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TEAMHONDATURKEY
Ziyaretçi
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« : Haziran 09, 2006, 12:19:19 ÖS » |
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 Yeni Honda Civic, yüksek tasarım kalitesiyle 51’inci uluslararası ’Red Dot: Best of the best’ (Kırmızı Nokta: En iyilerin en iyisi) ödülünü kazandı. Honda, daha önce de 2001 yılında S2000 modeliyle bu büyük ödülün sahibi olmuştu.
Ödül töreni 26 Haziran 2006 tarihinde düzenlenecek. Kırmızı Nokta tasarım ödülü, Almanya’daki Kuzey Ren Westfalya Tasarım Merkezi tarafından her yıl düzenlenen, dünyanın en önemli tasarım yarışmalarından birisi olarak gösteriliyor. Uluslararası bir jüri, yalnızca otomobil tasarımıyla sınırlı olmayan genel olarak ürün tasarımıyla ilgili 11 kategoride şaşırtıcı tasarım kaliteleriyle dikkat çeken ürünleri seçiyor.
Baştan aşağıya yenilenen Civic, Kırmızı Nokta tasarım ödülleri çerçevesinde ’Ulaşım’ kategorisinde, büyük ödül olan ’Best of the best’ ödülünü kazandı. Yeni Civic tasarımını genel olarak "bir devrime işaret ediyor" şeklinde değerlendiren jüri, Civic’in tasarım konseptinin yüksek kalitesini överek yenilikçiliğini vurguladı. Civic, bir yılı aşkın bir süre boyunca Kuzey Ren Westfalya Tasarım Merkezi’nin müzesindeki serginin bir parçası olacak. Bu yıl yarışmaya 41 ülkeden 2 bin 68 proje katıldı.
Geçen yılkı organizasyonda aynı ödülü Porsche kazanmıştı.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Honda Civic Hatchback 1.8 i-VTEC EX 5dr
Test Date 17/01/2006 09:00:00
Price when new £16,850
Honda Civic 1.8 i-VTEC EX
These days we are so used to each new generation of car being a slightly bigger, more rounded version of its predecessor – think Golf, think Focus, think almost anything you like, in fact – that when one comes along that does not subscribe to this convention, the lips purse, the brows furrow and many in this business make wise and doom-laden prophecies about its future.
Even so, Honda appears not so much to be going out on a limb with the new Civic as standing on one leg on the end of a small twig while waving two fingers in the general direction of the automotive establishment. When your average punter is 58 years old, it remains to be seen whether such a radical approach is brave or foolhardy.
We don’t know any better than you which side of this precarious balance the Civic will fall but we can tell you whether or not this brave hatch deserves to succeed.
The Civic arrives with just five doors – for now – and three engines. Petrol power comes in either 1.4- or 1.8-litre form, while the growing band of diesel converts will march in the direction of Honda’s excellent 2.2-litre powerplant. All versions come with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard and are built in Swindon, as will be the much-anticipated Type-R version when it arrives in the autumn.
Prices start from £12,685 for the basic 1.4 S, and progress through SE, ES and EX trim levels to reach a ceiling of £18,100 for the diesel EX. The car you see here is also an EX, but the £16,600 1.8-litre petrol version. This might seem steep, particularly as discounts will be harder to score than on many rivals but, as we shall see, there are many reasons to think it more than worth the premium.
The irony of the Civic is that once you’ve dug beneath the outlandish looks, what lies beneath is the most conventional Honda hatch for over a decade. There’s the usual transverse engine and gearbox, and a steel monocoque, but while all recent Civics have benefited from geometrically optimal double wishbone suspension at each corner, this generation offers nothing more than struts up front and a torsion beam axle at the back.
We wonder if this will prove a false economy, particularly when its best rivals, the Ford Focus and VW Golf, have abandoned the torsion beam in favour of fully independent, highly sophisticated multi-link systems, with predictable improvements to both ride and handling without any apparent packaging penalty.
But if Honda has cut corners on the suspension, it has gone out of its way to equip the Civic with a state-of-the-art engine. Thanks to Honda’s VTEC system and numerous other technologies Honda says the 1799cc, twin-cam unit offers the performance of a 2.0-litre motor, combined with the fuel efficiency of a 1.5-litre powerplant, a claim borne out at least in part during our test.
Fine driving position but too many materials
We suspect that more drivers will find fault in some of the choices Honda has made for the Civic’s chassis configuration. Drive it fast on smooth, flat roads and you might never think there was a problem.
So far so good. The problems only start when you encounter roads less obliging than those outlined above. Roads like the UK’s. Throw in some surface changes, undulations, ripples and imperfections and this veneer of excellence soon i.l.a.çs and fades.
At least you can rely on the brakes. The same ventilated front and solid rear discs are used regardless of model and not only do they stop the Civic extremely rapidly, the pedal also possesses precisely the right degrees of meat and progression.
Certainly the Civic’s straight-line acceleration is remarkable: the 0-60mph of 8.2sec besting the performance of almost all 2.0-litre rivals and making a mockery of most 1.8-litre opponents.
Look more closely at the figures, however, and the picture changes. We’re not too worried about the inability to match its maker’s claimed 127mph top speed (the test car was all done at 122mph) but we did notice that the engine needed to be revved hard and the slick six-speed ’box stirred if the Civic’s performance is to cash the cheque written by the looks.
Truth is, this engine is not sufficiently refined to make the Civic as relaxing as it should be on a long run. Unless you reach for the volume control, engine noise is a constant and irritating companion at a steady 80mph, and provides as good a reason as any for finding the extra £1500 that buys the diesel engine and the dramatically enhanced refinement it offers.
Strange to be considering diesel over petrol for reasons other than economy and emissions, but the 2.2-litre diesel is not just more frugal and less polluting than the 1.8-litre petrol, it’s also quieter and quicker.
It is perhaps significant that in the Civic’s press pack, interior and exterior design are placed ahead of more traditional Honda territories such as engine and chassis design. We’re no better placed than you to judge whether the Civic is beautiful or not but we can tell you that behind the presentation lies a car whose static qualities rank among the very best in the class.
Honda has not neglected the basics. All versions have a rake-and-reach adjustable wheel and a fine driving position. The electronic dials – showing speed outside the steering wheel rim, and revs, water and fuel gauges within – works remarkably well, while the groupings of the minor controls within finger-tip reach are sensible, attractive and logical.
Open a back door with the NSX-style concealed handle and it reveals a spacious rear cabin offering excellent legroom and more than adequate headroom for most adults, let alone the more typical cargo of children. What it doesn’t show is that those seats not only fold flat into the floor with typical Honda ease and precision, but you can also flip their bases up against the backrest to allow easy stowage of tall, slim items, such as a child’s mountain bike. Meanwhile the boot itself is vast, easy to access and has additional secure underfloor stowage.
Indeed the only really bum note struck by the cabin is the bewildering number of materials Honda has used to trim it. There’s black plastic, grey plastic, smooth plastic, grained plastics of different varieties, not to mention alloy pedals and armrests.
Still, it should prove a pretty safe place to hang out. Honda predicts a maximum five-star Euro NCAP crash test rating with such confidence (along with three-star pedestrian and four-star child protection score) that you suspect they know something we don’t. In addition there are standard stability controls, dual front and side airbags and ISOFIX child-seat mounting points on all models.
RESULT
We think Honda deserves all the dividends it earns from the outstandingly bold
Civic. But we cannot ignore some significant dynamic failings, particularly in the chassis and engine
refinement, and it is these which keep the Civic from claiming class leadership. Honda is greatly admired for
its engineering standards and it will let them slip at its peril. |
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