SPOT the difference is a game I've never been especially good at, but it's one you'll be invited to play the first time you get a glimpse of this accomplished new Honda.
Give the new Civic the most casual of looks and - without wanting to be cruel - you'll be wondering whether the company's been spending its money on photocopiers rather than car designers. It does, if you're not paying attention and one passes you in the street, look almost identical to the outgoing model.
But there's some clever thinking behind the evolutionary rather than revolutionary styling. It seems you, The Great British Public, loved the looks of the old one but got a bit hot under the collar about a couple of niggles. The spoiler cutting right across the rear window, for instance. Or the slightly weird and very glassy rear lights. Or the fact you banged your head as you got in the back. That's why the new one's seems the same despite being compellingly different on closer inspection.
Admittedly it's business as usual at the back window because the spolier still cuts across it, but now at least it doesn't obscur the rear view so much it annoys you. The rear lights are a lot more conventional and straightforward, and anyone hoping to get out of the back has got some good news. Your scalp will emerge unscathed!
The new Civic isn't as much fun to drive as Ford's Focus or as achingly attractive as Alfa's Giulietta but goes for your head instead of your heart. It isn't the life and soul of the party but with its roomy and beautifully built interior, its punchy diesel powerplant and its intuitively easy controls, it's definitely the brains behind it.
So it's a single step back and about five steps forward for Honda. The new Civic is a little but duller, but an awful lot better.
