Review: Honda Civic e:HEV RS – All Hail The New King!

It is no secret that our local market space has been hit with an SUV epidemic in a few years’ time. Shrouded amongst the barrage of SUVs are several sedan models, which by their own right, still garner a set of loyal fans and enthusiasts, albeit at a much smaller scale now.

Among the few sedans left, particularly in the C segment, lies a proclaimed ‘king’ that’s a beloved nameplate amongst many. Of course, we’re talking about the Honda Civic, which recently entered its eleventh iteration here, known by its FE1 chassis code.

The Honda Civic e:HEV RS arrives as the new range-topping Civic FE model!

While the eleventh-gen model has debuted in our market for a few years already, Honda Malaysia introduced a whole new guise late last year, which is the Honda Civic e:HEV RS – the new range-topper. Like the turbocharged RS model, this hybrid flavour boasts enough sporty bits and chops to make it a worthy range-topper, as well as further establishing the Civic’s as the ‘king’ of the C-segment sedan in our market.

Having spent a few days with this new sporty hybrid variant, it is safe to say that the new Civic e:HEV RS has raised the bar that’s been set quite high by its turbocharged twin. Allow us to digress…

OVERVIEW

Truth be told, the FE-generation Civic does not bear any resemblance to its predecessor, featuring a more ‘mature’ and sleek design compared to the FC-gen Civic’s over-the-top styling.

The hybrid RS model gains several chrome finishes, including new 18-inch wheels

Similar to the non-hybrid RS model, the Civic e:HEV RS is bestowed with a slew of sporty touches, albeit with more chrome finishing. Key highlights include chrome surrounds in its LED headlights, new 18-inch wheels with two-tone chrome and gloss black finish, as well as chrome trims in the front grille, door handles, and window surround. Also unique to this hybrid is the blue-hued Honda emblem, which is reserved for hybrid Honda models.

One key omission, however, is the dual tailpipes at the back, as this hybrid model only sports a single outlet. But nonetheless, you still get the same tailgate spoiler, as well as RS badging both front and rear.

The fastback-style silhouette of the new Civic FE makes it a better-looking car compared to its predecessor, the Civic FC

Regardless of which angle you look at it from, it is universally accepted that the new Civic FE is a very nice-looking car. As for whether it looks better than its predecessor, that’s a debate for another day, but we’d certainly think it is!

ON THE INSIDE

Being a staple offering for the H-marque, the Civic e:HEV RS cabin serves as a benchmark for other Honda models to follow suit, featuring a barrage of tech amenities and equipment.

Sporty red accents are accompanies by a slew of tech amenities

Like the standard RS model, this e:HEV RS also gets dashes of red accents on its semi-leather seats, steering wheel, door and armrest, plus a ‘mild’ ambient lighting system, 10.2-inch TFT driver’s display, as well as a 9-inch floating infotainment screen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support – the latter wirelessly. The only difference here is the new addition of a wireless charging pad.

Honda Key Card (left) & Honda CONNECT mobile app (right)

More importantly, two new features first-time offered by Honda Malaysia, are also available, those being the Honda Key Card and Honda CONNECT service. Starting with the former, it is essentially a key fob in card form that can almost replace the traditional key fob.

As for the Honda CONNECT, this service grants access to several remote functions like remote unlocking and ignition, pre-conditioning, telematics function to trace your car’s location, as well as checking out your car status. All of these are accessible via a dedicated app, which requires you to register beforehand.

Room is aplenty in the new Civic FE – even for this hybrid variant!

In terms of space, the Civic’s cabin boasts enough real estate to comfortably ferry five adults, with ample legroom and headroom for them too. Boot space now measures at 497 litres – slightly smaller compared to the Civic FC’s 519 litres – it is still the biggest in segment. Fortunately, there’s also still enough room to house a space-saver spare wheel – a rare sight in most electrified cars nowadays.

To summarise, Honda Malaysia has fitted the Civic e:HEV RS’s cabin with every bit of tech it has on hand, allowing it to be one of the most well-equipped in the segment. As for luxury, we’d reckon something like the Mazda 3 Sedan would boast a slightly more luxurious cabin.

DRIVING

By far the most critical aspect for this segment, it is safe to say that partial electrification truly makes the Civic e:HEV RS drive better than its turbocharged twin – and this is coming from someone who once ‘owned’ the turbocharged Civic RS.

Honda's proprietary e:HEV hybrid system further enhances the Civic FE's driving experience!

Said partial electrification is borne from Honda's proprietary e:HEV hybrid setup consisting of a 2.0-litre 4-cyl nat-asp Atkinson Cycle petrol mill that acts as a generator to charge up a tiny 1.1-kWh battery pack. In return, the latter juices up the two hybrid electric motors, outputting 181 HP and 315 NM altogether. Against its turbocharged twin, this setup is torquier – noticeable feat when you floor the throttle.

Partial electrification grants the Civic e:HEV RS a faster 0-100 KM/H sprint time!

Thanks to this partial electrification, power delivery also feels immediate in this Civic e:HEV RS, hence the quicker 0-100 KM/H sprint time of 7.9 seconds over the turbocharged RS’s 8.5 seconds. This peppy powertrain setup, paired with the Civic’s agile handling assist for its chassis and multi-link rear damper setup, combines to deliver an engaging drive, as well as decent ride comfort.

With the electric motors doing most of the driving, Honda also primed the Civic e:HEV RS with its novel Active Noise Control (ANC) and Active Sound Control (ASC) – which work together to produce artificial engine noises, ensuring drivers stay alert when driving. Unfortunately, not only do we find this piped-in soundtrack annoying at times, but it also can’t be disengaged!

Despite this, the car’s noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) levels are still quite high and daunting. This is especially true when the needle goes past the 100 KM/H mark, whereby tyre roar also becomes quite prominent on board – a price you have to pay when using performance-biassed Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres this Civic is primed as standard with. However, we’d reckon this could be easily prevented if only Honda Malaysia bolstered the car’s wheel well insulations.

Nonetheless, the Honda Civic e:HEV RS is still a stellar car to drive, whilst partial-electrification further refines the stellar driving dynamics that its turbocharged twin already boasts.

SAFETY

Similar to the non-hybrid RS model, the Civic e:HEV RS is primed with the latest version of the Honda Sensing safety suite.

Honda LaneWatch camera

This adds key ADAS functions like Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Stop-and-Go, Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Front Departure Alert (FDA), Honda LaneWatch camera, Lane-Keep Assist (LKA), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), and more. Elsewhere, passive safety features like the six airbags, ISOFIX child seat anchors, ABS with EBD, traction (TCS) and stability (ESC) controls, are all accounted for in this range-topping Civic.

There are many functions available in the Honda CONNECT app!

On top of that, the new Honda CONNECT’s telematics function also adds another layer of security, whereby owners can track their car’s location, remotely lock and shut the engine down, as well as emergency support service – the former two being essential in the event of theft.

To wrap things up, the Civic e:HEV RS offers safety functions and equipment that are on-par against segment rivals, albeit lacking a traditional Blind-Spot Monitor (BSM) function as most rivals do.

RUNNING COSTS AND RELIABILITY

Performance improvements aside, this is where the Civic e:HEV RS truly shines, not only over its turbocharged twin, but also other segment rivals.

Again, partial electrification sees this Civic hybrid drink less fuel over its segment rivals, with Honda Malaysia claiming a fuel economy rate of just 4 litres/100 KM (or 25 KM/litre). This means that the Civic hybrid is not far behind econoboxes like the new Perodua Axia, which can sip as low as 3.7 litres/100 KM (27.4 KM/litre).

While most folks have baseless fear regarding the reliability of hybrids, the same can’t be said for modern hybrid vehicles, especially Honda’s e:HEV hybrid tech. This newer setup is already proven to be fuss-free, so much so that Honda Malaysia even offers an extra eight-year unlimited mileage warranty for the hybrid battery system, on top of the standard five-year unlimited mileage vehicle warranty plus free labour charges for the first five services within 100,000 KM mileage.

All in all, modern hybrids aren’t the same as their predecessors from decades ago, offering better performance and better fuel economy, while at the same time being as reliable as their full-ICE counterparts. This Civic e:HEV RS is a prime example of which.

SHOULD YOU BUY ONE?

The new Honda Civic e:HEV RS is a perfect car for someone seeking a stylish car with excellent performance and stellar driving dynamics to match, coupled with SUV-rivalling practicality and supermini-like fuel economy. In other words, it’s a car that ticks all the right boxes, should you be able to afford one.

And affordability is not the new Civic’s best friend, as proven by its RM166,500 price tag. This not only makes it the priciest Civic FE variant, but also the priciest choice in segment. 

Yes, one can argue that the RM147,800-tagged Toyota Corolla 1.8G offers better equally good driving dynamics, while the Mazda3 High+ sedan comes with a more luxurious cabin and a comfier ride at only RM161,059. Then again, it is hard to compete with the Civic e:HEV RS’s total package.

By day’s end, it is refreshing to see such a car still exists and thrive in this SUV-led era. With all things out of the way, we’d reckon that the new Civic stands amongst the best in its class, and truly deserving the ‘king of C-segment’ title that many bestow it as.

SPECIFICATIONS

HONDA CIVIC E:HEV RS