This trio each uses its petrol differently, but which one is the best choice for a happy home?
Photography: John Bradshaw
Seat Leon 1.5 eTSI Evo 150 FR Sport DSG
List price £31,205
Target Price £29,405 Great to drive and remarkably practical, our 2022 Family Car of the Year is back to fend off fresh competition
NEW Honda Civic e:HEV Sport
List price £30,595 Target Price £30,595 The previous Civic lagged behind rivals in most areas, but the latest version is fighting back with fuel-efficient hybrid tech and a much-improved interior
NEW Vauxhall Astra
1.2 Turbo 130 GS Line auto List price £29,060
Target Price £27,905 The popular Astra now has sharper looks and up-to-date tech. It’s a familar name, but is it still worth knowing?
A s the future of motoring is heading towards a world of electric propulsion, we find ourselves in a transition period. You see, while some family cars have already made the fully electric leap (such as the Renault Megane that you can read about from p46), others aren’t quite ready to leave the internal combustion engine behind.
So, if you’re not quite ready to step away from a routine involving petrol pumps, what are your options? Well, the new Honda Civic would seem to make a good case for itself. It runs on petrol but uses clever fuel-saving hybrid technology to minimise running costs and reduce emissions.
The Vauxhall Astra is another new arrival with a venerable nameplate, but it keeps things rather more conventional with a small-capacity petrol engine that’s free from any electrical assistance. Yet it still promises to be affordable to run, so is the Civic merely overcomplicating matters?
Finally, the Seat Leon, with its ‘mild’ hybrid technology, slots in between the other two. Its tiny electric motor lends the petrol engine a helping hand but can’t drive the car along on its own. Still, it promises to contribute towards bringing your fuel bills down.
We’re testing all three in trims that mix a good level of equipment and a dose of sporty styling for a list price of around £30,000. So, which is best?
DRIVING
The hybrid system in the Civic works in a different way from the more conventional one found in, for example, a Toyota Corolla. That’s because the Civic’s petrol engine drives the wheels directly only at high speeds; the rest of the time it acts as a generator to power two electric motors, sending 181bhp to the front wheels.
Meanwhile, the Leon’s mild hybrid engine has 148bhp and the Astra’s conventional engine has 129bhp. Unsurprisingly, then, the Civic’s 0-60mph sprint time of just 6.8sec thrashes the Leon’s
