Driven: Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC

Does the Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC deliver on its promise of incredible fuel economy?

Of all the figures associated with the Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC one impressed me most: 66.5mpg.

That’s not the EU Combined fuel consumption. It’s the figure I achieved over the course of 509 miles, driving on a range of roads (mostly motorways), at “typical” UK speeds. It makes it the most fuel-efficient petrol- or diesel-powered production car I’ve driven.

Admittedly, that's as indicated by the Civic’s information display, but previous experience (I ran a Civic 2.2 i-DTEC for eight months and almost 15,000 miles in a previous job) suggests that it’s unerringly accurate.

As we all know, the vagaries of the test procedure mean that few cars can hope to match their “official” mpg, but this Civic gets reasonably close to its 78.5mpg EU Combined average. And few people are likely to be disappointed with real-world economy of almost 70mpg.

Unlike some eco-special models, there's no sense that driveability has been sacrified to maximise efficiency. The engine doesn’t give the shove-in-the-back acceleration that the 2.2 does, but it’s easy enough to keep it in its comfort zone, so you don’t need to be heavy-footed and send the mpg plummeting.