Honda Civic: Originality is hard to come by in any format. In the lowly world of the motoring hack, years spent behind the wheels of hundreds of cars leads one to notice the subtle differences between the models and marques, but ultimately to fall foul of the confines of the review process.
According to the 19th century American writer, Josh Billings (God bless Google): "About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment".
So it seems in the world of car design. By the time they incorporate the boundaries and limitations on their design (wheel at each corner, seats and legroom inside, engine to the front and all the various safety features) there seems very little with which to work.
For some, it seems, these boundaries make attempts at differentiation a pointless and costly exercise. Better to follow the Billings method and let the likes of the Europeans do the original design work. Concentrate instead on getting the repetitive task of building the car done properly.
So, when a manufacturer breaks with tradition and pushes its design team to attempt something bordering on originality, it's worth dishing out the garlands, particularly at this time of the year.
Of the Japanese marques, Honda has always seen itself as more premium than the rest. Forays into Formula One led to success, while the range of engineering involvement stretches from motorbikes to boat engines and even air balloons as its latest catchy TV advertisement highlights.
So we arrive at the Civic, a wacky new look to the long-established model range that dates back over 35 years.
The new Civic is nothing if not daring in design. From the glass grille at the front to the digital cockpit and triangular tailpipes, it's a striking look that turns heads.
Admittedly the Civic range has had a rather chequered history, suffering from a motoring form of schizophrenia. Starting life as a diminutive city hatchback that would make the likes of the Smart fortwo look spacious, it proceeded to change from sporty and youthful, to bland and practical with every facelift. It's too early to say if the cycle is set to continue, but it's great to see the sporty side come round again. Boy racers will be pleased; grannies annoyed.
Inside, the radical look continues with digital read-outs located virtually within eyeshot of the windscreen. The cocoon styling on the dash gives the driver every control within easy reach, with no need to look down to fiddle with buttons. It's the attention to little details one would expect in a premium saloon, and in one quick swoop Honda has stolen the ergonomic thunder from the likes of the VW Golf and Ford Focus.
Of course it's a little space-age the first time you see it. Yet within seconds you find your bearings and then it's plain sailing.
There are some fancy tricks with the seats as well, which not only flip down to provide extra space in an already roomy boot, but also flip up to provide tall storage in the rear: a quirky feature that illustrates the thought that has gone into the new car.
In terms of spaciousness, the new Civic has more legroom than its predecessor, despite being shorter overall.
So kudos to all involved with the look and finish; but it's on the road that a car should really make its mark.
The extra interior space comes partly from creative design and also from the decision to sacrifice double wishbone rear suspension for torsion beam. That will mean nothing to most - and Honda hopes that's the case - but for aficionados, the double wishbone offered a much sharper, more precise drive.
Honda, however, is confident that developments in engineering have made the torsion beam just as competent and the savings in space more than make up for any loss in driving.
In fairness to the engineers, we didn't notice any real difference and in day-to-day motoring the extra space will be of far more import than cornering ability at speed.
So it seems like a dream come true for Honda.
Not quite. Perhaps the most surprising feature for us was the engine noise. Honda prides itself on its engines. Since its founder, Soichiro Honda, put a little motor on his wife's bicycle so she could beat the neighbours to the market at the top of the hill in their local village, Honda's reputation and heritage has had more to do with the stroke of the pistons than designer pens.
This car moves away from that in a way that disappoints. Sure, the 1.8-litre engine in our test car was sublime and perfectly suited its bulk. With 0-100km/h times of 8.2 seconds, it's a strong performer, even up against more racy contenders within its price bracket.
The manual gearshift is smooth and the entire package really suits what you'd expect from a premium model. Yet for most buyers in Ireland the 1.4-litre will be the engine of choice and here there's a great deal of difference.
Not only does it lose a good deal of its punch, but engine noise really starts to encroach in the cabin even at relatively sedate speeds.
Our other criticism of the Civic engineering is the new I-Shift automatic gearbox, which is clunky and uncouth for such a stylish and otherwise sporting car. It's not as intuitive as one would expect and for us, the smooth manual six-speed is the only one to opt for.
Aside from these issues, there's no faulting the finish on the Civic. It's top quality, from the texture and finish of the plastics to the ergonomics of the cabin and the overall look outside.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle to its success may well be the very originality that attracts us to the new car. How the new look will go down with the traditionally conservative Honda buyers remains to be seen.
There is a more sedate saloon model on offer as well, and we'd suspect that will prove the real seller in Ireland; more is the pity.
It's too early to judge how the originality will go down with the public. There's a fine line between originality and eccentricity; the former winning kudos from the likes of us and prestige for all involved, the latter attracting attention but ultimately leading nowhere.
