Upgraded Honda Civic gets virtual gearbox tech from new Prelude
Honda’s ‘S+ Shift’ trickery is available on higher-spec Sport and Advance trim Civics, which start from £34,530
The Honda Civic is now available with the ‘S+ Shift’ virtual gearbox tech introduced on last year’s Prelude coupé, designed to make the hybrid family hatch feel more fun to drive by simulating the sensation of rowing through the gears of an eight-speed auto.
For those who don’t know, the Civic doesn’t have a traditional gearbox. It uses an e-CVT (electronic continuously variable transmission), which doesn’t have any gears to switch between. So Honda has used software trickery to replicate the “sound, feel and driver engagement of quick automatic gear changes”.
It does this by precisely controlling engine RPM and power delivery when the Civic is accelerating or decelerating. This is then combined with an Active Sound Control (ASC) feature that amplifies the noise of the engine, to create the illusion of shifting.
When drivers ‘change down’, Honda says they should also experience a real engine braking effect, plus a perfectly timed rev-matching throttle ‘blip’ for a smooth shift. And when S+ Shift isn’t engaged, the shift paddles on the steering wheel are used to adjust the strength of the Civic’s regenerative braking.
The Civic’s hybrid powertrain is unchanged, with its 181bhp coming from an electric motor and a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, although the latter is mostly used to generate energy for the e-motor and its 1.05kWh battery. 0-62mph takes 7.8 seconds.
The base Elegance version of the recently refreshed Civic misses out on the S+ Shift tech, but it features as standard on Sport and Advance models, which start from £34,530 and £37,880, respectively.
Sport trim also now comes with some extras, such as red stitching throughout the interior, red trim around the dashboard and an upgraded 12-speaker Bose sound system.
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