SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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This is a launch report. In other words, it's simply a new model announcement. There was no driving experience . We can therefore not tell you what it will be like to live with over an extended period, how economical it is, or how reliable it will be. A very brief first impression is all we can give you until we get a test unit for trial. Thank you for your patience.

Lightly refreshed: 2019 Honda Civic range launched

Subtle updates

Posted: June 26, 2019

Some numbers
Prices range from R364 500 to R507 600
Engines:
a)    1799 cc, SOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder producing 104 kW at 6500 rpm and 174 Nm at 4300 rpm
b)    1497 cc DOHC, turbocharged four-cylinder, developing 127 kW at 5500 rpm and 220 Nm between 1700 and 5500 rpm
Fuel tank: 47 litres
Luggage capacities, seatbacks up: 430 litres (1.8) and 424 litres (1.5T)
Maximum towing masses, braked / unbraked: 800 / 500 kg (1.8) and 1000 / 500 kg (1.5T)
Warranty: 5 years / 200 000 km with 3 years’ roadside assistance
Service plans: 5 years / 90 000 km, at 15 000 km intervals for 1.8 litre and at 10 000 km for 1.5 turbo

A long-departed uncle’s last company car was a 1958 Pontiac; huge, blue on blue, loaded with chrome and brutally beautiful. Or downright ugly if you favoured styling from England or Europe. Japanese was not yet an issue and Honda only made cheap, plasticky motorbikes that no-one took seriously. The point is that Pontiac’s MY58 offerings included seven sub-ranges, each with its own engines and transmissions. And each derivative looked slightly different.

Everything changed in 1959 and for 1960 the designers returned from their easels with something newer.

Things are different now. Shapes remain essentially unaltered for years on end; just engineering updates every so often and a midlife crisis-relieving tweak or two when the current style starts looking old. The old mantra, “New shape, you gotta have this!” has made way for yet more electronic “stuff“ that manufacturers declare is what we really want.

Honda Civic for 2019 does not add any gadgets and styling updates are subtle - a redesigned front grille; a bolder, three-dimensional front bumper; chrome garnish for the front of the 1.8 Comfort, around the fog lamps of 1.8 Elegance and 1.5T Executive models and new chrome detailing at the rear to highlight its wide, low stance. As always, the wheels are new - 16” double-spoked alloys in Shark Grey for Comfort, 17” scythe-styled rims in Dark Grey for Elegance and Executive, and similarly sized Berlina Black units for Sport.

Cabin finishes were refined for a contemporary, textured look that varies according to model and sound-proofing has been further improved.

Model-specific details remain basically unchanged with one of the more popular items being the high-resolution, seven-inch LCD display that forms the centrepiece of the digital audio system. It enables connection with numerous smartphone functions, including maps to ease navigation. Compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on Elegance, Sport and Executive, it’s the most convenient and connected Civic ever.

The range still consists of four models. There’s birth-dad’s 1.8 Comfort, the 1.8 Elegance he really wants, new trophy-dad’s 1.5 Turbo Sport and his elder brother’s 1.5T Executive. They share the seven-step CVT that only Honda and one or two others have got right.

Basic 1.8 Comfort kicks off with an electric parking brake with auto hold; hill start assist; electric windows and mirrors; LED running lights; automatic air conditioner; 60:40 split rear seatbacks; a four-speaker sound system with five-inch display, Bluetooth and USB; ABS brakes with EBD and stability control; six airbags and auto-off headlights.

By Executive level the car is fully loaded with keyless entry and start; remote starting; walk-away locking; automatically adjusting LED headlamps; satellite navigation and Honda’s Sensing Suite with forward collision warning, collision mitigation braking, lane departure warning, road departure mitigation, lane-keeping assistance and adaptive cruise control with low-speed following assistance.

That’s over and above goodies inherited via the Elegance model: Front fog lights; heated leather seats; speed limiter for the cruise control; warmed and folding outside mirrors; seven-inch display audio with HDMI jack, touchscreen and eight speakers; rain sensing wipers and paddle shifters.

Uncle Buddy’s Pontiac probably had more room inside and a bigger boot, but nothing at all like this. He might have been envious. Or just confused. Life was simpler back then.

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

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