2004 Honda Civic Sport VTEC review from UK and Ireland

No faults so far.

I bought this car as a 54 plate ex-demo from my local Honda dealer. Although it was high mileage, it came with the 17" optional extra alloys and rear headrests. The higher mileage for its age (9 months at the time of purchase) enabled be to bargain the dealer down to a very reasonable price.

The Civic Sport is a brilliant car - you can rev it like any other VTEC and accelerate away, but you can also drive it sedately like any other 3 door hatch. It looks great with the TypeR body styling and the larger 17" wheels.

Fuel economy is very good - 40mpg+ on a medium drive, I've yet to take it on a long motorway trip, though I would expect to get almost 50mpg from it. If you drive it spiritly on short journeys expect your mpg to drop to around the 33mpg mark.

The car is very comfortable with the sports seats, and is very nice to drive. The leather steering wheel is sporty (although the steering will take some getting used to - the turning circle is far wider than my previous car).

One thing I love about the Civic is the positioning of the gear stick - after driving the Civic I find it difficult and very cumbersome having a lower mounted shift.

The Honda stereo leaves a lot to be desired, although it happily plays my CDR music and the radio reception is good. If you're an "ICE" fan you'd probably want more though.

The car comes fitted as standard with a Cat1 alarm/immobiliser - the car requires the factory key to start, as there is a transponder for the immobiliser built into it.

The insurance on this car, considering its performance (i.e. acceleration) when compared with other 1.6 cars (the focus, astra etc) is incredibly cheap.

My car came polished and waxed from the dealer, so keeping the Nighthawk Black nice and shiny isn't too much of a problem. If you're into your car cleaning however, some Meguiars is a must have.

All in all a brilliant value car for some good, comfortable, enjoyable driving fun.