Road Test: Honda Civic 1.4 i-Dsi ES 4dr IMA CVT Auto [Leather]

Deep within London's C-charge zone, a bendy bus blocks the road, cab drivers gesticulate and despatch riders weave around like grubby Valentino Rossis. Welcome to the Honda Civic Hybrid's natural environment: urban traffic chaos.

While it's true that, on the open road, a diesel can be just as efficient as - or even more so than - a hybrid, in town, there's no avoiding this car's fuel-sipping credentials. The new Civic Hybrid quaffs unleaded at the impressive rate of 54.3mpg - 7.2mpg better than the old Civic IMA.

Even better, the all-new car now also looks the part. It's much more futuristic and Honda has added plenty of aerodynamic aids, such as the low-drag 15-inch alloys and a cover under the engine bay. You've still got to put up with the saloon shape, though, because most of these cars will be sold in America, and they hate hatches over there.

Like the old IMA, the Hybrid has both an electric and a 1.4-litre petrol motor to share the propulsion work, but a fresh trick for the new car is that the petrol engine shuts down when you're coasting at about 20mph, meaning you can just run on electric.

The standard CVT gearbox is useful here, because it's more efficient and constantly keeps the Civic in its powerband - good for providing instant torque, not so special when it comes to refinement, as you feel like you're revving the bolts off it.

That's the thing with the Civic Hybrid - should you ever escape town and find somewhere where you can reach 70mph, it gets a bit wheezy and needs working hard.

The other downside is that the Civic doesn't have some of the Prius's gizmos, such as the graph showing exactly what power is being sent where - you only get a read-out saying whether you're charging or using the batteries.

And when it's running on electric only, you don't know it because the engine is still turning over, just without fuel. That's because the Civic doesn't shut off its engine - it merely closes the valves so a combination of the drive from the transmission and the compression in the engine keep it revving. Your rev counter still shows a few thousand rpm. Equally, you can't hit a button to force it to run solely on electric like in the Prius.

As such, there's a risk you won't feel like you're being quite so environmentally conscious, and that's the rub. Honda wanted to build a no-compromise hybrid car, which they've largely done, but you don't feel like you're driving one.

Where's that sense of smugness that tree-hugging Hollywood A-listers and Westminster politicians are currently queuing up to savour?