Honda Motor Southern Africa has officially released the third model to join its Civic range, the Tourer.
First shown at the Johannesburg International Motor Show last year, the wagon version of the Civic is now offered with the choice of two models.
Although both models are called Executive, the main difference is the six-speed manual gearbox and the five-speed automatic transmission.
Powering both models is Honda’s 1,8-litre iVTEC, four-cylinder petrol engine. It develops 104 kW at 6 500 r/min and 174 N.m at 4 300 r/min. These are the same transmissions and engine as used in the Civic hatchback.
The result is a claimed 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 9,5 seconds for the manual and 11,3 seconds for the automatic version. Top speed is said to be 210 and 205 km/h respectively. According to Honda fuel consumption is 6,6 litres per 100 km for the manual and 6,7 for the automatic vehicle.
The luggage compartment is where the Tourer has a trick up its sleeve. Although the Tourer is only 235 mm longer than its hatchback sibling, it offers a claimed 573 litres of luggage space up to the horizontal tonneau cover. Fold the rear seats down, and this figure increases to 1 065 litres.
Interestingly, the rear suspension system features an adaptive setting. Apart from the driver having the choice between comfort, normal and dynamic, the system also takes into account the load in the rear of the car.
It seems there is absolutely no difference in the specification level between these two cars except for the drivetrain. This means that both cars come with a brake system which includes ABS, EBD and EBA. There is also Honda’s VSA stability system, hill start assist (HSA) and a tyre deflation warning system. Finally there is also six airbags. The result is a five-star EuroNCAP rating.
The Civic Tourer is manufactured at Honda’s UK plant in Swindon, and will be priced from R360 000 for the manual, and R374 000 for the auto. This pricing includes a five-year/90 000 km service plan. Service intervals are every 15 000 km.
Watch this video below as development engineers take us through the testing phase of the Tourer.
Click here to read our first driving impression of Honda’s upcoming Civic Type R.