Thanks to my brother, Hondas have been a large part of my life. From what I can remember, he had at least five different Honda Civics in his life, and my life as well. In the 1990’s, the Civic was the small car to have. Fast forward to this decade, and Honda Civics have been decidedly not the small car to have – they’ve been bloated, plain and under engineered former caricatures of themselves. That’s why, this week we’re testing the all-new tenth-generation 2017 Honda Civic RS to see if it’s up to standard.
Honda admits that the last generation Civic wasn’t up to scratch, and pulled out all the stops – including half of its global development budget – to create the all-new tenth-generation Civic that we are reviewing today. It features bold yet mature styling, an aggressive front end with a futuristic headlight array and a new interior that is one of the most stylish in the small car class. The all-new Civic has grown up in size as well, using dimensions that are very nearly as large as the outgoing Accord Euro.
Having tested the base Civic VTi and high-end Civic VTi-LX in the past, we borrowed a second-from-top 2017 Honda Civic RS sedan (from $31,790 plus on-road costs) for a week to see how it fares in the ever-competitive small car field. It features an all-new 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine that Honda will use in most of its products, with the new CR-V due to receive it next. It features a comprehensive feature list, including all-LED headlights, a seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system, Honda’s innovative LaneWatch side camera system, as well as a plush leather interior and fantastic build quality. There are definitely echos of 90’s Honda with this car, so the question remains, has Honda been able to get its mojo back?