Car Drag Racing: January 2014

Check out the brand new Honda Civic Tourer – which our staff snapper Neil Denham tested at its UK launch yesterday – available soon in dealerships across Europe from £20,265. It's a practical family car "designed in Europe, for European customers" squaring up directly to the Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra, VW Golf & Skoda Octavia etc… tough competition.
The high-tech range includes a 1.6-litre 1-DTEC (manual) and 1.8-litre i-VTEC (both manual and automatic) – offering 120PS/300Nm and 142PS/174Nm respectively, and fuel economy of 74mpg for the more expensive oil burner and 45mpg for the cheaper petrol model, which is on the money. The diesel offers an 800+ mile range!
Styling wise, it's a sharp estate – sorry tourer – with typically futuristic Honda lines, but is a little clumsy from the rear. And the interior is just as swooping, colourful and modern (remember the old Prelude VTEC dash, a la Star Trek? It's like that, only more C21st and less 80s), which confused our staff snapper Neil's eyes. He also said the sat nag was a bit of beat and refused to acknowledge the presence of the A5!
On the plus side, the boot is class leading huge at a massive 624 litters – enough to house 2873 tennis balls, 513 books, 25 pumpkins, 8 cabin luggage bags, Two golf bags & two golf trollies, Four golf bags
or three large suitcases so we're told! – and the Tourer also features very neat secret compartments that are vacuous, as well as 'magic' seating to alter the layout, to suit your load. Very cool stuff.
Neil said the petrol model, whilst characteristically smooth and slick, was a little gutless, even unloaded. But the diesel model really flew along nicely on a strong torque curve. And the manual gearboxes were direct, fast-acting and smooth. Best of all, the ride quality and handling ability were superb – thanks to the adjustable damping, which works a treat.
If you're in the market for a practical, reliable, comfortable, spacious and unusual family estate… it's well, well worth visiting a dealership for a test drive now.
There's plenty to love about the new Honda Civic Tourer… not least it's DNA: