AFTER years of plummeting sales, Honda says it is back in the business of growing in Australia, thanks to vital new product like the Civic Hatch.
Now in its ninth-generation guise, the five-door-only VTi-S and VTi-L take the fight right up to the Mazda3, with distinctive styling, a sweet 1.8-litre petrol drivetrain, and palpable improvements to handling, ride, steering and refinement.

FN Civic Si
Released: April 2008
Ended: June 2012
Family Tree: CivicHONDA always wanted to sell the radical European Civic hatch in Australia, but by the time the British factory homologated it for local consumption a currency dip saw prices hover around the $40,000 mark for the admittedly well-equipped Si five-door hatch that surfaced in early 2009.
Powered by a 103kW/174Nm 1.8-litre single-cam four-cylinder petrol engine, it offered either a six-speed manual or five-speed automatic gearbox.
However, buyers stayed away in droves, forcing Honda to bring out a cheaper and revised model in 2010. But, even then, the $30,000 Si still cost far more than an equivalently equipped Mazda3, ensuring that the FN series hatch from England remained a curio in this country.
Get the full story: Honda's Britsh-built Civic Si is a premium package - including the price
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