Share

Long-term test: Honda Civic 1.5T Sport

accreditation

Cape Town - If I had one rand for each time a Honda Ballade or Civic sedan owner ogled at the new Civic I'd have enough money to buy 10 Wembley whoppers and 10 strawberry milkshakes. 

For anyone outside of Cape Town and didn't get the 'Wembley' reference, the point is this; the new Civic turns heads. Long, sleek and more than often likened to a 'spaceship', Honda's new flagship is a good-looking car, there's no doubt about that. 

But what does it feel like to drive? Does it have the Honda build-quality we've come to know and love? 

I spent two weeks behind the wheel of the Civic Sport, powered by a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing 127kW and 220Nm. The engine, a V-Tec unit sounds pretty soulless, a CVT gearbox handles the 'gears' and can be found wanting when smashing the throttle. 

Those weak points however do not blight the car's comfortable cruising persona. And after two days of driving the burly silver sedan I managed to work out the perfect throttle input to match the CVT. 

The Civic does many things right: seats five, rides comfortably, frugal and it looks good. At R430 000, it competes with premium small sedans from Mercedes and Audi but also throws its hat into the ring against the Toyota Corolla, Ford Focus and Kia Cerato. 

Here are some photographs that captured my time with the Civic Sport: 

Above: Standard equipment on the Sport model are full LED headlights, they do a great job illuminating every crevice of the road and then some. 

Above: The quick and easy Apple CarPlay system was a boon, just plug and play. Making phone calls and searching for music on my phone was easy peasy

Above: When the rain mercifully came down over Cape Town's a few days before Christmas, I knew the Civic's automatic wiper system would sort out the waterworks for me. 

Above: Honda claim the Civic uses 5.9-litres/100km. I averaged around 7.5l, with my highest amount being 7.7l/100km. 

Above: The Civic Sport has a myriad of plugs and ports to connect everything sans the moon rover. From HDMI to a 12 volt power outlet and two USB ports, whoever is in the Civic is truly well connected. 

Above: On a practical level, the Civic boasts a massive 430 litre boot which came in handy for all the Christmas grocery shopping I did. The photograph above shows how lonely my gym bag looks in the cavernous space. 

Above: The Civic is a comfortable cruiser can will eat hundreds of kilometres with ease, this means a full-size spare wheel comes in handy when you're left on the side of the road with a puncture. 

Follow Sean Parker on Twitter

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE