your aircon function and in the process helps achieve a better fuel efficiency.

High quality, soft--touch materials are used within the cabin, be it the dashboard, the door trims, the seats, etc. The car has an electronic parking brake that essentially replaces a conventional manual parking brake lever. This in turn has freed up more console space for a larger armrest and greater storage space. The main storage compartment has a sliding, padded armrest that features added 25mm of adjustability, compared to the previous Civic. A pair of cup holders is centrally located, and can accommodate large cups when the padded armrest is placed in the rearmost position. By sliding the adjustable cup holder rearward, there’s space to accommodate a lot more things. The car also comes with an electric brake hold function which prevents the vehicle from rolling at a traffic stop signal. Storage spaces are plenty all across, in the door panels as well as in the rear arm rest. The all-new Civic has a wider and deeper trunk with 430L.

All the space within the Honda Civic is a result of the vehicle’s longer wheelbase and wider body. Do remember, the car has been built on the same platform on which stands the Honda Accord and the Honda CR-V. Both in the front, as well as at the rear, there is ample space for adults to sit quite comfortably. The driver seat even gets electric adjustments. Not to be missed is a sunroof.

Highlights include a soft-touch instrument panel upper surface, door pad deck seams and soft door upper panels. So as to ensure that your gadgets can be charged, the company has designed a 2-tier smartphone tray with a wire management pass-through for organized connectivity. Frankly speaking, I found this a little irksome especially when it came to plugging in my mobile charging wire. There’s also an additional phone storage pocket on the driver’s side.

The all-new Civic has analog instrumentation with large tachometer, coolant-temperature gauge on the left and fuel-level gauge on the right. A digital speedometer is positioned in the center of the tachometer.

Steering mounted control offer a plethora of functions, The i button helps to browse through functions like fuel details, phone details, music, etc. the ones on the right help you with your cruise control.

Safety and performance of the new Honda Civic

Now coming to the drive part, we got our hands on the automatic petrol variant of the Honda Civic. Honda is not offering a manual transmission for the petrol. It’s a 4 cylinder SOHC i-vtec 1799cc engine with 16 valves. The engine produces around 139hp@6500rpm while achieving a peak torque of 174Nm@4300rpm. Since it is mated to a continuously variable transmission, and not matter how much technology has been put in by Honda to reduce the rubber band effect of a CVT, it does creep in. The groaning or the whining of the engine is quite apparent. But that does not mean that acceleration is compromised. It’s linear and powerful. The Sport mode of driving and the use of paddle shifters enhance the dynamic nature of the car.

As for the engine, it comes with only a manual transmission. The 1597ccf 4 cylinder DOHC i-Dtec 16 valves engine produces 118hp@4000rpm and 300Nm of peak torque@2000rpm. For car enthusiasts, this 6-speed manual transmission is a thrilling because of its sporty nature. The torquey nature of the engine brings in a lot of fun. As for other factors like NVH, suspension, ride and handling, it’s brilliant in both the variants.  Now that this car will be competing with the likes of the Toyota Corolla Altis, it’s but natural that a lot would depend on the price it comes at.

Safety has not been compromised at all in this new Honda Civic as it boasts of an Advanced Compatibility Engineering or ACE Body, ABS, EBS, Electric Parking Brake,  Automatic Brake Hold, Vehicle Stability Assist with Traction Control, Hill Start Assist, Lane-watch Camera, Motion-Adaptive Electric Power Steering and 6 airbags that come standard. The vehicle also has Agile Handling Assist which selectively uses the vehicle’s brakes to improve initial turning response and overall cornering ability. As for the Honda Lane-Watch Lane-Watch feature, it is a system that assists with the driver’s safety checks by displaying the view diagonally behind the vehicle on the navigation screen using a camera built into the passenger-side mirror. This basically enhances the driver’s view of passenger-side traffic. A tiny camera on the passenger-side mirror can be manually or automatically activated when a driver signals left. Live video displays on the screen, and it provides the driver with a view nearly four times greater than using the passenger-side mirror.

Verdict

Honda Civic with a diesel engine comes at a time when demand for diesel cars is waning in the country. Moreover, since the Honda Civic has always been looked upon as a very sporty vehicle, the popular petrol engine does not get a manual transmission. That is disappointing. But when it comes to the fit and finish and the overall performance of the vehicle, the Honda Civic stands tall among the cars in its category. It’s definitely going to be a very hearty homecoming for this car in India!