1.6-DTEC SE Plus

Big, economical, comfortable and no slouch.

I bought my Civic Tourer with little more than practicality in mind. It replaced a 2009 Civic hatchback, which had a lively 2.2 ltr diesel engine and very decent to drive. But I needed a little more space and the tourer appealed.

The Civic Tourer is not sporty, but it's certainly not at all bad to drive. For a care that's been designed to be practical, it's great. Power is accessible, and delivered smoothly, and steering is precise and inspires confidence. There's little feel - but that is pretty much the norm these days.

I've never owned nor travelled in a car that is as comfortable over long distances. I regularly spend two or more hours a day on the road and don't ever feel in any pain or discomfort. In fact I drove to the south of France a few months ago, and found the same to be true over the course of a whole day. I could have done the trip in one were if not for the occasional stop to give the dogs a break.

Which brings me to the car's real strength. It's astonishingly practical. With smaller items stored in the hidden/under-floor area of the boot, two Labradors above and the magic seats folded up, we were able to get all our luggage for the week, plus a fair few things that the rest of the family (who took the plane) couldn't carry, comfortably into the car. There was still plenty of space had we required it, and the car hardly gave up anything in terms of performance or fuel economy.

I've not kept my total MPG, but it's got noticeably better since the engine's been run in and I often get close to or even exceed 70 MPG on a decent trip with little traffic. Obviously, if I fancy a blast through the country A and B roads, this suffers a little. But it's good - really good in this respect.

There are one or two little things that nag - as with any car I guess. The lever for the fuel cap is bizarrely difficult to get to (down by the bonnet release under and to the right of the steering column) and the passenger-side windscreen wiper ends its arc right in front of the driver - often leaving an annoying mark in its place.

The Civic Tourer isn't as fun to drive as the hatchback I owned previously - but it's not meant to be. And despite this, it's still really not bad at all.

Report as offensive