Few mass-market car producers dare not freshen up the mainstay of their range every three years or so. Buyers are fickle, and a good car can soon lose favour, if only because its rivals have been revamped with shiny new faces. The Honda Civic, which accounts for almost half of all Honda models sold in the UK, was facelifted this year; not out of necessity in my opinion, but to bring it back into the consciousness of the car buying public.

Of course, to get us journalists to devote column inches to a car, there has to be something new about it to write. This in turn leads to customers taking notice and ultimately taking a trip to their dealer for a test drive. The 2004 facelift of the Civic gave us the excuse to drive another example of the excellent Type-R version, as well as the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the more down-to-earth 1.6 SE for a week.

At £12,013 on-the-road, this 3-door hatch is in direct competition with such desirable models as the Mini Cooper and VW Polo Sport. I have purposefully compared the Civic with sportier models, as the 3-door version certainly leans towards sporty. The five-door Civic is subtly different (as Trevor discussed at the launch of the Type-S). The Civic silhouette is perhaps more MPV than coupe, even as a 3-door. The facelifted Civic receives chromed lights front and rear, and the SE version pictured here comes as standard with 5-spoke alloys and an understated rear spoiler as well as the new mirrors incorporating the indicator. Though distinctive, the 3-door Civic will not win any beauty competitions, and you would certainly never mistake it for its butch Type-R brother.

The Civic Type-R has also been fitted with the new lights and mirrors. The projector lights at the front work better with the wire mesh grille than on lesser models, but I can't help but think that the rear lights were prettier as they were on last year's car. Thankfully the Type-R has received no other significant aesthetic tweaks; the 'devil's horns' rear spoiler remains, as do the sharp side sills and bumpers. The boy racer look may not be to everyone's taste, but it does look purposeful and is not really over the top. The 17-inch alloys have been wisely left alone, particularly suiting the 'Cosmic Grey' paintwork of our test car.

Inside, 2004 model year Civics get new trims and revised instruments, with the emphasis being put on quality for the five-door and sportiness in the 3-door. We found that the SE has a sporty solidity, reinforced by a tactile leather steering wheel and matching gear knob. The seats too are a little more supportive than your average hatch, though an annoying characteristic of the seats is that they don't return to the same recline position after you let somebody in or out of the rear. Thanks to that upright body design, accommodation is good; certainly better than the more compromised Mini; more in line with a 3-door Ford Focus. The Type-R sacrifices some rear seat space by the fitment of overtly sporting front seats.

These seats are more than just good to look at; they offer supreme lateral support and put the driver's rear end in close contact with the car's chassis. The red and black seats are complemented by red door inserts, a gorgeous (to look at and to hold) steering wheel, bespoke white instruments and the trademark titanium gear knob. Most of these items were on the original Type-R, though there have been some restrained changes, such as the addition of chrome and more red material. There is no doubt that the Type-R interior is a special place to be, which goes some of the way to explain why the Type-R accounts for a third of 3-door Civic sales, and a large proportion of the high-performance hatch market.

The reason the Type-R has been so successful is its 'bang per buck' appeal. The facelifted car is only £16,013 on-the-road, yet it is fitted with one of the best front-wheel drive chassis on the market. Turn-in is razor sharp, with understeer not really an issue in the dry. Even when powering through tight corners it is possible to use movement at the rear to balance the car. Throttle adjustability is superb. On a track, it is possible to obtain very sideways movement by aggressive use of left-foot braking, but even then the rear-end is completely dependable. This stability translates into safety on the road; backing out of the throttle half way through a bend does cause any nasty ditch-magnet action in the way early Peugeot GTis used to. The nose tucks in and in extreme the rear may slide a little, but not in a threatening manner. Get back on the power and the car exits the bend in a lovely neutral stance.

On the twisty road we used for the cornering shots, we did discover a minor problem with the Type-R. The gearbox, which is a joy to use, does not have ideally spaced ratios. The chassis is so good that second-gear corners soon see you hitting the rev limiter half way through the corner. Unfortunately, we found third to be a fraction too high-geared for the same situation. Thankfully the rev limiter is relatively soft, merely holding the engine at the maximum allowed speed rather than slowing the car, as many systems do.

Honda has listened to criticism about the Type-R's steering, and it felt improved, though still lacking in feel at the straight ahead. Once under load though it is as good as such benchmark cars as the Peugeot 306 GTi-6. The same can be said for the 1.6 SE model, though the steering wheel itself is not so nice to hold. The handling of the SE is good, and fun, though understandably it is not as biased towards the driving enthusiast. The SE is usefully more supple on the motorway, though a large part of that is down to higher profile tyres.

Where the Type-R would obliterate its younger brother is under braking. There is nothing wrong with the discs all-round set-up of the SE, but they could never be expected to put up with the rigours of a trackday for instance. The SE stops well and has good pedal feel. The Type-R is in another league. Despite constant use of left-foot braking on our favourite B-roads, we did not detect any brake fade. The feel through the middle pedal was superb as well, allowing late, but confident braking, aided and abetted by the stable chassis.

Against the likes of the Mini Cooper, the Civic 1.6 SE is a good buy, though it will not excite the driver in the same way, and nor will it appeal to style-conscious buyers. The equivalent Focus is a little more expensive, though the Focus range is more varied. The forthcoming Citroen C4 looks like a viable alternative, as does the Renault Megane. Essentially there are a lot of alternatives on the market and it is difficult to pinpoint the Civic's selling points in comparison. It really will be down to the individual buyer's choice.

The Type-R is part of a more elite section of motoring. Individual taste matters as much as equipment levels. There are only so many driver-focussed hot hatches on the market boasting power outputs nearing 200bhp. Saying that, the competition includes the Renault Clio Sport 182, and the superb Mini Cooper S, as well as Cupra offerings from SEAT. Our favourite is still the Civic. Thankfully the facelift has done nothing to diminish the car's appeal.