The Honda Civic, one of the bestselling compact cars of all time, has been completely redesigned for 2016. Available as a 2-door coupe or 4-door sedan the 2016 Civic competes with vehicles like the Chevrolet Cruze, Dodge Dart, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Forte, Mazda 3, Nissan Sentra, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Corolla and Volkswagen Golf-Jetta.
The 2016 Civic rides an all-new platform that has a 106.3-inch wheelbase. That's up 3 inches from last year's coupe and 1 inch from last year's sedan. Both the coupe and sedan are 5-passenger vehicles and come only with front-wheel drive. A hybrid model is not offered for the 2016 model year, but is slated to return in 2017.
Civic is offered in three basic trim levels, LX, EX, and Touring. Because Honda doesn't offer factory-installed options, there are sub-trims within the LX and EX lines that offer selective equipment upgrades -- like leather upholstery. Prices start at $18,640 for the sedan and $19,050 for the coupe. Both climb to $26,000-plus in Touring trim.
Civic come with one of two engines. LS and EX trims come with a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder that makes 158 horsepower. It mates to either a 6-speed manual or CVT automatic. EX-T, EX-L and Touring trims get a turbocharged 1.5-liter 4-cylinder that's rated at 174 horsepower. The only transmission offered with that engine the CVT automatic.
Standard safety equipment includes stability control, antilock disc brakes, front-side and side-curtain airbags and a rearview camera. Also offered is a right-side blind spot camera and the HondaLink system, which also includes emergency crash notification. Standard on Touring is the Honda Sensing safety package, which adds adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, lane-departure intervention and forward-collision alert with automatic emergency braking.
Civics sold in the United States are assembled either in Canada or Indiana. All models have an $835 destination charge.
The Civic's base 2.0-liter engine preforms admirably with a smoothness and level of refinement that's unsurpassed in the class. Still, it provides just adequate and unremarkable motivation. It mates well to the CVT automatic, and revs energetically in passing situations.
Step up in trim level to the EX or Touring with the new 1.5-liter Turbo and performance gets a big boost. The turbo engine is both powerful and refined. It can accelerate the Civic from 0 to 60 mph in about 7 seconds. Fairly quick for the class. More importantly, it also mates well to the CVT, providing smooth and effortless acceleration.
Fuel economy, always a Civic strongpoint, is again near best in class. The turbo 1.5 is EPA rated at 21 mpg city and 41 mpg highway. In routine driving there's no reason to doubt those numbers and netting more than 45 mpg is possible in straight highway cruising.
Dynamically, Civic feels more agile while at the same time seems to have greater composure. Touring trims have firm-riding 17-inch wheels that impart more road harshness than some might prefer, but the EX provides a great blend of comfort and control.
Steering is light and direct, but suffers from some on-center numbness that makes extended highway travel tedious. Brakes, finally all-discs, have good stopping power and a pedal that's easy to modulate. Road and wind noise are well suppressed -- even at highway speeds -- and the engines only intrude when worked overly hard.
The interior is completely reworked with a simple and straightforward design. Materials don't necessarily impress, but assembly quality is top notch. The gauge layout is refreshingly simple with a large digital readout for speed and muti-display surrounded by a conventional tachometer. The display is flanked by a digital fuel gauge and engine temperature readout. One minor flaw are thin, mildly lit indicators for those ancillary gauges.
The center stack boasts a large display screen. LX models get a smaller screen with conventional dials, and trims with the navigation system get a larger screen that eschews buttons and knobs for a touch interface. The touch-screen has a slider-scale for volume that's hard to operate at speed. Either way, climate controls are simple and straight forward. Android Auto and Apple Car Play integration are great and so is a USB port below the dash that has a convenient routing hole for a phone connection.
Front seats are firm and comfortable with good support, given the class. Regardless of body style, leg room is great but head room is tight on the low-slung coupe. The center console is wider than you'd expect but boasts a well-placed and adjustable armrest. Rear seats on the sedan are among the roomiest in the class. Though they offer considerably more leg room than before, coupe rear seats are merely adequate for average-size adults and getting in is a chore because of the low roofline and front doors that aren't as wide as you'd expect.
Cargo room is generous for the class. Sedans offer up to 15.1 cubic feet while coupe have up to 12.1. Touring models have slightly less because of the upgraded audio system subwoofer. Interior storage is great with lots of open and covered bins throughout.
Civic is a perennial bestseller for more than a couple of reasons starting with Honda's great reputation for reliability and resale value. For 2016, Honda has given the Civic a lot more personality while retaining most of its functionality. At the same time, the interior boasts more room and is certainly more functional. There are less-expensive compact cars on the market and some that offer more performance, but few offer the Civic's blend of refinement, agility and versatility.
|
|