Honda Civic Tourer 2015 review

The fact that most the changes to Honda’s Civic Tourer are largely cosmetic is no bad thing. With savings of up to £1,620 across the range, the estate model is better value than ever before – and still comes with a huge 624-litre boot.

We tested the 2015 Honda Civic earlier this month – but those changes weren’t limited to the hatchack. The improvements have been applied to the practical Tourer estate, too.

That means new headlights with LED daytime running lights, refreshed bumper designs and an updated grille. Honda has also done some work on the Tourer’s interior, with the same updated Android infotainment system from the hatch, as well as new door trims, seat fabrics and dashboard panels.

Luckily the engineers have done nothing to alter this car’s practicality. The 624-litre boot keeps it at the top of its class, surpassed only by the Peugeot 308 SW, which pips it with a vast 660-litre load bay. Space in the back of the Civic is good, too, and the seats fold fantastically in one smooth action.

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Our range-topping EX Plus is actually £1,320 less like-for-like than the previous generation car, making it better value than before. Standard kit is good – as you’d expect at this price – including 17-inch alloy wheels, heated leather seats and automatic climate control. All models get the new Honda Connect central screen too, with our EX Plus also boasting built-in sat-nav with European mapping.

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For £600, Civic Tourer buyers can also spec a Driver Assistance Package, adding safety tech such as forward collision warning, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition and automatic high beam support. While that seems reasonable value, few new car buyers will be prepared to stump up more of their hard-earned cash for extra safety tech, especially when you consider metallic paint will set you back £525.

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It's available with 1.8-litre i-VTEC petrol and 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel engines, and despite the extra bulk, it doesn’t feel hugely different to the hatch - with a well sorted chassis, nicely weighted steering and decent motorway refinement. It suffers the same delayed lug of torque, meaning progress at low revs is limited, but as the revs build the engine feels much more useable.

The frugal diesel engine means it's among the cheapest cars in its class to drive, too. Honda says it’ll do 72.4mpg in mixed motoring, though in our experience you’ll need a very light right foot to achieve figures like that. We managed 54.1mpg over six months during our time with the pre-facelift car, last year.

While the updates haven’t changed the way the car drives, the improved kit list and tweaked styling make it an even more attractive ownership proposition. Most buyers will be happy with the lesser SE Plus or SR trim models, but if you want all the bells and whistles, this top-spec EX should fit the bill nicely.