ThE GAUNTLET had been laid down...

A couple of months ago, a Honda Civic Tourer featuring the fuel-sipping 1.6 i-DTEC engine underlined its impressive real-world fuel efficiency by powering to victory in the ‘MPG Marathon’.

In the two-day test over 330 miles of UK road, it scooped the top spot for best outright mpg with a barely-believable 97.92mpg, over-achieving against the Tourer’s quoted combined 74.3mpg by some 31.8 per cent.

The MPG Marathon is designed to be a true real-world test that demonstrates the benefits to both the environment and the motorist’s back pocket of employing simple, smarter driving techniques.

Honda had been quietly confident of a good result. Customer feedback had already confirmed that this "super-efficient" unit was producing excellent real-world fuel economy figures.

So when the Civic Tourer arrived at the office, there was only one thing on my mind - could I achieve anything like the marathon-winning fuel economy figure?

But the truth is that those thoughts quickly took a back seat as I weighed up the car's design, with its floating roofline, dark tinted privacy glass and quirky yet practical dashboard. It's very impressive.

Add to the mix the quality of the interior’s fixtures and fittings in the EX Plus model and there is a more upmarket ambience.

Adaptive damping has been employed to get the best from the Civic’s impressive chassis dynamics, changing automatically to suit the car’s load.

Out on the road, I gradually pushed the fuel economy figure past the 70mpg mark, but I needed a longer journey to achieve anything like that achieved in the MPG marathon. Besides which, I needed to test the car's performance on a few favourite twisty roads, and that had an obvious impact on fuel economy.

There are six trim levels, S, S-T, SE Plus, SE Plus-T, SR and EX Plus, with a comprehensive standard specification which includes Bluetooth connectivity, climate control and Idle Stop on manual versions. The top two come with the option of adding such luxuries as radar cruise control, which at £2,500 is a bit on the pricey side in my view, but market competitive, and comes as the second of two Driver Assistance Safety Packs, with the first adding lane departure warning, the latest anti-collision technology, City-Brake Active, blind spot information, and traffic sign recognition. Pack 2 includes all that tech, plus the adaptive cruise system.

Customers have a choice of two engines, the 1.8 i-VTEC petrol unit, or Honda’s acclaimed new 1.6 i-DTEC diesel.

The ride is compliant and comfortable and the set-up perfectly chosen, with the driver having a degree of input by way of a button on the dash which offers the choice of Normal, Comfort or Dynamic suspension settings, which do effect noticeable changes in the car’s feel, unlike some similar systems in rival brands.

With sharp responses to inputs at the steering wheel, the car turns in accurately and quickly, giving a confident feel at the tiller, with body roll nicely controlled, even with fairly rapid directional changes.

The whole driving experience starts with the press of a red starter button on the dash, adding to the sporting theme.

The rear of the car though deserves special mention – it is the Tourer after all. The tailgate provides access to a wide, flat load area. With the rear seats in place, the boot is truly enormous, 624 litres in fact, with a low load platform with no intrusions from suspension struts.

A roller blind-style cover hides all your belongings from view, but with the privacy glass on this particular model, you’d have to peer through the windows to see anything at all.

Standard kit on this car makes impressive reading – the keyless entry and start is always a boon, and other highlights include powered lumbar and side bolster support adjustment, high intensity discharge auto levelling headlights with high beam support which dims your headlights automatically when oncoming traffic comes into view, and blue ambient lighting in the front door linings.

All-in-all, the Civic Tourer is a great car to live with, practical and good to drive – and with Honda’s legendary reliability, it’s unlikely to give you any trouble.