New cars on show: Civic Wagon concept, Honda NSX concept, CR-V 1.6 i-DTEC
Civic Wagon concept
Honda says the Civic Wagon concept model ‘strongly’ hints at the design direction of the final production version, and if anything it actually looks a bit more exciting than the hatchback. Honda promises similarly slippery aerodynamics to the hatch, which should help fuel economy.
There’s not much else to say except that it’ll be built at Honda’s Swindon factory and will arrive in dealerships in early 2014.
At the performance end of the Civic range, the eagerly-awaited Civic Type R hot hatch will begin testing at the Nurburgring circuit in Germany very soon. Honda says it will include technology gleaned from its World Touring Car Championship programme and it too will be built at Swindon with the rest of the Civic range.
NSX Concept
Also making its European debut is the new Honda NSX Concept and although not much has changed in terms of the exterior the Japanese car maker has really gone to work on the interior.
This gives us a clearer picture of the next-generation NSX sports car. No word on when the car will go into full production or when it will go on sale
CR-V 1.6 i-DTEC
Also on the stand is the new CR-V – no great shakes there – but it is the next model in Honda’s European line up to benefit from the new Earth Dreams Technology engine series in the form of the 1.6 i-DTEC diesel engine.
It has a hefty 300Nm of pulling power and 118bhp, but it emits a parsimonious 119g/km meaning an annual road tax bill of only £30.
The CR-V 1.6 i-DTEC will be available in two-wheel drive only, with manual transmission.
It is the lightest engine in its class and will also be built at Honda’s manufacturing facility in Swindon. It will be available from Autumn 2013.
