2009 HONDA CIVIC SPORT: A sensible car with a dash of sporty DNA

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/07/2009 (6299 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Honda Civic is among the most iconic compact cars on the planet. Here in North America, where the Civic made its debut way back in 1972, all other automakers have strived to build cars that do all the things the Honda Civic has continually delivered.

They are fuel-efficient, have decent resale value and, above all else, are extremely reliable.

With the exception of the more spirited Si models, the Civic has long been considered more of a bread-and-butter car than a sports car. That being said, thanks to the vivid imaginations of many Generation X auto buffs, countless Civics have been customized over the years and are largely responsible for the sport-compact craze that took the motoring world by storm in the late 1990s.

When I climbed behind the wheel of the new 2009 Honda Civic Sport sedan for a test drive, it was difficult to imagine that eight years had passed since my last Civic experience.

The 1991 Honda Civic I owned back in 2001 was best described as a "tuner" car. I was so impressed with the movie The Fast and the Furious that I went out and bought a stripped-down, jet black Honda Civic hatchback. I started modifying the car the day I got it home.

My performance modifications were typical of the era. They included a cold air intake, a tuned and noisy exhaust system, racing seats, a kicking stereo, some well-placed decals and some very low-profile tires. My daughter Katelyn, who was nine at the time, used to call it our "racing car." It was a visceral ride that handled like it was on rails and, as an added bonus, it sipped the liquid gold. A friend of mine pestered me so hard to sell him the car that I eventually caved in and let it go. My stint in the sport-compact generation was short-lived but most memorable.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the new Civic, though my first thought was that if I owned one I’d probably want to do a bunch of modifications to the car to suit my tastes. But in very short order it became apparent that the new Civic Sport sedan is a great car right out of the box.

The crisp lines of the subtle new facelift are stylish, the seats are ergonomically perfect, the controls are smartly laid out and easy to operate, the AM/FM/CD/MP3 stereo with four speakers is excellent, the back seat and the trunk are roomy. The 140-horsepower, 1.8-litre, 16-valve SOHC i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine runs as smooth as glass and the 5-speed manual transmission shifted through the gears with pinpoint accuracy. The fuel mileage was outstanding. Basically, every element of this car defines perfection.

The Sport designation is new for 2009 and replaces the former LX model.

Using the word ‘sport’ is often nothing more than a sales gimmick, but in the case of the Civic Sport, you do get a number of nice options that improve the car’s athleticism, notably 16-inch aluminium wheels wrapped in P205/55-16 tires and an upgraded disc-brake system with ventilated front discs that complement the standard ABS system.

Inside, there’s a leather-wrapped steering wheel and a 60/40 split-folding rear seat with a centre armrest. Other options found on the Sport version include a power moon roof, variable intermittent wipers, heated side mirrors, remote entry system with electric trunk release, auto-up/down driver’s power window, and a USB device connector.

The exterior trim upgrades are subtle, but the body-coloured door handles and the shiny exhaust pipe protruding from the rear bumper help sell the Sport moniker.

On the road, the Civic Sport is both spirited and confident. The handling is tight and, thanks to the manual transmission on my tester, the engine was responsive right up to the redline. It may not have been as noisy or visceral as my old "tuner" Civic, but I’m betting the new version would leave my 1991 model in the dust.

With an MSRP of $21,780, the Civic Sport sedan offers a lot of car for the money and features enough standard creature comforts to appeal to a wide variety of drivers, including sport-compact aficionados who still want a sporty car but now find themselves thinking about things like room for groceries and a baby seat.

After a week with the Civic Sport sedan, at no time did I find myself wanting to wander through the automotive accessories department at the local Canadian Tire in pursuit of bolt-on upgrades. In fact, if I owned one of these cars, I’d be hard-pressed to change a single thing.

It’s a sensible car with a dash of sporty DNA. And, as an added bonus, it’s a Honda.

willy@freepress.mb.ca

 

THE SPECS

Type: 4-door, front-wheel-drive 5-passenger sedan

Engine: 1.8-litre I4, SOHC, 16 valves

Horsepower: 140 @ 6,300 rpm; torque (lb-ft) 128 @ 4,300 rpm

Transmission: 5-speed manual/6-speed manual/CVT

Tires: P205/55 R16

Curb weight: 1,226 kg (2702 lbs)(M/T); 1,256 kg (2,769 lbs)(A/T)

Wheelbase: 2,700 mm (106.2 in.)

Length: 4,504 mm (177.3 in.)

Base price: $21,580

Freight: $1,310

Transport Canada fuel economy (L/100 km): Manual — 7.4 city; 5.4 hwy // Automatic — 8.2 city; 5.2 hwy

Warranty: 3 yrs/ 60,000 km; 5 yrs/100,000 km powertrain