Honda chose the Frankfurt Motor Show for the world premiere of the new Civic Tourer, as Europe will be the largest market for the C-segment estate (no, it’s not coming to North America). Developed and designed in Europe, the new Civic Tourer offers a huge trunk volume of 624 liters (22 cubic ft).
Compared to the equally-fresh Seat Leon ST, which is one of its competitors, the Honda’s boot offers 37 more liters. When the rear seats are folded down, the volume turns really cavernous – 1,668 liters (58.9 cubic ft) up to the roof lining.
The Civic Tourer will be offered with Honda’s 1.6 i-DTEC diesel engine which develops 120 PS (118hp) and 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) of torque, while CO2 emissions are 99 g/km. The estate will also be available with the 1.8 i-VTEC gasoline engine paired with either a manual or an automatic transmission, which emits from 148 g of CO2 per km.
The design of the Civic Tourer, particularly its proportions, somewhat manage to hide the amount of space available inside. To be able to do that, designers extended the glass of the rear quarter window in order to cover the body work of the D-pillar, while the rear door sash has been raised by 17mm (0.67in) compared to the Civic 5-door.
Like the latter, the Civic Tourer benefits from the same center fuel tank layout (under the front seats), a trick which contributed to obtaining more interior space and to fit Honda’s magic seat configuration.
The Honda Civic Tourer will be built alongside the five-door hatchback at Honda’s UK manufacturing facility and will launch in Europe from early 2014.
By Dan Mihalascu
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