Honda CIVIC (2000 - 2005)
MODELS COVERED: 2dr Coupe, 3 and 5dr Hatch: (1.4, 1.6, 1.7, 2.
0 petrol [S, SE, Max, Sport, Executive, Type-S, Type-R])
BY ANDY ENRIGHT
This Civic range finally put to rest the old memories of Civics being tiny starter cars of little sophistication. The seventh generation Civic was superbly engineered, innovative in design and rightly popular with British buyers.
Honda did almost everything right. There was a family friendly five-door, a slightly more rakish three-door and a flagship Type-R sports model that quickly deposed the Renaultsport Clio 172 as the hot hatch of choice.
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The only slight fly in the ointment was the woeful US-built Coupe, one of Hondas rare own goals. As a used proposition, its difficult to get things wrong. All models have peerless reliability and
Honda dealers have an enviable reputation.
The one-box dome-shaped profile with its short nose and large glass area gives a very shrunken-People Carrier feel. Its the same inside, where the dashboard-mounted gearlever frees up floorspace and enables front-seated parents to walk through and clip the ears of warring kids sat in the rear. As for space, well theres significantly more than youd find in an ordinary family hatch, due to dimensions that make it 130mm longer and 15mm higher than a class-leader like Fords Focus. Hardly surprising then, that the cabin boasts a useful amount of extra room.
Compare it once more with a Focus and youll find 30mm more headroom and (perhaps more surprisingly given that its 15mm narrower) 145mm more cabin width. Rear
seat passenger legroom is especially impressive, even for the middle seat occupant who for once, can stretch his or her legs out in comfort. Built in Marysville, Ohio, the Coupe utilises much of the same technology as the three and five-door cars. Like the cooking Civic, beneath the Coupes unexciting styling is a car which is unremittingly competent, but which wont set hearts a-flutter.
When placed alongside the 3-door hatch, its obvious that the Coupe sits on a shorter wheelbase, its front and rear overhangs being slightly more gauche than the wheel-at-each-corner tautness of the hatch. Theres a 125bhp 1.7-litre engine under the hood, sorry, bonnet, which utilises Hondas now familiar VTEC valve technology, but not the next-generation iV-TEC intelligent and stepless valve control seen on the hot Civic Type-R. Talking of which, to say the Type-R has undergone a few modifications would be akin to noting that Imelda Marcos wasnt short of footwear choices.
Pride of place goes to the 2.0-litre engine, equipped with double overhead cams and intelligent VTEC, Hondas stepless valve control system, combining to generate 200PS, which in terms of good old bhp is a scarcely believable 197bhp. No, it doesnt quite approach the otherworldliness of the S2000 roadsters 237bhp from a 2.0-litre engine, but for a hot hatch its decidedly manic, especially when you consider that its attained without the aid of a turbocharger.
Used Civic prices are now settling nicely, with 2001 Y plate 1.4-litre five door S models opening at around £6,600 and 1.6-litre three door SE models retailing at around £7,000 on the same plate. If youre after a Type-R, expect to pay from £11,500 for a UK registered car whilst European imports can be found for significantly less.
Very little: the car tends to prove predictably reliable. Your biggest problem may be finding one that suits your budget. Civic owners dont seem to be selling at the moment. Whatever you decide on, a full service history is preferable.
The Type-R is a more specialist proposition and you should make sure the vehicle has been well looked after, run in synthetic oil, has tread on the front tyres and hasnt been used as a weekend warrior by a track day fiend.
(based on a 2001 5-door 1.6S approx ex-Vat) A full exhaust system (excluding catalyst) is around £210 and a full clutch assembly around £175. Front and rear brake pads are around £45 and £40 respectively per set. A starter motor is £240, a radiator around £150, and an alternator around £275.
If youre a keen driver, you neednt bother with the Coupe. Unless you really need the extra room, a
Ford Puma does a better job. If you do need the extra room, buy a Civic three-door instead. Its a far better package.
Most customers opt for the five-door car and being a Honda, is a tidy handler. The 89bhp 1.4 has proved popular, but the 108bhp 1.6 keeps more enthusiastic motorists interested.
Here, sixty is 10.4s away en route to 114mph. At the pumps meanwhile, you should be able to average over 40mpg on a regular basis, whichever of the two units you choose. Whilst sharing the same width across the floor pan as the five-door, the three-door range is in fact 145mm shorter and 60mm lower.
A 20kg weight saving translates into marginal performance advantages for the three-door cars, the 1.6-litre variants are capable of hitting 60mph in 10 seconds before running out of go at 116mph.The 89bhp 1.4-litre model manages to crack 60mph in 11.
8 seconds and boasts a terminal velocity of 110mph. Want to experience what its like to drive the Honda Civic Type-R? Easy. Go to the Extreme Sports Channel on your digital television, sit approximately four inches from your television screen, crank up the volume and sellotape an electric battery drill to the top of your head. Stay in this position until the battery fails and then try having a rational conversation.
The performance box is decisively ticked, 60mph flashing by in 6.8 frenzied seconds on its way to 145mph. Think of the rally-bred performance icons of the past such as the Ford Escort Cosworth and
Lancia Delta Integrale and the Hondas performance is in the same ballpark, only with normal aspiration, front wheel drive and post-millennial emissions regulations to contend with. Outrageous.
Bar the Coupe or a thrashed Type-R, its difficult to put a foot wrong with a used seventh generation Civic. Although the customer profile has changed and you can no longer bank on one careful elderly owner, a used Civic should be a safe source for your funds.
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