HONDA'S 25 years experience of building hybrid cars shows up exceptionally well in the latest Civic Advance.

The current Honda Civic range comprises Elegance, Sport and Advance models, with respective prices from £33,795, £35,495 and £38,695.

The intelligent electronics will not let the traction battery and twin motors run out of power and introduces the petrol engine to top up a charge generated by regenerative braking, so you never plug into a mains charger.

Inside it has a familiar digital display for the driver which changes with modes yet is always crisp and clear, with a multi-function adjustable steering wheel, a nine-inch Honda Connect touchscreen integrating to your mobile phone settings and a straightforward dual zone climate control system for warm feet and cool heads. It had Bose speakers for excellent reproduction.

Drivers are well looked after with a suite of active and passive safety features grouped under the Honda Sensing system with intelligent cruise control, lane assist, cross-traffic and blind spots alerts.

On the central tunnel are the drive and mode buttons as well as parking brake controls including the automatic setting. A driver can choose to have balanced power with efficiency in the Normal mode, boosted performance in Sport, greater efficiency in Econ or tailored power and responses through the Individual mode. The changes are instant and noticeable.

The secondary buttons on the wheel-spokes were on the small side for those with big fingers and the touchscreen is not the biggest to use but it operated quickly and its various displays were clear.

You could quickly set and maintain any chosen temperature with a good output and directional control, aided by four powered windows and a good sizedelectric sunroof.

Oddments room was reasonable but not exceptional throughout the cabin and the boot was easy to load, extend and would take a few cases.

For the driver and passengers it was effortless to get into or out of with good-sizeddoors and seat adjustment was very good for the driver but not so useful for the front seat passenger. Those behind might find legroom tight for taller persons.

We found the seats a bit thin although well shaped and the suspension really came into its own to absorb the bumps we could hear the springs coping with. Body roll was modest and the roadholding inspired confidence.

The Civic Advance was agile and responsive to changes of direction, throttle and brakes and never put off line by mid-corner potholes or bumps.

Visibility was generally good, helped buy sensors all round and a camera alerting the driver to the car's proximity to hazards, so long as they were not mired in road dirt.

It has some of the brightest and fastest responding intelligent headlights on any car and produced a long, wide beam that instantly dipped when it detected oncoming traffic.

Generally, noises were modest but the suspension liked to let you know how hard it was working and showed up how well it coped,and the engine, although very smooth when accelerating, also increased its fussy tone with road speed. Wind and other mechanical sounds were muted.

Although the interior was predominantly black apart from some brightwork highlights and colour accents, it looked more upmarket than the price might lead you to think.