[Automobile]
Last month I attended Mixx Club’s 1st Anniversary Party in Malacca (https://timchew.net/2013/01/25/mixx-club-malaccas-1st-anniversary-party/) and I thought it would be a good opportunity to test drive the new 9th generation Honda Civic.
The Civic family has been one of the most popular non-national C segment cars in Malaysia and the 9th generation Civic aims to continue that tradition. The Civic has racked up sales of more than 19.7 million units worldwide since the launch of the 1st Generation in 1972.
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Powerplant & Transmission
The 4 cylinders SOHC i-VTEC engine was mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission to deliver adequate power with good fuel economy.
Max Power: 141PS @ 6,500rpm
Max Torque: 174Nm @ 4,300rpm
I drove all the way to Malacca trying to be as fuel-efficient as possible with the ECON mode on most of the time and I only used up 3 bars (about a quarter tank) on the petrol meter. On the way back I decided to try with the ECON mode off and used up 4 bars on the petrol meter driving a bit more aggresively.
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How does the above benefit the average consumer?
Reduced fuel consumption that Honda is getting famous for! I went to Malacca and back to Kuala Lumpur with 2 passengers on just half a tank of petrol! FYI the fuel tank holds 50 litres of fuel.
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Suspension & Handling
Front – MacPherson Strut
Rear – Multi Link
I felt that the suspension was tuned more for comfort which was fine with me as I rarely drive aggresively around corners anyway. However it did hold up pretty well along Tropicana Golf & Country Resort’s uneven roads that had some pretty sharp bends.
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Safety
The safety standard in the Civic has been enhanced. The Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) is integrated with the Motion Adaptive EPS (Electric Power Steering) system to give drivers more control during oversteer and understeer conditions.
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5-Star EURO NCAP
The Civic has obtained a 5-star EURO NCAP safety rating while the refined Honda’s Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body structure provides improved crash compatibility between vehicles of different size and ride height.
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Increased rigidity
As with most newer Honda models, high-tensile steel has been applied to more areas of the body to improve structural rigidity thereby increasing passenger accident survivability odds.
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Improved G-Force Control Technology
The G-Force Control effectively absorbs and disperses collision impact through crumple zones giving passengers a higher chance to avoid a harsh impact during an accident.
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ABS with EBD
ABS (Anti-Lock braking system) with EBD (Electronic Brake-Force Distribution) work together to help you keep control of the vehicle to get out of hairy situations.
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Dual front SRS airbags and seat belt pretensioners
Always good to have them around.
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Now to the interior.
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The Civic is available in Alabaster Silver Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl, Polished Metal Metallic and Taffeta White. For the Hybrid variant, it is available in Frosty White Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl, Polished Metal Metallic and Taffeta White.
I feel that the 9th generation Civic is a graceful evolution from it’s predecessor with increased fuel efficiency while maintaining Honda’s build quality and can be yours for RM115,980 OTR with insurance.
For more in depth specs on the ninth generation Honda Civic 1.8S head over to http://www.honda.com.my
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From the looks of it, HONDA Civic 1.8S engine capacity is getting close to Accord 2.0.