After making it available for booking last month, Honda officially launched the 11th Generation Honda Civic in Malaysia yesterday. For our market, the new car can be obtained in three variants including the RS which is being officially introduced for the first time into the Civic family.
While the RS models in the City family carry an e:HEV powertrain as one of their main differentiator factors, that is not the case with the RS variant for the 11th Gen Civic. Instead, it mainly focused on styling through the inclusion of several RS-exclusive parts such as black-painted side mirrors, shark fin antenna, rear spoiler, and outer door handles.
The new Civic RS also includes dual tailpipes with chrome finisher alongside 18-inch matte black alloy wheels, black trims within its headlights, and automatic wipers. As for its interior, this variant features a black headliner, leather-suede upholstery with red stitching, front foot light, front door ambient light, and a set of Sport Pedal.
Regardless of the variant that you (or your wallet) prefer, all 11th Gen Civic is powered by a 1.5L VTEC Turbo engine which produces up to 182PS of power and 240Nm of torque. As a comparison, the S variant of the 10th Gen Civic came with a 141PS/174Nm 1.8L i-VTEC engine while the 173PS/220Nm 1.5L VTEC Turbo was reserved for the TC and TC-P options.
The owners can choose to drive the 11th Gen Civic with up to three different driving modes including ECON, Normal, and Sport Mode (not available in the E variant) which would change its throttle response and transmission shift points. In terms of fuel consumption, Honda listed it as 6 litres per 100km for the E and V variants while the RS version guzzles slightly more fuels at 6.3 litres.
On top of having the Honda SENSING driver-assistance suite as standard for all variants of the 11th Gen Civic, Honda has also added the Lead Car Departure Notification System into the suite which could be useful when the car is idle in situations such as waiting for the traffic light to change. Through this feature, the driver would be alerted in the form of visual and audio warnings when the preceding car starts to move.
At the same time, the Honda SENSING suite in the new model relies on a 100-degree wide-angle camera and parking sensor system instead of the 50-degree camera and millimetre wave radar as per its predecessor. Alongside the support for Honda CONNECT telematics services, the V and RS variant of the 11th Gen Civic also come with the Honda LaneWatch camera on their side mirrors that can help drivers see other vehicles in the blind spot.
Aside from the physical design and a slightly more powerful engine, another factor that differentiates the new Civic and its predecessors are the general design of its interior. Honda noted that the new car focuses on delivering the feeling of open, unrestricted space. In addition to having a honeycomb mesh on its dashboard, Honda said that the new model also carries an improved seat design that aims to provide better body support for the driver while reducing the level of fatigue during long drives.
The company has also decided to implement a combo meter cluster for the 11th Gen Civic in Malaysia which is consisted of a 7-inch screen alongside an analogue speedometer. In terms of the infotainment system, the E variant is equipped with a 7-inch touch screen while the V and RS models offer a much larger display at 9-inch.
The system supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto regardless of the car’s variant although owners of the V and RS models can choose to connect their iPhone to CarPlay wirelessly. Not to forget, the E variant also carries four audio speakers while the V and RS are equipped with eight speakers.
In terms of pricing, the 11th Gen Civic E costs RM 125,294.64 while the higher-end V and RS options can be obtained for RM 137,703.36 and RM 144,010.99 respectively although do note that the pricing mentioned here are not inclusive of insurance. Colour options that are available for customers include Ignite Red Metallic, Meteoroid Gray Metallic, Platinum White Pearl, Lunar Silver Metallic, and Crystal Black Pearl while Honda also provides 5 years unlimited mileage warranty and free labour for up to five service visits.
As mentioned earlier, bookings for the new model already opened in mid-December 2021 and since then, 1,200 bookings have already been made by customers according to Honda Malaysia’s MD & CEO, Madoka Chujo. Naturally, that means there is a waiting period if you want to get your hands on one but of course, you can always give it a test drive first by visiting any of the Honda authorised dealers throughout the country.
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