Starting from scratch is never a quick, easy or cheap thing for a car maker to do.
Plenty of them claim to do it every time they replace any model, but when the 10th-generation Honda Civic is claimed to be part of a project stretching back fully seven years, and that Honda says making it has cost more money, time and effort than any other model replacement programme in its history (including, presumably, the Honda Honda NSX), you begin to believe that ‘all-new’, in this instance, really means just that.
Your eyes confirm as much when you first see the car. Having grown significantly longer and wider than the outgoing 2012-2017 Honda Civic as well as becoming lower to the ground, the new model has distanced itself from the unorthodox styling that, more than anything else, made its predecessor a bit of a niche choice.
The new Civic has abandoned the unorthodox layout that allowed the previous couple of generations their flip-up rear seat cushions, favouring instead a design that prioritises the lower centre of gravity, low-slung driving position, widened axle tracks and plenty more besides that suggest handling dynamism and driver engagement ought to be chief among the car’s most attractive qualities.
