If you’re accustomed to thinking of the Civic as a worthy but rather dull specimen, it’s time to think again. The redesigned, relaunched Civic is a style stunner and an excellent all-rounder. The new look makes a radical and classy break with the old: this car really turns heads for all the right reasons. With an intelligently designed ergonomic cabin, you’ll feel indulged with space, even though every cubic centimetre has been carefully calculated.

The 1.4 litre petrol model is agreeable but not especially exciting; the larger petrol, however, is much more impressive, with a snarling, thrusting i-VTEC to boost your enthusiasm. And the 2.2 diesel easily outdoes its petrol counterpart in performance. All models have an impressive, high-quality sturdiness about them and are pleasingly responsive on the road.

On a practical note, the passenger space is impressively generous and, for a car of its size, the boot space is huge – easily 100 litres greater than either the Vauxhall Astra or the VW Golf. The one drawback is the restricted headspace for rear-seat passengers due to the sloping curve of the roof; but the car looks ravishing and this is hardly a major defect. Honda has a well-deserved reputation for high quality and solid reliability, and the new Civic looks set to more than honour this. It’s relatively cheap to insure, too.