If the MPV comes disguised as a station wagon, what would the actual SW’s look like? Honda’s enthusiasts must be thrilled with the fact of this being Civic’s generation with more body options ever released. However, as big as this family became, it still isn’t “traditional” at all: some siblings are restricted to North America, others to Europe and, lately, Jade offered only in China. Choosing so carefully which ones to sell at each market is part of what has made “the Civics” such a global success in all these decades.
Even though most car families have all the variations built on the same platform and using many common parts, most automakers still won’t take necessarily all of them to every market on which it wants to work. This comes from considering each country’s particular tastes, which can give great sales to some bodies but reject others to the point of their selling stop being profitable. That’s why Honda preferred to focus on Civic’s sedan and coupe in North America, for example, and hatchback and SW in Europe. Tourer arrives without significant differences from the concept car, which is extremely positive. The intention was to escape from the traditional SW concept of tall profile with big windows, which demanded huge efforts from Honda’s designers to achieve such a fluidic roof line. Such intention was completed with details like the third window, which is much lower than usual and connected to the rear glass. Taking the hatchback’s rear doors isn’t usually the better-looking option, but in this case it ends helping the car to look nimbler. At the rear, if Jade’s lights are still more attractive, Tourer’s make a brilliant example of how a ‘90s concept can look modern.
Using such strong side creases really boosts Tourer’s sportiness, but it doesn’t take more than opening a door to have a déjà vu of Jade’s double personality. The trunk goes from 624L to 1668L by folding down the 60:40 rear bench, which uses the Magic Seats technology as standard: the European platform took the fuel tank to under the front seats in order to make the rear space taller and more flexible, with the folded bench creating a completely flat floor. Besides, Honda claims to be world-first on using the Adaptive Damper System only on the rear: since an SW’s purpose is to take many people and/or heavy cargo, having special suspension and three-mode dampers only at the back works to adapt the car to what it’ll be taking – the additional cost of using this system also at the front would be reasonable only on high-performance cars, following the automaker’s thought. Tourer might not impress with the powertrain like the VW Group does with so many TSIs and TDIs, but the Japanese options are still very good: the i-VTEC 1.8L uses gasoline and produces 140 hp and 128 lb-ft, while the brand new i-DTEC 1.6L diesel uses the Earth Dreams technology, delivering 118 hp and 221 lb-ft. The first one will be available on manual or automatic transmissions.
