Honda Unveils Civic Tourer Ahead of Frankfurt

Honda shows off the new Civic Tourer wagon today in London, ahead of its official debut at the Frankfurt auto show next month.

"I am very proud of the Civic Tourer’s sporty, sleek and dynamic proportions, which somewhat hide the car’s true functionality and versatility,” says Civic chief engineer Adrian Killham.

Key design touches for the wagon, a variant of Honda’s popular European Civic hatchback, are its continuous character line from A-pillar to D-pillar, which the auto maker says gives the impression of a floating roof line, and rear-quarter-window glass that swathes D-pillar body work.

Honda will offer two engine choices for Civic Tourer buyers: the all-aluminum 1.6L direct-injected diesel 4-cyl. from the Civic hatchback or a 1.8L 4-cyl. gas engine.

A new Adaptive Damper System on the Civic Tourer marks the first time a rear ADS has been introduced on a production car, Honda claims. ADS will “help to enhance stability and comfort under varying load and driving conditions” and allows drivers to choose from three suspension settings: comfort, normal and dynamic.

Honda also claims class-leading cargo volume of 22 cu.-ft. (624 L) with the Civic Tourer’s rear seats upright, and 59 cu.-ft. (1,668 L) of space with rear seats folded down, enough to fit two fullsize mountain bikes.

For easier loading of items into the cargo area, the Civic wagon has a 5.4-in. (137-mm) lower loading lip vs. the current Civic hatchback, Honda says.

The Civic Tourer was designed and developed at Honda’s European R&D center and will go into production early next year at the auto maker’s Swindon, U.K., plant, also home to the CR-V and Jazz (Fit).

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