A REVISED 120ps 1.6 litre i-DTEC diesel engine will join the Honda Civic range from next March, and the Japanese brand says it will offer ‘an outstanding combination of performance and efficiency'.

The new engine is one of the first units to be officially tested under the new Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure fuel consumption and emissions cycle, which comes into force this year.

While data from the familiar New European Driving Cycle test is based on a theoretical driving profile, the WLTP cycle was developed using actual driving data and is therefore designed to produce results closer to a real-world driving experience.

The efficiency enhancements for the new Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC result in fuel economy and CO2 emissions starting from76.3mpg and 99g/km.

The new engine produces 120psat 4,000 rpmand 300 Nm of torqueat 2,000 rpm, poweringthe Civic from zero to 62mph in 10.4 seconds.

It will be available in both the four-door and five-door variants of the new tenth-generation Civic and a nine-speed automatic transmission arrives in mid-2018.