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Honda modestly called it the Miracle Civic when it was introduced in 1995, but for European tastes it was anything but. Like the model it replaced, it lacked the visual dynamism of earlier generations. Bigger, safer and with an ever-broadening range of sophisticated lean-burn VTEC engines, the sixth Civic may have been a sales success but it still failed to capture the excitement of its mid-80s predecessors. All that engineering excellence was wrapped up in too-conventional a package.
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One of the engineering high points - and it wasn't that lofty - was the introduction of a new electronically controlled Multi-Matic constantly variable transmission in the 1.6ES model. IN 1998 the Civic series was augmented by the introduction of the family-friendly Aerodeck estate. The sixth Civic sat on principally the same platform as the funky CR-V but shared none of its street cred. The news wasn't all bad though. A Japan-only Type-R was launched, its hyper 1.6-litre VTEC engine producing a phenomenal 185bhp at 8200rpm.
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