Honda Civic Hatchback (2006 - 2011) practicality

Disappointingly the Civic only scored four stars in the Euro NCAP crash tests when the majority of new alternatives have gained a maximum five-star rating. The organisation highlighted structures in the dashboard that present a potential hazard to the knees and femurs of the driver and passenger. All cars comes with four airbags as standard and SE models and upwards have active front head restraints.

Seatbelt pre-tensioners, Isofix child seat mounting points and an electronic stability programme which can help avoid accidents in the first place are also standard.

The new Civic offers superb luggage space with a 485 litre capacity - that's 100-litres more than the Ford Focus, plus the boot features a neat twin-level floor. But it's the rear seats that are the Civic's cleverest feature - they fold flat in one go, or alternatively the bases can be lifted up - there's also extra storage space underneath the chairs.

This is an area where the Honda is way ahead of the alternatives. However there are gripes - rear visibility is obscured slightly by the spoiler in the split rear screen and there's no rear wiper either, the bottom pane has a water-repellent coating that Honda claims clears itself - but in practice it doesn't really work and collects dirt easily.