Hello everyone. My dad has just sold is car and is about to buy a Honda Civic. We're looking at a 2008/58 plate civic, but we can't decide between the 1.4 petrol and 1.8 petrol. I know the spec differs between models, i.e trim level etc. but I'm just looking for general advice on the car themselves.

We spoke to someone at a Honda dealer and he suggested a 1.8 due to the 1.4 being 'underpowered' or something, and that people say taking over cars can sometimes be a challenge.

We test drove a 1.4 earlier with a Peugeot dealer thinking it was a 1.8 (genuinely) and we thought it was a 1.8 until we checked the insurance websites. Anyway, we are impressed with the 1.4 and the dealer said the following (obviously looking for a sale..)

- More MPG on the 1.4 due to smaller engine
- Less road tax (half)

I'm 18 and will be a second driver, so works out around £300 cheaper on insurance overall for the 1.4. I won't drive it like crazy, and my dad drives slow anyway so speed isn't really a problem. Mostly used in town.

- Are there any significant problems with the 1.4?
- Would a 1.8 be better overall in terms of the engine?
- Are 1.4 more rare and harder to sell?
- Whats the main difference and why would the Honda driver tell us to buy a 1.8 rather than a 1.4?
- Should it be avoided?


Sorry for all these questions, we are about to buy within the next week. I will be sticking around once we have a car and hopefully learn alot more about it!

All help is appreciated. I may post this somewhere else on the forum where someone may be able to specifically help rather than all in the introduction haha.

 

Hey there, that is a very debatable question, in terms of fuel comsuption it all depends on your driving, in theory the 1.4 is more economic but if you drive it agressively or faster you will end up consuming the same as the 1.8, (i have made a lot of testing in that area, lol) Example: a friend of mine as a 2005 seat ibiza 1.2, and usualy consumes 6.5lts/100km, but he drives it slow, so i tried the same, and at the same speeds, my civic vti(1.6 160bhp) made 6.7lts/100km, this is driving slow, But, and this is a big BUT, we made a big journey in his car on highways and lots of hills, and to mantain a avg speed of 90mph it made 11lts/100km because we had to push it a bit more, in the same situation mine makes 8lts/100km with no effort at all, overtaking is no problem at all while in a weaker car you have to push it a bit more... Botom line, if you drive them slow there wont be an abismal difference in fuel, but in my opinion the 1.8 is more drivable, and if you need the power it will be there.

 

Oh, and i forgot this (sorry), my brother has the exact same car as i do, but its the 1.5 engine, they do the same mpg, the only difference is when i want to go faster... i can. So im not saying the 1.4 is weak or a bad choice, but if you can choose between both of them i would go for the 1.8, but remember, drive it "wisely"