Given its aggressive push on the e:HEV entrance in current occasions, it’s no shock to seek out Honda Malaysia (HM) planning to introduce yet one more hybrid mannequin, with the announcement that the native line-up for the Eleventh-gen Honda Civic will quickly embody an e:HEV variant.
The Civic e:HEV hybrid will arrive as a RS-badged model in Malaysia, and when it does, will sit on prime quality. Whereas no pricing particulars have been revealed, the order books have formally opened for the automotive. As a gauge, the petrol RS is at the moment priced at RM150,700, and in Thailand, the hybrid RS instructions a 25% premium over the petrol, so we are able to anticipate it to be costlier – the query is, by how a lot.
Forward of its full introduction, the corporate held a preview of the hybrid FE in Sepang. As is often the case with HM previews, we’re solely capable of current the outside of the automotive, with visuals of the inside being saved for the launch correct.
Exterior-wise, the RS styling remedy for the automotive implies that it seems to be very very like the petrol RS at a fast look, with an 18-inch twin-style five-spoke wheel (or 10-spoke, in twin tone, if you’ll) offering the primary visible cue to distinguish it from the petrol model.
Look nearer and also you’ll see smaller, however distinguishable, components, just like the blue accents on the Honda logos in addition to an e:HEV emblem on the rear to determine the variant. The hybrid additionally will get dressed up with extra chrome bits, with the entrance grille, headlight internal bezel and window line getting the sparkly remedy. It additionally comes with a single tailpipe finisher.
Below all that pores and skin, the Civic e:HEV options probably the most highly effective model of Honda’s Clever Multi-Mode Drive (i-MMD) system, with the setup within the automotive consisting of an electrical motor rated at 184 PS (181 hp or 135 kW) and 315 Nm, driving the entrance wheels.
Just like the Accord Hybrid, it’s paired with a 2.0 litre naturally-aspirated Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine, which gives the juice for the lithium-ion battery. Nonetheless, in contrast to the Accord, the petrol mill on this one is direct-injected. By itself, the unit provides 143 PS (141 hp) at 6,000 rpm and 189 Nm of torque, output numbers which might be marginally larger than that of the Thailand-spec model.
Additionally on, a brand new 72-cell battery that varieties a part of the smaller and lighter Clever Energy Unit and an electrical repeatedly variable transmission (E-CVT). By and huge, the petrol engine acts as a generator, with the i-MMD system working just about like an EV, with the electrical motor doing many of the work. Nonetheless, at larger speeds, the engine can present direct drive – through a lock-up clutch – for higher effectivity.
Little or no technical particulars had been introduced through the preview, however the Thailand-spec model – which went on sale in June – provides sufficient information of what to anticipate from a common viewpoint, away from package specification.
When it comes to dimensions, the hybrid is nearly an identical to the petrol model, measuring in at 4,678 mm lengthy, 1,802 mm vast and 1,415 mm tall, with a 2,734 mm-long wheelbase (2,733 mm for the petrol). It does nevertheless trip a bit larger off the bottom at 128 mm (126 mm, petrol), and the related hybrid elements implies that it’s heavier, on the Thailand-spec vehicles by round 100 kg.
Inside, there’s a 9.0-inch touchscreen Superior Show Audio infotainment system with wi-fi Apple CarPlay help and Distant Engine Begin, amongst different issues, and the RS specification in Thailand provides a black inside, dual-zone local weather management and 60:40 split-folding rear seats in addition to a Qi wi-fi charger, so these must also be on right here. What’s confirmed is that the Malaysian Civic e:HEV will function a Honda Sensible Key Card, which the present Civic line-up Civic (E, V and RS) doesn’t get.
The native automotive can even include Honda Sensing as commonplace, with the suite of driver help objects consisting of autonomous emergency braking, lane preserve help, lane departure warning, auto excessive beam, adaptive cruise management and entrance automobile departure alert.
The preview session for the automotive at Sepang additionally contained a brief drive programme, and so there was an opportunity to pattern the automotive briefly on observe. Granted, it’s a bit at odds of what the thought of a hybrid is all about, provided that the transient with that’s about gas economic system, however the thought was to point out that the hybrid isn’t any slouch relating to efficiency, and a fair higher bat than the Turbo relating to shove.
Even with half a observe and there being a necessity to scale back tempo for a slalom in the midst of the format, the hybrid made brief work of the petrol – which feels brisk sufficient – underneath full acceleration, each from a rolling begin at 60 km/h from the pit lane exit and likewise by a drag race from standstill to 100 km/h. On the latter, it aced the Turbo by greater than a automotive size over the three runs.
The course additionally contained one other train to point out off the automotive’s velocity progress up the vary from a lifeless cease, this time going uphill from standstill proper after Flip 9. In comparison with the petrol, it was simpler to hold extra velocity by Flip 11, lending to a pacier – however quieter – assault into the Flip 12 and 13 esses.
Right here, the hybrid retains all of the composure of the petrol when it comes to physique management, with the added weight imperceptible. Aided by the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 rubbers, there’s loads of grip, and the automotive locations precisely to steering enter, no much less exacting than the Turbo, and at the next velocity at that.
Whereas the session confirmed how succesful the hybrid is when it comes to velocity off the road, the expectation is that the majority who will personal one finally received’t be gunning it alongside in such trend, and that effectivity will actually be the drawing level. A highway take a look at sooner or later will present how properly it measures up on this regard. For now, it does reveal one factor – when it arrives, the Civic e:HEV would be the quickest Eleventh-gen Civic this aspect of city, till the brand new Kind R seems.