Honda Civic

Honda decided to shake off the Civic’s octogenarian image by designing something old people wouldn’t even realise was a car. The new Honda Civic is thus a triumph of design, but actually bloody good too.

• Comfort

  The Honda Civic's cabin is a fantastically intuitive, ergonomic place, all of it seemingly indebted to the ideas of some futuristic life form Honda has on its staff. But the ride is firm, so much so that people are beginning to moan about it.

  

• Performance

  If you bypass the excessively modest 1.4-litre petrol unit you can't go too far wrong with the Civic powertrain. There's revvy i-VTEC in the larger petrol, and an excellent 2.2-litre diesel that'll out-drag its petrol counterpart.

  

• Cool

  The Honda Civic is definitely cool. A car that looks this different without making a fool out of you is a real piece of work. The Type R may be a step too far, but a standard diesel is interesting, unusual and classy.

  

• Quality

  It's Japanese, so therefore quality is as good as you'll find anywhere. Even being built in Britain doesn't stop it being one of the most robust cars in this class.

  

• Handling

  Not the Civic's forte, with a relatively unsophisticated rear axle limiting the car's abilities at speed. There could also be a bit more communication between road and driver through the steering.

  

• Practicality

  A mixed bag here. The Civic's boot is vast, some 100 litres bigger than the Volkswagen Golf and Vauxhall Astra, but its rear bench, despite being wide enough for three adults, has impeded headroom courtesy of that sloping roofline.

  

• Running costs

  Honda's deserved reputation for reliability should be some assurance that you're not going to be forking out on post-warranty repairs. Residuals should be strong, while insurance costs remain quite modest.