5 Things You Need To Know About The New Honda Civic Hatchback

1. It looks just like the concept

Getting a little deja vu? That’s because the production version of the 10th-generation Civic hatch looks very similar to the concept version, which made its debut at the Geneva motor show earlier this year.

It’s a much cleaner looking beast than the current Civic hatchback, and unlike the two generations before it, it doesn’t have a daft trim piece slapped across the middle of the rear windscreen. Instead, it has a spoiler/brake light combo thing which sits much further down, so it’ll impede rear visibility a little, but not anywhere near as badly as the part on the outgoing car.

What do you think of the looks? Let us know in the comments.

2. Made in Britain, sold in the USA

Yep, the Civic hatchback is built in Blighty at Honda’s Swindon factory. God Save The Queen and all that. But the big news is it’s heading Stateside - the first time in over 10 years that American buyers have been able to officially buy a hatch-ified Civic.

It’ll actually hit ‘Murican showrooms long before their UK counterparts - the new hatch will go on sale in the USA in September, whereas we’ll have to wait until March to get our hands on one.

3. There'll be a Type R, and it'll go Stateside too

The boggo Civic hatch isn’t the only previously forbidden fruit our friends across the pond will be able to get a taste of - the eventual Type R is officially on its way to the United States, arriving 2017.

According to reports it’ll be less extreme in the looks department than the current one (don’t expect something quite as mad as the render above), but it’ll be plenty powerful. We’re looking at an updated version of Honda’s 2.0-litre turbo engine kicking out somewhere in the region of 340bhp, and it’ll still push that power out through front wheels with the help of suspension and limited-slip differential trickery.

4. One engine to rule them all

While European buyers will almost certainly get a broader range of engines including diesels, US-spec Civics get just one powerplant: a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol. It’s available in two states of tune, though: the LX, EX and EX-L versions get 172bhp, while the Sport and Sport Touring get a massive boost of, err, 6bhp. Yep, 178bhp; not a massive figure. But hey - don’t forget about that Type R. Meanwhile all models put out a useful 162lb ft of torque.

You can spec a CVT gearbox on any model, while the LX, Sport, and EX trims get the option of a six-speed “performance-inspired” manual. If it’s anything like the slick six-speed in the current Civic Type R, it’s well worth going for.

CVT-equipped cars manage a combined 34mpg US, or around 40mpg Imperial. And while we’re talking about practical stuff, Honda claims the hatch is best in class for boot space and rear leg room.

5. No more torsion beam

The eighth-gen Civic - infamously - ditched its formerly independent rear suspension setup for a torsion beam affair, an approached continued for the ninth-gen car. The Type R is a brilliant handling thing despite that arrangement, but you can’t help but wonder if it might have been even better had it inherited a more sophisticated rear setup.

We have some good news on that front: the tenth-generation Civic has returned to having fully independent suspension. The body is also lighter and stiffer - all of this bodes well for the Type R, and the ‘normal’ models.