IT'S well over a decade since the Honda Civic range had an estate car within its line-up and that was the rakish Aerodeck...last made back in 2001.

Now Honda's Golf/Focus rival has a suitable load carrier in the shape of the Civic Tourer which makes obvious competitors look rather bland and boring. With its distinctive wedge shaped profile and concealed rear door handles, it certainly stands out from the crowd with racy looks that make most mid-bracket estates appear mumsy by comparison.

But a pretty face in this class is only part of the answer - estate cars or tourers need to pack in the luggage, and the here the Honda really comes into its own.

Partly due to the unusual positioning of the fuel tank under the front seats, there's masses of space in the boot. In fact, it will accommodate a class best 624 litres of cargo including a ‘secret' 117 litres below a false floor. Sling the rear seats down flat and this expands to 1,668 litres.

Although the Tourer sits on the same wheelbase as the hatch, it is 235mm longer due to the rear overhang. Inevitably, performance is slightly blunted but the test car - a 1.6 i-DTEC EX Plus, price £27,460 - remains reasonably well endowed.

The 118bhp turbo-diesel engine, which is eager if not especially smooth, provides a 120mph top speed and acceleration to 62mph in a quite respectable 10 seconds.

A fair pace is accompanied by outstanding economy allowing real-life averages of around the 50mpg mark. The official combined figure is 72.4mpg with CO2 emissions of a meagre 103g/km...an excellent effort.

Like most diesels, the Honda thrives on long runs and low revs and while you are unlikely to approach the theoretical official figure my average of the low 50s should be well within reach.

There's an inevitable diesel ‘throb' at tickover, but this soon dies out making the Tourer a refined cruiser that can swallow up the miles in silent and relaxed fashion.

The car was fitted with a slick six-speed manual gearbox, although there's an automatic option.

Ride is comfortable but on the firm side which is in accordance with the Tourer's sporty character. Handling up there with the best front drive models although there's not us much feedback from the steering as possessed by the earlier Civic.

Standard kit in the Plus version includes front and rear parking sensors and dual zone air con.

Dashboard design is innovative and executed with high grade materials, although the layout can be a bit confusing for drivers new to the Civic.

The steering wheel, which can obscure the speedo, is a busy place with quite a few bells and whistles on it. Rear visibility is noticeably better than that of the hatchback since the rear screen isn't afflicted by a horizontal spoiler.

With dramatic looks, advanced engineering and load area bigger than many estates in the class above the Civic Tourer is a valuable addition to the Honda line-up.