First Drives Of 2014 BMW M235i, Honda Civic & Fiat 500 (Part 1) - BMW M235i Manual Coupé, Honda Civic Tourer 1.8 i-VTEC Practical Wagon

BMW M235i Manual Coupé Hits The Spot 

UK-spec M235i doesn’t disappoint on foreign roads. We already want one

BMW M235i blue

The M235i we got all light-headed about last month was a left-hooker with the optional eight-speed automatic gearbox. This time around, although still abroad, we get a correct-hand-drive model with the six-speed manual to try. It’s marginally slower (by 0.2sec to 62mph), 2.3mpg less economical and 13g/km dirtier on measured CO2. But it’s also £1650 cheaper. And still magnificent, it speaks of the M235i’s all-pervading sense of completeness that the choice of gearbox doesn’t drastically matter.

2014 BMW M235i coupe interior

The DCT auto’s blink-quick shifts do make the car seem markedly quicker when you’re tying it on and inevitably smoother when you’re not, but clutch-pedal punctuation of the M235i’s progress isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Mechanical interaction suits this car’s old-fashioned rear-drive appeal. The M235i’s size, respectable kerb weight, adhesive agility and on-demand hooliganism mean there is plenty of neck scruff to get a hold of, and if your inclination is to go up the road with hot hatch-style abandon then the manual ’box is best, despite its occasionally not chiness.

A verdict on the ride must wait, but on the patchy spots Spain provided, on $849.08 adaptive dampers, the M235i never relinquished composure, even under load. For now, the conclusion remains: this is a small sports coupé of rare quality. At $56,467.97, it’s priced between the Toyota GT86 and Porsche Cayman – five-star cars both, and wholly appropriate bookends.

Honda Civic Tourer 1.8 i-VTEC Practical Wagon

Big, clever cargo space and deft suspension create a real contender

Honda Civic Tourer on road

The new civic estate is rather easier on the eye than its hatchback sister car, no doubt aided by the floating roof design above the rear window. What’s unique about this car compared to classmates, though, is its clever and voluminous interior.

As with the hatchback, the Tourer’s fuel tank has been moved from the rear of the car to beneath the front seats. That helps clear room for a very clever loading bay: there are 117 litres of under-floor stowage alone, with the rear seats flipping up like cinema chairs to create a mini loading area.

Honda claims a class-leading 624 litres of seats-in-place space, and considering Volkswagen’s Golf offers 605 litres and Ford’s Focus manages just 476, it’s probably not wrong.

With no 2.2-litre i-DTEC offered in the Tourer, this 140bhp 1.8-litre petrol unit is the most powerful option available. It’s a brisk enough engine, but peak power appears pretty high in the rev range, so to get the best results you really have to thrash it.