I feel cheated when vehicle manufacturers show off fantastically futuristic concept cars only to create dumbed-down versions of the product.
I understand that a concept car, as the name suggests, is a concept, but why not show off products that might actually see the light of day?
When Japanese manufacturer Honda showcased the production version of the Civic hatch a few years ago, many were surprised by the company’s bold move to produce a car closer to the concept version shown at motor shows across the world.
All features, including the triangular exhausts, two-tiered dashboard with electronic speedo, the sci-fi plastic grille and hidden rear door handles on the five-door model were brought to life.
When Honda offered me the recently launched Civic hatch diesel as a long-term test vehicle, I was initially apprehensive because my own car is a VW Jetta and I have become accustomed to roomy sedans.
I secretly wished it was a slightly bigger vehicle, but when it arrived I discovered that it is probably more spacious than a VW Golf. It offers decent space for five adults with a class-leading boot capacity.
The reason for this is simple: Honda designers moved the petrol tank under the passenger seats (the way they did in the Honda Jazz) to create more interior space and it worked perfectly.
The other thing I noticed is that there was barely any mileage on the car. Normally manufacturers will put a minimum of about 2 000km on to press test vehicles before a vehicle launch because they do not want to have journalists exposed to cars that might be defective in some way.
Yet Honda is so confident of their product that it was handed to me straight out of the box in exactly the same way as a customer would receive it.
The Civic diesel is Honda’s second diesel offering to the South African market, which for a long time did not have clean enough diesel for Honda’s vehicles.
The 2,2-litre i-CDTi engine was introduced in the Honda CR-V last year and it is the same powerful engine doing the work in the hatch.
Producing 103kW of power and 340Nm of torque from as low as 2 000rpm, the turbo-diesel unit makes for effortless driving. The advantage of having the torque available low down in the rev range means that you do not have to exert as much pressure on the accelerator pedal — the way you would to kill an arachnid — to get the car moving.
The quality of materials used inside and the general standard of fit and finishings is faultless. A special treat for winter is heated front seats.
Being the flagship model means that it benefits from a high standard specification list, including six airbags, ABS, electronic brake-force distribution, a multifunction steering wheel, leather interior, cruise control and much more.
The most exciting thing about this car is that the claimed combined fuel consumption is in the region of about 5,5 litres per 100km and to encourage fuel-efficient driving there are two indicator strips above the speedo which indicate when it is good to change gears (on the left) and an eco-rating (on the right) which lights up when you are coasting and are therefore achieving optimal fuel consumption.
Although these constant reminders irritated me at first, I have to admit it is having a positive effect on the way I drive.