2008 HONDA Civic reviews

Honda Civic 2.2 i-CTDi 2008

Bought this car 3 years ago because it promised more grunt than my old 1.6 petrol civic, better fuel economy and more space. It has delivered on counts: smiles, savings and practicality. Acceleration is fairly spongy, perhaps due to turbo lag or software induced delay to meet emissions targets (achieves 135 g/km CO2). This can be forgiven because sooner or later you will find the time to stay in gear, and use all the torque tearing away uphill at 2000 rpm. Economy is as billed: 60 mpg @ 65 mph, or if you prefer to thrash around then 44 mpg is about as low as it goes. Only fly in the ointment has been reliability. I received a letter in the post telling me that my car wouldn’t start after my holiday - and it didn’t. Still, not all manufacturers gave written warning in advance of failure. Software defect caused too much current drain when unused for 3 weeks. Secondly, the right-rear shock failed. Both issues were fixed very quickly under warranty - no stress. Try it if you like cheap thrills.