Road test: the Honda Civic RS is a safe and stylish performer

The early 1990s were my formative driving years, exploring and reviewing new cars as a motoring writer. This also coincided with the peak of Honda’s golden era, when it seemingly could do no wrong using its performance engineering and technology.

Honda developed the world's first mechanical four-wheel steering system in a mass-produced car for the 1989 Prelude and delivered Japan’s first supercar, the NSX, a year later that featured VTEC variable valve timing. While it wasn’t the first ever to commercialise this technology, as Alfa Romeo did that with the US-spec 1980 Spider, VTEC made cult models out from the CRX, Type-R Integra and S2000 that buzzed to an ear-splitting 9,000rpm.

As well, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet were winning Formula One races and world championships with Honda-powered McLaren, Lotus and Williams teams, while Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi were doing the same on Honda motorcycles, dominating the 500cc World Championships for practically two decades.

Racing is cyclical, and it had been inevitable there will be newcomers to take the crown, but adrenalin models such as the NSX, CRX and S2000 disappeared even though the quality hasn't waned from the standard models up.

Encouragingly, in the same way Honda is time for the victory lane in Formula One, winning last month’s Monaco Grand Prix with Red Bull Racing, so, too, the first shoots of excitement are creeping back in because of their road cars in the centre East with the Civic RS.

It’s still quite a distance from the extraverted, winged, high-revving Type-R Civic sold elsewhere and, even though this 10th-generation Civic has nearly run its life, with the 11th generation due next year, the new RS derivative is a refreshingly enthusiastic drive for its market segment.

The RS has dual-zone climate-control air conditioning, a reverse camera, front and rear parking sensors, keyless entry and start, a power driver's seat, auto LED headlights, LED daylight running lights, 18-inch alloy wheels, a 10-speaker stereo, imitation leather for the seats and Apple CarPlay as standard.

It’s powered by a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, turbocharged engine that develops 170 brake horsepower at 5,500rpm, and 220Nm of torque between 1,700 and 5,500rpm, which is 31bhp and 46Nm through to the regular non-turbo, 1.8-litre motor in other models.

While I’m not really a huge fan of CVT transmissions, they do return outstanding fuel economy, and at least the CVT in the Civic RS includes a stepped change programmed into its ECU to provide the sensation of it changing gears by using the paddle shifts.

It’s a little of a casino game, as you’re not really changing gears at all, given it’s a constantly variable system, nonetheless it feels sportier than other CVT units. Having peak torque develop down at 1,700rpm also helps, as does the crisp throttle response matched to a beautifully revvy engine that reminds me of these classic Hondas, delivering power to the very best end of the rev band.

Hondas also have traditionally had great driving positions which remains true with the RS, with a nicely balanced tyre that was placed so as to keep a clear view of the no-fuss, yet still futuristic digital gauges and offer easy reach of surrounding buttons.

The seats are hugging, offering nice side support without being overly cramped, permitting you to spend hours within, but nonetheless be well supported on winding roads.

I like that one could lower the seat down to the floor to provide a far more sporting vibe. The weighting of the wheel and the ancillary controls all enhance the quality feel you get through the entire interior.

The cabin is spacious and comfortable, and the five-inch centre console screen has an added feature that needs to be mandatory on all cars in this region as it offers a second pair of eyes when indicating to improve lanes.

Flick the indicator and a camera under each rear view mirror shows you the blind i'm all over this screen. It’s ideal for right turns in which a rogue food courier bike may have snuck between you and the gutter, or if you’re merging left to the motorway. In less than a day, this became a supplementary safety feature I began to count on while negotiating our busy streets and motorways.

There are USB ports and wireless charging for your phone nevertheless they are semi-hidden and not in the easiest places if you want them. There’s also lots of storage space with a sizable centre console bin, cupholders and places for keys and wallets.

The stylish lines of the Civic RS are a winner and it'll still look good in years from now; however, it comes at the tiny price of the cut lines that produce entry to the boot tighter than I’d like.

That’s because the boot has a huge 519-litre capacity that extends to almost double that whenever you fold the 60:40 split rear seats flat. It turns the Civic RS right into a genuine load-lugger for things such as bicycles and small ladders, so long as you can get them through the relatively small boot opening to start out with.

The Honda Civic RS is a nicely balanced, sharp-looking and spacious runaround that’s economical thanks to its CVT transmission and has perky performance from Honda’s renowned engineering prowess, extracting great performance from a little engine. You can’t help but feel its hereditary when you hook it up for some nice roads.

Here’s hoping this signals the start of Honda’s go back to its performance glory days.