Honda civic, a world winner so to speak. Its competition the world over is the corolla, which unfortunately we haven't yet put through the paces, but the Honda has let the cat among the pigeons, and their Japanese competitor scrambling for shelter. I know that you have already been smitten by her looks, and waiting to drive one, perhaps drive one home! I've dwell-ed on the drive I had in Bangalore for a few days before writing this; just to let the testosterone settle...
Design and interiors
Well, I don't' have too many things to say about the looks, except "Just look at it". Well, some of us thought the C-pillar looked like it came out of the BMW, some wondered if the low ground clearance would hurt on the usual Indian roads. Some even called it a huge PlayStation!! But, looks are subjective; and I think this Honda looks amazing. I think it goes to show that India is getting more and more mature, and won't accept anything but the latest in design. The car is complete with skirting, deep wheel wells and big 5 spoke alloys which look more Italian than Japanese. These are able to match the size of the wheel wells; unlike some other cars sold in india. The front looks amazingly aggressive; it resembles the Accord, yes but not to the extent that this becomes a carry forward. The rear end is also very muscular and big, but does give the feeling that it was completed in a hurry. The thing about this car though is that it only makes the car look chunky from the rear.
The Sales person at Dakshin Honda, Bangalore kept going on and on about the low clearance between the wheel and the wheel arches and how it helps the car. I really didn't understand a word of what he said, so I went to the Honda website to find out what the raving was all about. Apparently the cab forward design of the Honda has been modified into what they refer to as the MONO FORM SPORT body. This means that the angles and the ratios adopted in the design of the car has allowed the front end of the A-Pillar to get shifted to a position wherein it reduces the angle of the same and hence provides space enough to incorporate the multiplex instrument console, which we will get to in a bit.
You could spend hours on end staring at the way this car has almost been sculpted; but you would have wasted lots of time you could have otherwise spend sitting inside. If anything, this car is much better on the inside than it is on the outside. I do not however recommend this car to those who wish to be driven around by a chauffeur. Not because this car is not spacious but because the point about the entire interior layout seems to be focused around the driver. If for example one were to ignore the front right quarter of the car interior, this car wouldn't be much different from a honda city.
The interiors are radical, very radical. Some of us were of the opinion that this was more of a PlayStation than a car, the dials for example look like they belong in a space shuttle, the two layer instrument cluster and the ability to set the time, have a look at the outdoor temperature and reset the trip meter. The trip computer(not trip meter mind you) is sadly missing though. The meters have a major trick up their sleeves, whenever you open the driver side door, they turn on dimly, when the key is inserted and ignition turned, the needle lights turn on and so on... Nice touch these; new benchmarks, however useless some might argue.
The car also comes with a mp3/wma player, with 6 cd changer integrated into the dash. According to audio experts though, this system has little scope for upgradation, but I'm sure this is sufficient for the average family guy! More importantly, the audio unit and the automatic climate control system controls are not only in the driver's line of sight, but also slightly turned towards the driver which makes it far more convenient. Remember, this is a driver's car.
