Ride and Handling
Though the overall height of the 2019 Honda Civic has been lowered, the ground clearance, which was a big concern in the older version, has been improved. With the front raised by 20 mm and the rear by 15 mm, it doesn’t scrape its belly on speed-breakers like its predecessor. Another improvement is the stiffer damping and longer travel which keep the suspension from bottoming out while negotiating bad road surfaces. The trade-off is that the car seems a bit firmly setup at slower speeds.
Like many premium cars, the Civic is equipped with a variable ratio steering system which makes it light and easy to drive, no matter what the speed. It could have offered a bit more feedback, but there’s no shortage of responsiveness or accuracy. You can confidently chuck it into corners as it remains predictable and composed, thanks to the rigid chassis and independent rear suspension. The sense of confidence is enhanced further as the Agile Handling Assist restrains understeering and to a certain extent even the body roll. And it’s reassuring that the Vehicle Stability Assist is always there to cover your back. Speaking of which, I must mention that having disc brakes on all corners helps the car stop with authority, and offer a good feel without any fade.
Features and Equipment
Staying on the topic of features, an interesting piece of equipment in the petrol variant is the remote engine start, so you can cool the car even before you get in. The driver’s information display is still digital, and a 7-inch TFT screen reads out the speed, trip computer, and now also pull up call logs from your smartphone. The Civic also borrows some parts from the CR-V, including the steering wheel and the infotainment system which is equipped with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. It took me a while to hunt down the USB and charging ports which are hidden away in a panel underneath the centre console. Accessing them can be tricky. No USB ports for passengers in the rear seats is disappointing but they do get a-c vents.
The 2019 Honda Civic brings electronic handbrake to the table along with other convenient features such as hill-hold and hill-start assist. While the safety features include six airbags, Vehicle Stability Assist and boasts of a 5-star Asian NCAP crash test rating. I also liked the very useful Lane Watch assist that uses the camera on the left outer-rear-view-mirror to live stream the visuals on the infotainment screen. This more or less eliminates any blind spots.
The ZX trim came with leather seats, a sunroof, dual-zone climate control, while six airbags come as standard across the range. There is no shortage of smart storage space in the car, but the 430-litre luggage space is rather underwhelming. To give you a perspective, even the smaller Honda City offers 510-litres of boot-space.
Expected Price
Honda Cars India will be announcing the price of the new Honda Civic on 7 March 2019, but our guess is that it will be priced between Rs 17-22 lakh. That is mainly because there is just about 30 per cent localisation on the car currently. The premium fastback design will attract not just Honda purists but also those who want something apart from the ordinary. Though enthusiasts may be unhappy about not being offered the option of a petrol-manual, but at least there’s the 2019 Honda Civic diesel variant to look forward to.
