The ultra-green Honda Civic will save the planet… and your pocket, says Dave Phillips, our new motoring correspondent
Green is good when it comes to buying a car. Even if saving the planet isn’t top of your personal agenda, you’re on to a winner if you buy a greener car.
Lower fuel consumption and cheaper road tax means more pounds in your pocket rather than the Chancellor’s – and as I’ve never met Alastair Darling I don’t know any sane person who would object to that.
It’s clear that driving a conventional car will get more and more expensive in the future. We need to look for a greener alternative…
In which case, look no further than the Honda Civic Hybrid. It’s greener than Monty Don’s fingernails, yet it’s a delight to drive.
There’s nothing offbeat or hippy about the Civic. It doesn’t have a wind turbine on the roof. It looks and feels like a normal family saloon, with four doors and a capacious boot, and the sort of pleasing handling and performance you’d expect from a car of its ilk.
Beneath the bonnet lurks a 1.4-litre petrol engine, which is boosted by an electric motor behind the back seats that assists the main engine when you’re accelerating and takes over completely when you’re at a standstill. The electric motor gets charged from all that wasteful energy a normal car loses when you brake or slow down.
What all this means is that you get the comparable performance of a bigger, 1.6-litre engine, yet the fuel economy of a diesel (officially 61mpg… but I achieved 50+) without the harmful particulate emissions.
At the time of writing, road tax is just £40 (as opposed to £125 for a conventional car) and if you want to drive it into central London you won’t have to pay the congestion charge. At £16,300 it’s cheaper than its only real rival, the Toyota Prius (almost £18,000).
That alone should be enough to put a smile on your face. But you will be even happier knowing that it emits just 109g/km of CO2 – your contribution to helping make the planet a better place for future generations.
The automatic gearbox means it’s an effortless joy to drive. The electric motor is so quiet that at first you’ll think you’ve stalled every time you pull up at junctions and roundabouts.
The excellent dashboard layout includes electronic indicators to tell you what sort of fuel consumption you’re achieving and whether the electric motor is assisting or charging. Once the novelty of watching that lot has worn off, you’ll be entertained by the excellent radio and CD multiplayer which, like air con, alloy wheels and the usual mod cons you expect from modern cars, comes as standard.
In short, it’s a brilliant car that will save your pocket as well as the planet.
(as they say in Bretton)
Superb engineering is what attracts drivers to German marques like BMW, Mercedes and Audi. But would-be customers are all too often put off by eye-watering servicing charges at main dealers.
Peterborough-based Elite Auto Works hopes to change that situation by specialising in servicing and repairs to German cars at real-world prices.
Elite is a family-owned business, run by a manufacturer-trained technician, with full professional electronic diagnostic equipment and original equipment quality parts.
Drivers of newer vehicles still under manufacturers’ warranties can rest assured that using Elite rather than an official franchise dealer will not affect those warranties in any way.
Visit the company’s fully-equipped new workshop at Unit 1, Peartree Business Centre, Enterprise Way, Bretton PE3 8YQ, or phone 01733 265812.
PS: Vorsprung durch technik is German for “progress through technology”.
Back on the green theme, the ultra-efficient new VW Golf BlueMotion hatchback is now available from King’s Lynn Volkswagen.
Revised aerodynamics, optimised gear ratios, a new turbocharger and hard compound tyres mean a reduction in loading on the engine, resulting in a rise in efficiency and lower emissions.
The new BlueMotion model is powered by a 1.9-litre TDI 105 PS unit linked to a diesel particulate filter in the exhaust system. In the Golf this means a combined economy figure of 62.8 mpg and CO2 emissions of just 119 g/km - and a range of 750 miles on a full tank.
The Golf BlueMotion enjoys Vehicle Excise Duty band B (£40 a year) and from October will be exempt from the London Congestion Charge.
Priced from £15,565 to £16,745, the new models represent good value for money coupled with the usual VW engineering excellence. All have a five-speed manual gearbox as standard.
King’s Lynn Volkswagen is based at the North Lynn Industrial Estate, King’s Lynn. For more details visit: www.myvolkswagen.org.uk.
King’s Lynn Volkswagen is hosting vehicle auctions with a difference. The first will be held on Thursday April 10, and will offer over 70 quality used cars. A catalogue of vehicles under the hammer can be seen at the VW retailer’s website, www.myvolkswagen.org.uk and all can be viewed or test-driven in advance.
An auctioneer will be hosting the event and in addition King Lynn Volkswagen will be offering part-exchange and financing advice… plus complimentary fish and chips!