The 1.4 Petrol version

lobey dosser · 28th March 2008, 01:35

I've just spent 3 days with an 07 1.4 Civic courtesy car (5000 miles only on the clock) while mine was in for a minor bodywork fix. (thank you, Lady Dosser!)

I can't say that I liked the 1.4 much, in all honesty. (sorry if you own one).

It is so underpowered that it's a real chore to drive, having really poor acceleration and hill-climbing ability.
When joining main roads (even 30mph ones) I found that I was having to let decent gaps in traffic go by because I didn't have the oomph to merge in safely.

A steepish hill round here, that the diesel can take in 4th or 5th, was a struggle in 3rd with the 1.4 engine.
Perhaps the digital speedo doesn't help here, but going up hills was torture to watch as the digits went slowly through 27.....28.....29.
It was also very noisy in the lower gears, even at moderate revs, and there appeared to be no real acceleration advantage in holding the revs into the 5-6000 range.
It simply got noisier, but not much faster.
There seemed to be a bit more road noise, too, but that may have been down to the Dunlop Sport tyres.

On the plus side, once the car was rolling along in 5th or 6th, it was much more quiet and civilised and much more like the diesel experience.
Having said that, I didn't go far at that speed so I couldn't assess whether it ran out of steam and required lower gears on motorway hills.

Again to be a wee bit more positive, the economy was very much better than I expected.
On a 40 mile run of 40% motorway, 20% urban dual carriageway and 40% city driving, it ran at 43-45 mpg. Even in full city conditions it was around the 40mpg mark.
This is, unfortunately, achieved by not pumping sufficient petrol through the engine to generate any power!

All in all, driving the 1.4 Civic reminded me of nothing so much as an "Eco" Corsa I once hired in Mallorca

- but more roomy and comfortable.

Again - sorry to all owners but it wouldn't be the version for me.

ASH · 28th March 2008, 07:41

Ｉｆ you can afford 15grand & insurance gr.9, 1.8L is certainly better than 1.4L.

I once test drove Civic 1.4(14grand+ins gr.4) and Jazz 1.4(12grand+ins gr.4), stability & confort on motorway was so much better on Civic 1.4.

In the end, I went for 1.8 Civic, though.

kenP · 28th March 2008, 20:07

I couldn't understand the pricing on the 1.4, it was only £600 cheaper than the 1.8 which equates to the price of the alloys. The only reason I could see for going for the 1.4 is if you need to keep the insurance costs down.

HappyMan · 29th March 2008, 09:24

I suppose the 1.4 is aimed at younger buyers who may not be able to afford the insurance of the 1.8 version but would still be able to buy the car.

Thanks for the comments LD, very interesting.

28th March 2008, 01:35	#1 (permalink)
lobey dosser Supporter Locking Wheelnut Join Date: 21st May 2007 Location: Glasgow Posts: 180 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	The 1.4 Petrol version I've just spent 3 days with an 07 1.4 Civic courtesy car (5000 miles only on the clock) while mine was in for a minor bodywork fix. (thank you, Lady Dosser!) I can't say that I liked the 1.4 much, in all honesty. (sorry if you own one). It is so underpowered that it's a real chore to drive, having really poor acceleration and hill-climbing ability. When joining main roads (even 30mph ones) I found that I was having to let decent gaps in traffic go by because I didn't have the oomph to merge in safely. A steepish hill round here, that the diesel can take in 4th or 5th, was a struggle in 3rd with the 1.4 engine. Perhaps the digital speedo doesn't help here, but going up hills was torture to watch as the digits went slowly through 27.....28.....29. It was also very noisy in the lower gears, even at moderate revs, and there appeared to be no real acceleration advantage in holding the revs into the 5-6000 range. It simply got noisier, but not much faster. There seemed to be a bit more road noise, too, but that may have been down to the Dunlop Sport tyres. On the plus side, once the car was rolling along in 5th or 6th, it was much more quiet and civilised and much more like the diesel experience. Having said that, I didn't go far at that speed so I couldn't assess whether it ran out of steam and required lower gears on motorway hills. Again to be a wee bit more positive, the economy was very much better than I expected. On a 40 mile run of 40% motorway, 20% urban dual carriageway and 40% city driving, it ran at 43-45 mpg. Even in full city conditions it was around the 40mpg mark. This is, unfortunately, achieved by not pumping sufficient petrol through the engine to generate any power! All in all, driving the 1.4 Civic reminded me of nothing so much as an "Eco" Corsa I once hired in Mallorca - but more roomy and comfortable. Again - sorry to all owners but it wouldn't be the version for me.

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This thread is about: The 1.4 Petrol version, it's in User Reviews at the Honda Civic forum Civinfo; I've just spent 3 days with an 07 1.4 Civic courtesy car (5000 miles only on the clock) while mine was in for a minor ...

28th March 2008, 07:41	#2 (permalink)
ASH Wheelnut Join Date: 29th September 2007 Location: London Posts: 84 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Ｉｆ you can afford 15grand & insurance gr.9, 1.8L is certainly better than 1.4L. I once test drove Civic 1.4(14grand+ins gr.4) and Jazz 1.4(12grand+ins gr.4), stability & confort on motorway was so much better on Civic 1.4. In the end, I went for 1.8 Civic, though.

28th March 2008, 20:07	#3 (permalink)
kenP Supporter Wheelnut Join Date: 12th January 2008 Location: West Midlands, UK Posts: 79 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	I couldn't understand the pricing on the 1.4, it was only £600 cheaper than the 1.8 which equates to the price of the alloys. The only reason I could see for going for the 1.4 is if you need to keep the insurance costs down.

29th March 2008, 09:24	#4 (permalink)
HappyMan Super Moderator Rocketship door handle Join Date: 16th August 2007 Location: Poland Posts: 1,457 Thanks: 7 Thanked 13 Times in 13 Posts	I suppose the 1.4 is aimed at younger buyers who may not be able to afford the insurance of the 1.8 version but would still be able to buy the car. Thanks for the comments LD, very interesting.