THERE are plenty of medium estates out there for those who couldn't bear to have a people carrier as their family transport.
But none can claim the style, performance, economy and reliability of the Honda Civic.
This sleek five door is actually better looking than the hatch and, in diesel form, is capable of an astonishing 74mpg.
It was the first car I have ever driven that arrived showing over 70mpg on the trip computer.
Although its only a 1.6-litre, with 120bhp on tap it pulls beautifully in the gears and even sounds quite good - a rarity in four cylinder diesels.
It has a marvellous sporting character in the corners, changng direction like a sportscar, with fantastic grip and balance.
Yet it's also reasonably comfortable over most surfaces, albeit with a fair amount of road noise, mainly from the tyres.
The six-speed gearbox is a joy, the clutch is easy and braking is excellent in all situations.
Loads of adjustment gives an excellent driving position, there's good legroom in the back and the boot is vast, with clever folding rear seats to make it gargantuan when needed.