Category: Small Family 
Price Range: No data available
Hot hatch looks, fine fuel consumption, low emissions.
Tepid performance, poor rear visibility, i-Shift gearbox is poor auto substitute.
New 1.4 is the low-cost star of the range, but it's no hot hatch.
Hot on the heels of the hardcore Championship White Civic Type-R, Honda continues the sporting theme by broadening its Type-S model range.
But before you get too excited, it hasn't created a junior hot hatch. Instead, it's added an entry-level 1.4-litre engine adopted from the Jazz range.
This 1.4 Type-S certainly won't set the world alight with its performance figures, but it pumps out a surprisingly healthy power output of 99bhp - 17 more than the outgoing 1.4 from the five-door range. It's also even torquier, but still a hell of a long way from being considered quick: its 0-62mph time is a tame 13 seconds.
Perhaps we're missing the point and it's the drive that counts, but in any case here's a spacious 3- or 5-door petrol car that can average an incredible 47.9mpg while emitting just 135g/km of carbon dioxide.
Factor in some expected low insurance figures and the Type-S could either be great fun at a fraction of the Type-R's cost - or just another cynical marketing exercise. We aim to find out which...
