2007 Honda Civic Ctdi Review

2007 Honda Civic Ctdi Review
If you're looking to buy a new Honda Civic, this UK owner's review and road test will prove helpful. It reviews a Honda Civic 2.2 CTDi Diesel ES specification car, covering all aspects of buying a new or used Honda Civic with some useful before you buy tips from UK Honda dealers.

The new Euro Honda Civic is an sporty car with beautiful lines and a radically different shape from the previous Civic, aimed at increasing the car's appeal to a younger clientele. The all new design has considerable Italian influence as the Japanese designer spent time in Italy formulating a truly unique and beautiful concept car.

To complement the range, the new Honda Civic type R is now launched offering exhilarating performance and superb handling. The new model Civic Type R is equipped with a 204BHP 2.0 litre i-VTEC engine, capable of 0 - 60mph in 6.4 seconds and a maximum speed of 146mph.

Driving & Handling - Road Test
A road test of a Honda Civic 2.2 diesel reveals that the car is great to drive, offering excellent handling and road holding with little body roll when cornering. However, the Civic's steering doesn't offer quite the same 'hands on feel' and 'connection with the road' as the new shape Ford Focus, feeling a little more imprecise and vague at times.

The new Civic has a fully adjustable driving position with a number of seat and steering column adjustments. The sporty 6 speed manual gearbox fitted in our 2.2 CTDi ES is easy to manage and has sensibly spaced gear ratios (6th gear being around 35mph / 1000rpm).

The refinement and performance of the Euro Honda Civic 2.2 CTDi engine is simply amazing. With 140PS at 4000rpm and 340Nm or torque at just 2000rpm the refined Common Rail diesel engine has twice low speed torque of the 1.8 V-TEC, which means it feels significantly faster on the road, with 0 to 62 mph taking just 8.6 seconds. On the road the car feels very fast with excellent acceleration and mid range torque a plenty. This together with excellent fuel economy and low emissions, makes the new Honda Civic diesel an attractive small family car to buy.

The new Type R Honda Civic (launched in March 2007) has performance that matches the old Type R Civic on paper, with 0 to 62mph in just 6.4 seconds. Type R brochures are now available from UK Honda dealers.

Best New Features
* Electric Panoramic Glass Roof (standard on the Honda Civic ES) is a nice feature letting in much more natural light into the cabin for both front and rear passengers. A switch mounted near the roof courtesy light controls the roof blinds as required. The panoramic roof is pictured here.
* ECO Display (six green LED lights) is useful in helping the driver to reduce fuel consumption. The more ECO lights are illuminated the lower the instantaneous fuel consumption of the car.
2 ECO lights seems to equate to a fuel economy of around 40mpg; 4 ECO lights to around 50mpg fuel economy and 6 ECO lights for over 60mpg. In practice, it is challenging to find a cruising speed that keeps more than 2 ECO lights illuminated and pretty much impossible around town on the urban cycle, unless you change into 5th and use very light throttle settings. Then 70mpg is just achievable from the new Civic even at 32mph on a flat road.
* Dual Zone Climate Control - standard on the 2007 Honda Civic ES and EX allows separate driver and passenger comfort zones with independent climate temperature control. The temperature control for the passenger is conveniently located on the passenger armrest.
* Magic Seats - add to seating flexibility and load space practicality. The central fuel tank in the new Honda Civic allows the rear seats to be folded flat to make a huge load space in the boot. The boot floor also has a bottom storage compartment which can be used for additional luggage if no space saving spare tyre is purchased.
* Km/h to mph Switch - A dashboard mounted switch allows easy change over from mph to km/h for driving abroad. All digital information related to vehicle speed, range and fuel consumption is changed to km / litre.
* Driver's Information Computer - The new Civic has a well designed Driver's Information Computer which provides instantaneous fuel consumption in the form of a bar graph, digital readout of average fuel consumption (by trip), range to empty, trip distance and average speed (since last reset). The driver computer is toggled by pressing the "I" button on the steering wheel.
* Electric Door Mirrors - The Honda Civic is a wide car at 2.046m (including door mirrors) so the electric door mirrors (standard on the new Civic ES and EX) come in useful for parking the vehicle in a small garage.
* Engine Start Button - Without doubt, it's cool to start the engine using the red button on the dashboard, even if it does take some getting used to!
* Rear Door Access - The Civic's rear doors open to nearly 90 degrees to improve access for disabled passengers and to accommodate large items.

New 2010 Honda Civic Performance Review

Performance - What the Auto Press Says

Overall, reviewers are impressed with the Civic's high level of performance. Although most models are sluggish away from the line, they work just fine in both stop-and-go city traffic and higher speed highway passing maneuvers. Moreover, they get great gas mileage. Reviewers do note that coupes have more road noise than sedans. For those who want something that's sportier and more fun to drive, the Civic SI is well worth a test drive. With a more powerful engine and superb driving dynamics, it has the attention and praise of automotive enthusiasts and test drivers everywhere.

Acceleration and Power

Most Civics are slow off the line, but they impress the automotive press with capable performance once they get going. Reviewers are in love with the Civic SI for its high-powered engine and terrific acceleration, although they are less impressed with its poor fuel economy.

All Civic sedans and coupes (except the SI) feature a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine with 140 horsepower. It is mated to a well-liked five-speed manual transmission, although a five-speed automatic is available for around $800 more. The SI gets a more powerful 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that punches out 197 horsepower. Only a six-speed manual transmission is available on the SI.

The EPA rates the 2010 Honda Civic with the 1.8-liter engine as having an average fuel economy of around 25 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway. The highway fuel economy is particularly impressive and places the Civic behind only the Smart ForTwo and the Civic Hybrid for best-in-class fuel economy. Unfortunately, the Civic SI falters a bit on fuel economy in exchange for the extra power. At 21 mpg in the city and 29 mpg on the highway, it has one of the lowest fuel economies in its class.

Handling and Braking

Test drivers report the Civic's ride is smooth for the class, with quick braking response. The SI trim, though, blows the other trims out of the water for its handling abilities, which seem more like those of a moderately priced sports car than an affordable small one.