2012 Honda Civic 2.2-litre i-DTEC with just 110g/km CO2

2012 Honda Civic - cleaner, greener, more powerful & more economical

Honda are taking the launch of the new Civic for 2012  properly seriously, and looking to make it a properly good alternative to stuff like the Focus and Golf.

That means the 2012 Honda Civic is going to have to handle properly as well as being very well put together. And on that score Honda are promising improved ride and handling for the 2012 Civic (despite a less than cutting-edge suspension at the back) and say it will be more stable and precise. Which all sounds good.

But this is 2011, so Honda need to work the oracle on emissions, power and economy if they are to match what the competition is doing. And they are working hard in that direction too.

Honda has been tweaking and fettling the 2.2-litre i-DTEC engine to coax just a little bit more power out of it – 148bhp, up 10bhp, and a smidge extra torque, up from 251lbs/ft to 258lb/ft – and better fuel consumption too, although Honda are declining to say what exactly that is yet.

Probably most significant, with a big chunk of motoring-related taxation tied up with CO2 emissions, the new Civic’s 2.2 litre diesel will arrive with a CO2 figure of just 110g/km of CO2.

That’s a drop of 29g/km over the outgoing car and is thanks to a slippier shape, the aforementioned tweaks to the engine and the addition of stop-start.

But how Honda has achieved the reduction – whilst improving power and economy – doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that it means owners will find the 2012 Civic costs nothing in road tax in the first year and only £20 a year after that, and company car drivers will find BIK rates much lower than much of the competition.

Maybe the 2012 Honda Civic will actually turn out to be desirable for more than just its reliability.

By Cars UK