Hi Civinfoers,
I’ve had my 2014 Civic Vti-S Hatchback (Australia) with the R18 1.8L and 6 Speed Manual for almost 2 years now and would like to share my ownership experiences with you over it’s life so far. Previously owned a 2008 Accord V6 Luxury 5 Speed Auto (wide-body US design, Thailand built) an amazing car in it’s own right but could not bear the fuel economy! (blame my lead foot).
I also thought it’d be interesting to share an Australian review of the car since these cars are in my opinion, very underrated and not well known as the sedan counterpart which has lets say unfavourable reviews due to it’s poorer build quality and value compared to rivals.
Firstly why did I pick the Civic hatch compared to other competitors in the segment:
- Uniqueness and rarity on Australian roads (something different)
- Manual gearbox (Honda makes the best in my opinion)
- Magic seat practicality
- Something reasonably fun to drive
Being one of the lucky ones to discover this odd-ball model in the local lineup, I decided to head to the nearest Honda dealer to have a look. I read that the previous 8G had a base price of 40k (AUD) upon release due to the import costs but later Honda reduced this to 30k but by then most consumers had lost interest in the car. The 9G that I got was the base model at around 22k (Honda learnt their lesson with pricing) and for that money the car is excellent value for money in opinion.
First I will explain the trim levels we get here. Initially 3 trim levels were available:
1) Vti-S (Base and a choice of 6 Speed manual standard or option 5 speed auto)
2) Vti-L (Auto only) with leather only Series I models
3) Vti-LN (Auto only) same as Vti-L but with navigation
In 2013 the Dti-S 1.6L Turbo Diesel was introduced here but was a very slow seller mainly because it was a niche model and also because the majority (I’d say 75% of Australians) drive Automatics. In terms of spec it was between the Vti-S and Vti-L.
As of the Series 2 update, the Dti-S was discontinued and Honda decided to cheap out on the Vti-L and reserved leather only for the top of the range Vti-LN but at least the Civic Hatch had decent equipment in base form including the addition of cruise control, Bluetooth, door tweeters which we didn’t get previously.
Wanting a manual naturally the only choice was the Vti-S anyway.
So far, I have covered nearly 50,000 in the two years I’ve had it.
Some of the pros:
- Space and practicality with magic seats is awesome. It’s like a tardis in there
- European style and design
- Generally good build quality and a good choice of materials
- Two tiered digital dash
- Speed limiter function
- Is miles better than the sedan counterpart
- Supple ride quality
- Nice progressive brakes
- Great heater (must be because it’s always cold in the UK)
- Typical snick snick manual gearbox
- Fuel efficient even when you drive it hard
- Nice nimble handling (this was surprising considering how large it looks)
- Light clutch and smooth steering
- Free revving and fun R18 motor
- Great grip from standard continental tyres
- Standard safety features seatbelt reminders, full airbags all around, VSA and knowing the front black insert in the front is pedestrian impact ‘friendly’
- Most aerodynamic car in it’s class
- Standard TPMS and reversing camera
- Added rear wiper compared to 8g
Cons:
- 8G looks sportier and feels a bit more premium in some small areas eg. Cooled glovebox etc
- Steering wheel material in base model is not very nice (Urethane)
- Seating position is too high even in it’s lowest setting (I’m aware this is because the fuel tank is under the seat for magic seat design)
- Visibility isn’t the best but standard rear camera helps massively
- A few minor squeaks and rattles coming from the rear hatch area
- Seats themselves can be somewhat uncomfortable in terms of lumbar I find but they have become better over the mileage put on the car
- Airconditioner is weak for Australia and saps engine power when on
- Econ mode is useless makes the response extremely dull
- No option to turn off hill start assist or have any indicator it’s engaged on the dash
- Minimum requirement for 95 octane wheras the sedan can take 91 minimum (why?)
- Sound system is passable but used to be premium for Series I models
- Brake pads dust excessively and wear out quite quickly
- Stupid aero pieces under the front bumper scrape on literally everything (have since removed this)
- Torsion beam rear can be felt at times (not really a con but something to get used to)
- Subpar headlights especially in base model
- Soft paintwork and excessive stonechips (a general Honda complaint really)
- No sliding armrest (miss this from my old Accord)
- Small square cupholders which are barely cupholders)
- Lack of a cubby in the front to put your phone (I use the supposed cupholder instead)
- Headunit is not easily upgradable to an aftermarket system without the loss of access to imid settings
- Ugly black wheel arch trim pieces (I assume this is to combat rust in rainy and wet climates like the UK?)
- Wipers are better at smearing dirt on the windscreen as opposed to clearing water
- Lack of torque and gear ratios which seem to be more focused towards fuel economy
- More frequent and relatively expensive service intervals in Australia (every 6 months or 10,000km)
All this being said, I’m extremely happy with the purchase and would rate the car a solid 7.5 to 8 out of 10 and I hope to continue enjoying it for many years to come.
I’ve had my 2014 Civic Vti-S Hatchback (Australia) with the R18 1.8L and 6 Speed Manual for almost 2 years now and would like to share my ownership experiences with you over it’s life so far. Previously owned a 2008 Accord V6 Luxury 5 Speed Auto (wide-body US design, Thailand built) an amazing car in it’s own right but could not bear the fuel economy! (blame my lead foot).
I also thought it’d be interesting to share an Australian review of the car since these cars are in my opinion, very underrated and not well known as the sedan counterpart which has lets say unfavourable reviews due to it’s poorer build quality and value compared to rivals.
Firstly why did I pick the Civic hatch compared to other competitors in the segment:
- Uniqueness and rarity on Australian roads (something different)
- Manual gearbox (Honda makes the best in my opinion)
- Magic seat practicality
- Something reasonably fun to drive
Being one of the lucky ones to discover this odd-ball model in the local lineup, I decided to head to the nearest Honda dealer to have a look. I read that the previous 8G had a base price of 40k (AUD) upon release due to the import costs but later Honda reduced this to 30k but by then most consumers had lost interest in the car. The 9G that I got was the base model at around 22k (Honda learnt their lesson with pricing) and for that money the car is excellent value for money in opinion.
First I will explain the trim levels we get here. Initially 3 trim levels were available:
1) Vti-S (Base and a choice of 6 Speed manual standard or option 5 speed auto)
2) Vti-L (Auto only) with leather only Series I models
3) Vti-LN (Auto only) same as Vti-L but with navigation
In 2013 the Dti-S 1.6L Turbo Diesel was introduced here but was a very slow seller mainly because it was a niche model and also because the majority (I’d say 75% of Australians) drive Automatics. In terms of spec it was between the Vti-S and Vti-L.
As of the Series 2 update, the Dti-S was discontinued and Honda decided to cheap out on the Vti-L and reserved leather only for the top of the range Vti-LN but at least the Civic Hatch had decent equipment in base form including the addition of cruise control, Bluetooth, door tweeters which we didn’t get previously.
Wanting a manual naturally the only choice was the Vti-S anyway.
So far, I have covered nearly 50,000 in the two years I’ve had it.
Some of the pros:
- Space and practicality with magic seats is awesome. It’s like a tardis in there
- European style and design
- Generally good build quality and a good choice of materials
- Two tiered digital dash
- Speed limiter function
- Is miles better than the sedan counterpart
- Supple ride quality
- Nice progressive brakes
- Great heater (must be because it’s always cold in the UK)
- Typical snick snick manual gearbox
- Fuel efficient even when you drive it hard
- Nice nimble handling (this was surprising considering how large it looks)
- Light clutch and smooth steering
- Free revving and fun R18 motor
- Great grip from standard continental tyres
- Standard safety features seatbelt reminders, full airbags all around, VSA and knowing the front black insert in the front is pedestrian impact ‘friendly’
- Most aerodynamic car in it’s class
- Standard TPMS and reversing camera
- Added rear wiper compared to 8g
Cons:
- 8G looks sportier and feels a bit more premium in some small areas eg. Cooled glovebox etc
- Steering wheel material in base model is not very nice (Urethane)
- Seating position is too high even in it’s lowest setting (I’m aware this is because the fuel tank is under the seat for magic seat design)
- Visibility isn’t the best but standard rear camera helps massively
- A few minor squeaks and rattles coming from the rear hatch area
- Seats themselves can be somewhat uncomfortable in terms of lumbar I find but they have become better over the mileage put on the car
- Airconditioner is weak for Australia and saps engine power when on
- Econ mode is useless makes the response extremely dull
- No option to turn off hill start assist or have any indicator it’s engaged on the dash
- Minimum requirement for 95 octane wheras the sedan can take 91 minimum (why?)
- Sound system is passable but used to be premium for Series I models
- Brake pads dust excessively and wear out quite quickly
- Stupid aero pieces under the front bumper scrape on literally everything (have since removed this)
- Torsion beam rear can be felt at times (not really a con but something to get used to)
- Subpar headlights especially in base model
- Soft paintwork and excessive stonechips (a general Honda complaint really)
- No sliding armrest (miss this from my old Accord)
- Small square cupholders which are barely cupholders)
- Lack of a cubby in the front to put your phone (I use the supposed cupholder instead)
- Headunit is not easily upgradable to an aftermarket system without the loss of access to imid settings
- Ugly black wheel arch trim pieces (I assume this is to combat rust in rainy and wet climates like the UK?)
- Wipers are better at smearing dirt on the windscreen as opposed to clearing water
- Lack of torque and gear ratios which seem to be more focused towards fuel economy
- More frequent and relatively expensive service intervals in Australia (every 6 months or 10,000km)
All this being said, I’m extremely happy with the purchase and would rate the car a solid 7.5 to 8 out of 10 and I hope to continue enjoying it for many years to come.
