It just gets the fundamentals so damned right, this car.
There’s a tangible feeling of a near 30-year legacy stretching back to the Integra Type R in the new hot Civic, because Honda has become an expert in great front-wheel-drive chassis.
First, the suspension.
The Type R’s damping is superb and a lesson to those rivals that no doubt look upon a front-drive hot hatch as a bit old hat.
Yet we’d have this car’s sublime ride, firm but always comfortable and controlled, over driven rear wheels any day.
Given how low the car rides and how responsive and agile the chassis is, it should be a pain on rough roads.
But no. You could take a gnarly speedbump at close to 30mph, so supple is this Civic.
The gearshift, clutch and brakes all match that ability.