This is the all-new tenth generation Honda Civic. It brings with it an all-new exterior and interior design and is a rather radical departure from the previous ninth-generation car.
Exterior
Our 2017 Honda Civic is draped in Midnight Burgundy Pearl color, which is all-new for the 2017MY. The exterior design of the new Civic, with its sharp and distinctive lines, gives It more of a lean yet muscular and sporty look. The front of the car has a bolder design and gets Honda’s ‘flying wing’ front grille. The sleek-looking headlamp design now house LED daytime-running elements which look quite stylish, and the main headlight itself uses a projector-beam setup. The halogen fog lights are placed further down on the bumper.
Coming to the side, you have positioning lamps, attractive machine-cut alloy wheels, flared front fenders, wing mirrors with integrated turn indicators, and some nice chrome detailing along the top portion of the doors as well. And at the back you have faux vents integrated into the bumper and a mild diffuser element to break the monotony. The striking boomerang-type taillamps are also designed to incorporate the letter C, with respect to the car’s name.
Interior
The 2017 Honda Civic that I am reviewing comes with a nice dashboard design and layout, especially given the price and the segment this car sits in. The infotainment system is handy and offers you connectivity with Bluetooth for making and receiving calls, and comes equipped as standard with a modest 4-speaker stereo. The infotainment screen also doubles up as a display for the rear parking sensors, thus making parking much easier. You also get USB ports that help you charge your phone or tablet. Below the infotainment screen is where you will find the climate control panel.
The leather-wrapped steering wheel is tilt and telescopic-adjustable, and so finding a suitably comfortable position was a breeze. The instrument console houses a conventional analog rev counter, with a fully digital speedometer and multi-information display (MFD) unit in the middle. The center console is cleverly made with a padded armrest which you can lift or slide. Inside the center console is room for your coffee mugs, water or any other items that you may want to keep hidden. The boot is incredibly wide and you can create even more space by folding the back seats. So you don’t have to worry if you are planning on visiting IKEA, or just need to carry larger items which otherwise might not fit in the trunk.
Seating:
The 2017 Honda Civic is longer, lower, and wider than it ever has been, but even more importantly, it is also lighter than before. Honda has also added 50% more stiffness to the seating aiming to give you a more sporty driving position. And though the seats offer decent bolstering and grip for your body, longer drives can take a toll. The back seats have plenty of leg room, but there is a slight compromise in the headroom, and taller folks will have to slouch so as to not hit the roof. For rear-seated passengers, Honda has provided basic amenities in the way of two cup-holders and AC vents for better ventilation. At 478 liters, the trunk space is pretty impressive for this class of car. However, space grows to 1,245 liters once you fold down the rear seats.
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Engine:
The 2017 Honda Civic that I am driving gets a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder petrol engine that delivers a peak horsepower figure of 123 HP and 151 Nm of torque, whilst also being really frugal. This engine is linked to a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) and offers an almost seamless and smooth transfer of power through the wheels and onto the road.
Safety & Tech
The Civic boasts of Honda’s active safety features such as a Traction Control System, ABS, EBD, Tire Pressure Monitoring System, Emergency Stop Signal, and Hill-Start Assist to name a few. On-board gadgetry is minimal, with features such as automatic climate control, power windows, the aforementioned leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel, digital speedometer with an MFD, electronic parking brake, cruise control, and Bluetooth-enabled telephony.
Drive
The new Civic does a good job in keeping out the wind and road noise, hence it is quieter than the old car. It is easier to park and the ride quality is decent, but the car is also a good handler overall. However, I noticed considerable vibration and shake creeping through the brake pedal whenever I applied the brakes above 80 km/h. That was not much fun and definitely something of a little disappointment for me.
Verdict
At AED 65,000, the new Honda Civic faces a tough competition in the market from cars such as the Mazda 3, Toyota Corolla, and Hyundai’s Elantra. Of course, this 2017 iteration of the Civic is a vast improvement over its predecessor. I also think that the exterior design sparks interest, while the interior offers more room for people and cargo. The Civic also offers a predictable and well-controlled body, with adequate performance, good safety features, and fantastic fuel economy. That said, my only real gripe has to do with the seats, which I feel could have been more comfortable. If that’s something you can overlook, then you simply can’t go wrong with the new 2017 Honda Civic.
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