Honda’s all new Civic Tourer, estate to you and I, comes swaggering into view with the aim to take the compact estate rivalry up a notch or two. Honda owners have a reputation for being, lets say, the more civilised of society. You don’t get that impression when you look upon the Civic Tourer, it looks more dynamic, young and of its time. Some like the looks others don’t, we here at DCB Towers give it a thumbs up, Facebook style. The Civic Tourer starts off on a good note, the boot space is class leading, low running costs, solid reliability and its designed in Europe and made in Britain which is all well and good but what does it feel like to own and drive Honda’s latest breed. The Civic Tourer is on average is £1k more expensive than the 5 door hatch, its available in six trim levels and twelve model derivatives. Only two engines are available, the 1.8-litre, 4 cylinder petrol and the 1.6-litre, 4-cylinder i-DTEC diesel and all models come in either six speed manual or automatic transmissions, although all diesel variants are strictly six-speed manual only. Prices start from £20k for the entry level model and can range up to 27k for top spec models, or above depending on how many options you go for. The Tourer SR is near to the top of the range “summit”, on the inside you get a very well kitted out car with all manner of little luxuries such as a leather interior, heated front seats, Sat-Nav and 17-inch alloy wheels. Its been said elsewhere that the interior is lacking in quality in some areas.

“… the rear boot has class leading space, which includes underfloor storage and we like that combination. No matter how you want to define it boot space is boot space so its always going to be spacious in an estate. Ok, if you really want to know its 624-litres with the seats up, 1,668-litres with the seats folded flat.”

My impression is that you certainly don’t feel short changed, its got that wrap around cosseting feel and interior refinement and build quality is excellent, although the amount of buttons can take a short while to get used to for me its not a deal breaker or something to get upset about. For a compact designated estate space is good up front and for rear passengers although the sloping rear roof line may catch out taller individuals. The Civic also includes Honda’s magic seat’s which are essentially rear bench seats that fold upright and open up the rear passenger foot well allowing for increased vertical storage capacity. And of course the rear boot has class leading space, which includes underfloor storage cubbies and we like that combination. No matter how you want to define it boot space is boot space so its always going to be spacious in an estate. Ok, if you really want to know its 624-litres with the seats up, 1,668-litres with the seats folded flat and there is an extra 116-litres of underfloor storage. Skoda Octavia owners hold your heads in shame. The Civic Tourer on loan came fitted with Honda’s new party piece, the optional, rear-only, Adaptive Damper System which is designed to cater for extra those extra loads without compromising on the handling and ride. Honda is the first manufacture to offer Adaptive Dampers for a car of this class, its an exotic technology of sorts. Adaptive Damper technology relies on a network of sensors that monitor the changing road surface every 10 milliseconds with the on-board computer adjusting the firmness of the suspension, steering input to match the speed and changing road conditions. Its all precision algorithms being calculated at the speed of light so you can enjoy unhindered driving, yet you will never notice the electronic interaction or intrusion. Ultimately the whole point of the Adaptive Damper System is designed to provide a more composed driving experience and to keep body-roll as flat as possible, the system has three settings, Normal, Comfort and Sport pretty much self explanatory but is it effective? The Civic Tourer still has the underlying characteristic of the Civic Hatch, in that it displays a firm but floaty ride, the steering is accurate although many other’s have said it feels numb, yes compared to a Ferrari but this is a family car. Yet it’s well weighted so flicking the Tourer into corners feels naturally athletic as the chassis and overall grip absorbs your inputs, so you can tackle a decent A-road or a deserted roundabout and feel “alive”. Overall the ride and handling are well judged, its quite a fun car to drive made all the more so thanks to the relatively light petrol unit up front. However the 1.8-litre, 125bhp and 145 Nm i-VTEC engine is also the Tourer’s Achilles heel. It lacks power at the lower end of the rev-scale and needs to be thrashed to extract that speed fix you may be looking for, doing so exposes a rougher edge to what is otherwise a smooth power plant at the normal rev range. Obviously the more you take out of the engine means it becomes less economical to run, but if you have a steady right foot 42mpg is extractable on a combined run in part thanks to that slick shifting six-speed manual gearbox. Overall the Civic Tourer is a decently put together package, it may not be as competitively priced as some rivals from the VW stable, but they don’t offer the Adaptive Damper system. The diesel engines offer the stronger performance, better economy and lower C02 emissions so most people will naturally opt for the latter, but as a practical and usable tool the Honda Civic Tourer ticks all the right boxes.