What's the news?

Honda has refreshed the Civic, giving it a mildly revised exterior, a really mildly tweaked interior and some new chassis modifications.

The Japanese firm has retuned the front and rear dampers to improve body control, re-geared the electric power steering to aid high-speed stability and tweaked the rear suspension to further sharpen the handling.

Outside, piano black trim is the easiest identifier of the revised Civic, as it features in the front bumper, lower rear bumper, on the tailgate and for the number plate surround. There are also darker wheelarch trims, privacy glass in the rear screen, smoked rear light clusters, new 17-inch alloy wheels in silver and black and some very slight cosmetic changes within.

The Civic hatch can now also be specified with the Driver Assistance Safety Pack, as seen on its Tourer sibling.

Anything else?

Honda is also offering a finance package for British buyers, in which you can drive away in a Civic 1.4 i-VTEC S for £209 per month. The 1.6 i-DTEC S is £239 per month, and both figures include Honda's fixed-price comprehensive care package, Five. The Civic range begins at £16,995 for the 1.4 S.

Matt Robinson - 1 May 2014