2012 Honda Civic 1.8 i-VTEC EX First Drive

When Honda decided that the European market would be allowed to have its own version of the Civic back in the early 2000s, it first sent a couple of young Japanese designers to Italy to study European cars and absorb the culture.

When quizzed on what influence the experience had on the resulting 2006 Civic, their rather startling answer was "nothing." And sure enough, looking at the radical, eighth-generation car, one that Honda called the "revolution" Civic, it was indeed hard to see much sign of European influence.

From its plunging hood to its raised tail, this hatchback was definitely different in silhouette, proportioning and detail. This Euro Civic was no less wild inside, a sizable double-decker dashboard presenting a digital speedometer close to the windshield for easier reading, the lesser dials sunk beneath a reflection-proof screen lurking behind the steering wheel.

Now the time has come for the debut of the all-new 2012 Honda Civic, and sure enough it's still an eccentric-looking hatchback. But is it a better one this time around?

A More Modest Revolution
We're not sure about the revolution bit this time, as this car is looking very much the mature descendant of its predecessor. The plunging hood line appears once again, as do the small — but not quite so small — glass house, the tall tail and inside, the double-decker dashboard.

Its mechanical essence remains the same, too. Both the 1.4 and 1.8 gasoline engines and the 2.2 diesel are carried over from the last car, as is the suspension consisting of MacPherson struts up front and a twist-beam axle at the rear.

But there have been upgrades to all the core hardware and detail design, much of it aimed at quelling customer criticism. Some of those gripes were no surprise when you consider that plenty of British Civic buyers were on the older side, their age-stiffened necks struggling to allow them to see past the shallow rear windscreen and a pair of exceptionally fat D-pillars.

This time the tailgate glazing drops deeper, the rear side windows are (slightly) larger and somebody remembered that fitting a rear windshield wiper is quite a good idea in often-rainy Europe.

Confident front-end bite, limited roll and good balance make this Civic a pleasure to push hard.

Buyers of all ages weren't exactly delighted with the low-grade, hard-feel plastics that formed the uniquely sculpted dashboard either. So the 2012 Honda Civic gets a soft-feel skin for its dashboard and door tops, a much classier, chrome-edged analog instrument cluster beneath that digital speedo. It also added more expensive-looking seats, a driver-info display screen and a classier-looking wheel. The doors don't trumpet their cheapness with a clang when you open and close them, either.

Needs the "Big" Engine
With a bigger, heavier body to haul about, the base 100-horsepower 1.4 i-VTEC engine has quite a lot to do, as a 0-62-mph time of 13.4 seconds proves. But Honda's tradition for rev-happy gasoline engines means that you can get along quite briskly if you flatten the throttle and flick the slick six-speed shifter with commitment.

The larger, 142-hp 1.8-liter i-VTEC motor shaves this time to a decidedly more interesting 9.1 seconds. Like the smaller 1.4, the bigger engine benefits from improved combustion chamber design and an array of friction- and weight-reducing tweaks. Then there's the 2.2-liter diesel engine that will be the most alien to American Civic owners. It puts out 150 hp and a decent 218 pound-feet of torque from 2,000-2,750 rpm, although most modern Euro diesels punch out maximums much earlier than this, and do it more quietly besides.

The 1.8 is the pick of the range, and not only for its power. A light variation on the same 140-hp 1.8 that U.S. Civics get, this engine's manners are now decidedly more civilized. You enjoy a smooth crescendo of power that's free of the spurious, humming resonances heard in the previous car, and it stays sweet through to the final surge of VTEC power just before the limiter calls time at 6,800 rpm. True, midrange tug could be stronger, but the good news is that its engineers have silenced the overly intrusive buzz that usually characterizes a happily chattering Honda engine.

Hydraulically Smoothed Ride
Many fingered the Civic's cheap twist-beam rear axle as the culprit for its previously busy ride quality, not least because rivals like Ford and VW provide more sophisticated (and costlier) multilink rear suspensions for their Focus and Golf hatchbacks.

Honda protests, with some validity, that its layout provides more trunk space, but there was no question that it forced a less than stellar ride and fairly average handling on Civic owners. With that in mind, Honda has stuck with that twist beam, strengthening its tube walls and cushioning the trailing arms that bookend it with hydraulic bushings in a quest to calm the ride.

Honda also revised the front suspension, stiffened the body shell and put in many thousands of miles thrashing around Europe's autobahns and back roads. The result, says Honda, is a chassis that's simultaneously softer-riding, more agile and more than a match for any pesky multilink setup.

Sharp Handling Hatch
Honda isn't off the mark on this one, as the chassis is almost certainly one of the best Honda hatches in quite some time, a discovery that came with a hard charge along a road about as smooth as the skin of an aging toad. But this Civic absorbed its bumps, lumps and thumps with the poised calm of a more expensive car, and it's just as impressive in turns.

Confident front-end bite, limited roll and good balance make the 2012 Honda Civic a pleasure to push harder with every turn. Get to the grip limit and a brief throttle release will have its nose scribing tighter, and if you kill the stability control, you'll uncover a chassis that's pretty controllable on the edge, too.

Of the three engines, the 1.8-liter mates best with the chassis. The heavier diesel feels less agile and absorbent and the ride of the lighter 1.4 sometimes gets choppier at high speed. Admittedly the steering in all three cars is overly light and slightly desensitized, but it's accurate and does manage to warn when the grip limit is imminent.

Should We Want One?
Well, it's a decidedly more satisfying Civic; that's for sure. It's more fun to drive, quieter, better finished, more economical and (slightly) easier to see out of compared to its predecessor.

Some may not like its rather heavy-looking rear end, and the clever folding rear seat isn't all that comfortable for traditional use. It's a shame, too, that some of the unique features like the aluminum door handles have gone.

But there's no question that this is a better Civic overall. It's not revolutionary, and still not very European either, but as hatchbacks go, it's an upgrade that needed to happen.

Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.