The Honda Civic is a car beloved by many a boy racer, and his dad too. It's this sort of cross-generational appeal that makes the Civic by far one of the most important models in the Japanese carmaker's line-up. The original Civic was instrumental in helping Honda establish a successful foothold in the automobile industry, after it decided to diversify from its motorcycle manufacturing business. To date, Civic production has chalked up a total of 16 million units since the model was first introduced in 1972.

Originally conceived to be a car for the people, eight generations of honing and refinement have not distanced the Civic from its original brief. Despite the layers of technology and luxury that now shroud the latest model, the Civic still remains true to its earthy roots.

Compared to its predecessor, the new Civic is larger in every dimension. Honda?s engineers have endowed the car with a wheelbase of class-leading length, and overall length and width have seen significant gains also. While the powerplants available for the last model ranged from 1.5-litres to 1.7-litres, the entry-level model for the new Civic now boasts an all-new 1.8-litre four-cylinder, with the range-topper packing a 2.0-litre engine.

This is to commensurate with Honda's intentions to position the new Civic in a class above that of its predecessor, this means that the new car has a foot firmly in the Category B segment. The Civic's old duties as Cat A stalwart are now given over to the recently-facelifted, Thai-built City.

Honda adopted a more adventurous approach when it styled the eighth generation Civic. The company calls the shape a "one-motion form", which means that from front to back, a single, smooth flowing line, instead of the right-angles of traditional three-box sedan design, describes the Civic's silhouette.

The slanted headlights and floating grille give the car a no-nonsense face, while the steeply raked A and C-pillars plus the short overhangs make the car look both futuristic and athletic. The unadorned flanks and relatively shallow glass area help to add a sense of solidity and weight. At the rear, the car's sporty intent is marked by sculpted tail lamps with Honda's signature circular elements and dual exhaust pipes.

DRIVING IT

As mentioned earlier, the two models on offer for the Singapore market are the 140bhp 1.8-litre and 200bhp 2.0-litre. We were only given the former to test during the press launch in Tokyo, Japan, but it's certainly whetted our appetites.

"We are very proud of our new creation. This newly-developed 1.8-litre i-VTEC produces the same power as a typical 2.0-litre engine, but sips fuel like a 1.5-litre unit," claimed Shinichi Takahashi, chief project leader of the eighth generation Civic.

Apart from adopting a drive-by-wire system and working to ensure that the engine is as light as possible, Honda's engineers have also designed the powerplant to retard the intake valve closure timing under low engine-load driving conditions, which is supposed to improve efficiency during the combustion process.

On the go, the unit provides amazingly strong low-end pull and it willingly revs up to its 6,500rpm redline. The engine comes with a nice soundtrack, too, when you push it beyond 3,000rpm, although things are superbly hushed below that point. The five-speed automatic transmission does its job with great poise and it's consistently responsive to throttle inputs.

The chassis is said to be about 35 percent more rigid than the old car's and you can easily feel the improvement when driving on bad roads. The car feels taut whatever the condition of the tarmac and it slices into corners with great confidence. Unlike the previous model, the new Civic is always game when you're in the mood for press-on driving. The steering is quick, accurate and well weighted, and the level of grip available is colossal even in the wet.

The brakes are a little too grabby for our liking, but otherwise there isn't much to complain about.

But the highlight of the interior is not its spaciousness. It's the unique "multiplex" dashboard. The speedometer, fuel and temperature gauges are positioned in front of the driver, but higher up and at some distance from the instrument panel above the rev counter. This is supposed to reduce the angle that the driver's vision must deflect while driving, therefore minimizing eye movement and the need to refocus.

Combined with the boldly-styled three-spoke steering wheel and stand-alone tachometer behind it, you get a futuristic-looking dashboard that resembles the cockpit of a spaceship, the sort that you'd typically find in Japanese anime.

In terms of quality, the plastics are nice and everything is put together flawlessly.

DOLLARS AND SENSE

Prices haven't been set, but they're likely to range from about $71,000 to $82,000 with COE. That does represent a pretty big step up from current Civic prices, but then again, you'll be paying for an entirely different class of car.

Commensurate with this categorical step up, all models will come with plenty of standard kit. The two variants will be available with either five-speed manual or automatic gearboxes and they should be equipped with no less than two airbags, 16-inch alloys, a leather interior and a keyless entry system.

VERDICT

The Civic is bigger, more luxurious and more fun to drive than the old car by a huge margin. It feels superior to other Japanese Category A models, too, which is just as well as well as Honda intends for the Civic to compete in a new segment, the more luxurious and demanding Category B. With almost everything so well sorted, we don?t think Honda should worry too much about whether the Civic is going to lose ground as one of its best-selling cars.

NEED TO KNOW

MODEL Honda Civic VTi
ENGINE TYPE: 1799cc, 16V in-line 4
MAX POWER: 140BHP at 6300rpm
MAX TORQUE: 174Nm at 2650rpm
GEARBOX: 5-speed automatic
TOP SPEED: 180km/h
0-100km/h: 9.8 seconds (estimated)
Price: $72,000 with COE (estimated)
WARRANTY: To be announced
CONTACT: Kah Motor Co Sdn Bhd
TELEPHONE: 6840-6888

SIMILAR CARS WE HAVE DRIVEN

Nissan Sunny SS Luxury, $60,500 with COE

The current Sunny is retiring soon, which explains the super-competitive pricing. The all-new next-generation Sunny will be a more ideal comparison to the new Civic. It?ll be bigger than the old car, better-specced and more hi-tech. We?ll provide you with more accurate feedback once we drive the car.