Honda Civic – Probably the Finest Ride in the line of Compact and Subcompact Cars

Manufactured by Honda, the Honda Civic encompasses a line of subcompact and compact cars. The Civic first entered the market in 1972 as a two-door coupe, succeeded by a three-door hatchback in September of the same year. With progress in time, the Civic line added more options such as power locks, power windows, leather upholstery, satellite-linked navigation, and a six-speed manual transmission. The Civic has gained popularity because of its fuel-efficiency, reliability and environment-friendliness, although later models such as the Type-R are better known as sporty and high-performance cars. The Civic has gone through eight generations and spanned nearly four decades, selling 16.5 million cars worldwide as of 2006, with the ninth generation proposed to start in 2012. 7.3 million of these models alone have been sold in the United States. However, in Japan, production of non-hybrid Civic ended in December 2010 for the home market, as consumers opt for Minivans such as the Honda Fit. However, production of Civic and Civic Hybrid will remain uninterrupted for foreign markets.

The latest (eighth) generation of Civics was introduced in 2005. In the North American market, available styles include the sedan and the coupe. The 8th-generation Civic display a two-tier instrument panel, with the digital speedometer, coolant temperature, and fuel at the top, while the the tachometer stays in the lower tier. The North American market Civic Si is a more athletic and sportier version of the original Civic, with a more powerful engine, 6-speed manual transmission and sport seats. The engine is a 2.0-litre, DOHC four-cylinder design with Honda's i-VTEC variable valve timing system. It also features 17” alloy wheels, a 350-watt, 7-speaker sound system and a rear wing and red backlit gauges. The Type R is a sportier and high-performance version of the Civic with specifications to match.

In Europe, the latest line of Civics feature 3 or 5 door hatch featuring a 1.4 VTEC, 1.8 VTEC (5.5–9 km/litre in city, 11.2–13.7 km/litre on highway), or 2.0l (Type-R) engines (5.5–8.1 km/litre in city, 8–10 km/litre on highway), as well as a powerful and economical 2.2 N22A i-CTDi diesel which does 0–60 mph in 8.6 seconds. The fuel economy is 38.3 MPG 10–12 km/litre in the city and 11–14 km/litre on the highway.

The Civic has been one of Toyota’s chief product lines and the ninth generation promises to bring more for this long-lasting line.

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