New Honda Civic?

colm_mcm

Does anyone else think that Honda has made a complete bags of it?



it mightn't look too bad in pictures, but it looks terrible in the flesh



can't see it dating that well....

Squirrel

I think it's hideous, I think someone here compared it to a Daewoo/Chevy Lacetti I think it was, and they have the same shadow nearly

colm_mcm

yeah, the rear end reminded me of the old Lanos hatch,

BrianD3

I quite like it. For those who want a more conservative looking Civic there's always the 4 door saloon.

One problem that I see with the Civic in the Irish market is the choice of engines. A 1.4 with a poor power output (83 PS IIRC) a 1.8 VTEC and a 2.2 turbo diesel. No 1.6 petrol or small diesel which would seem to be omissions.

The Free Man

i like it. i saw one on liffey street the other day and it had my head turning. it really stands out, ill give it that.

colm_mcm

remember when the Focus came out, it had the same effect, but the Civic is seriously fussy

HashSlinging

dont like it at all. its not boring its like they've tried to "push the envelope" a bit too far. I liked the focus when it came out, I really dislike the civic.

Melion

Seen 2 of them yesterday, i thought they looked very cool

lomb

as another poster said theres a serous lack of engine choice. no automatic in a low cc either.

The tax man

Three little letters...Y....U....K!!!!
Saw a few in the flesh over the past week OMG:eek: what a hidious looking thing.No wonder Honda don't show the whole car in the ads.Little flashes of different bits of the car,even the pics from the op make you think hmmm that looks nice but see the whole lot together at normal angles and it's a different story.

Interceptor

The base models are awful, I sat in one last week and the plastics, trim and seat cloth feel so cheap. I like the pics of the high spec ones and suspect with nice alloys and the extra shiny bits it would be a different animal. Its got to be an improvement on the outgoing version which was only slightly less cack than the version before it. I don't think they have been able to follow up on the looks of the 93-96 version which was a mould-breaker when it came out, but this might just do it. I'd buy one (a type R of course, silly ).

'cptr

Interceptor

Honda got a Cylon to bang a Daewoo to make the new Civic. It had to be the b4stard son of a space mutant... Overactive imagination? Moi?

'cptr

dahamsta

Saw one the first week of the new year, was very impressed with Honda's balls. People are afraid of change; they were (are) exactly the same with the Chris Bangle BMW's.

I'd nearly buy one meself if they weren't going to be common as muck on the roads.

adam

Supercell

Its Knightrider except the lights don't sweep..does it talk too ?

CyberGhost

Damn, designers are running out of ideas.

BMW is screwing up, now Honda

My favorite Civic has to be EK/EJ (if anyone knows what's the difference between EK and EJ please tell me)

Andy_R

What's the best 1.6/1.8 small hatch out there then? Focus 1.6 Zetec? What else?

colm_mcm

The Focus has lost all of the charm of the original model. just a Golf wannabe now.
The Seat Leon isn't half bad, apparently designed by the guy who did the Alfa 147 (who'da thought)

Seat Leon

Alfa 147




Seat Leon

Alfa 147


Dubious originality aside, It'd be a better choice than the Civic, Focus or Golf (IMHO!)

5500

CyberGhost wrote:

(if anyone knows what's the difference between EK and EJ please tell me)

EJ's are the saloon and Coupe's,EK's are the hatch's

Here it is in its Coupe version which is a hell of alot nicer


I think the Si is only on sale in the states at present tho.It uses the same 2litre engine from the old EP type R afaik

bazz26

The Leon is nice alright but the interior is a disappointment imo especially compared to the design of the outside. The plastics look cheapish and there are alot of blank panels about the dashboard especially on the base model. Actually it is hard to identify whether it is a Leon, Altea or Toledo as they all wear the same face these days.

As regarding the new Civic, the base 1.4 hatch starts at about €23k which is very pricey in this class of car. The more conservative saloon starts at about €27k :eek: and is only available in 1.8 litre. Honda's engine and spec ranges always baffled me, you could never get the right spec to go with the right engine size.

There are no plans to bring the diesel Civic here either afaik as the only one available is the 2.2 from the Accord. The VRT people would have a field day with that. I had a rental Civic (the previous Civic) while in the UK last year and it had a nice 1.7 diesel but it was never available here offically. Shame, they might have sold.

bazz26

eireal wrote:

EJ's are the saloon and Coupe's,EK's are the hatch's

Here it is in its Coupe version which is a hell of alot nicer


I think the Si is only on sale in the states at present tho.It uses the same 2litre engine from the old EP type R afaik

The new Type R Civic afaik will have a reworked version of the current model's 2.0 VTEC engine. It increases from 197bhp to about 225bhp. Not bad from a non turbo charged engine.

HungryJoey

The new Civic is a mess. Too much, Details on it basically. The front lights look good I supose but the rear end is hideous. The inside has taken a turn for the futuristic side of things. Not a bad thing..

But comparing it to most of the older civics although it just ain't a civic no more, ill hand it to honda for designing it. It is a very interesting car, And not as dreab as most other honda cars are.

One car I really do like at the moment, and that I don't hear much mention of here is the Honda Accord. I think its very sleek & stylish looking. The engines look quite pokey aswel. Not under powered. What do people think of the accord here ?

Hj

EDIT : To add to that, I seen a base model civic today. Had to say, It didn't look quite as interesting as normal ones would. Crappy hub caps and no triangular exhausts and looks very plasticy, Less chrome.

bazz26

HungryJoey wrote:

The new Civic is a mess. Too much, Details on it basically. The front lights look good I supose but the rear end is hideous. The inside has taken a turn for the futuristic side of things. Not a bad thing..

But comparing it to most of the older civics although it just ain't a civic no more, ill hand it to honda for designing it. It is a very interesting car, And not as dreab as most other honda cars are.

One car I really do like at the moment, and that I don't hear much mention of here is the Honda Accord. I think its very sleek & stylish looking. The engines look quite pokey aswel. Not under powered. What do people think of the accord here ?

Hj

EDIT : To add to that, I seen a base model civic today. Had to say, It didn't look quite as interesting as normal ones would. Crappy hub caps and no triangular exhausts and looks very plasticy, Less chrome.

The Accord is a grand car and very underated imo. I had a 1994 model a good couple of years ago as a company car and it never let me down with 100k miles on the clock. Plenty of power too from the 2.0 litre engine. Incidently the current model has just received a mid life facelift, Honda have kind of messed around with the front grill and lights. The basic 2.0 litre petrol engine has 155bhp which is not bad and the 2.2 diesel is apparently very highly rated by motoring journalists.

I wouldn't mind having one but cannot justify the running costs of a 2.0 petrol at the moment. Will not totally rule it out in the future though.

HungryJoey

Yeah, They are good engines alright and honda's always have been.

I really do like the look of the accord though, But for some reason if I was buying a car I just wouldn't buy an accord. Id go for something else if I was spending that kind of money. Even though I cannot find fault with the accord. Good engine, Classy looking, Reliability is excelent, Fairly decent spec. What more can you want ? ... Oh wait I know... For it to be cheaper

Hj

unkel

colm_mcm wrote:

The Focus has lost all of the charm of the original model. just a Golf wannabe now

I can't say I agree. There's a fiery red 3 door Focus I see every day at work and it looks very well indeed imo

bazz26 wrote:

As regarding the new Civic, the base 1.4 hatch starts at about €23k which is very pricey in this class of car.

That price is ridiculous for a basic slow small family hatch. Anyone got any links to sales figures for Ireland? I wouldn't be surprised if they went down...

CyberGhost

eireal wrote:

EJ's are the saloon and Coupe's,EK's are the hatch's

Here it is in its Coupe version which is a hell of alot nicer


I think the Si is only on sale in the states at present tho.It uses the same 2litre engine from the old EP type R afaik

Thanks eireal!

jayok

So many comments

I supposed the first thing to admit is that I am actually in two minds with the new Civic. When I seen the US coupe first I drooled, but the 5-door hatch, I personally think the back is too busy, but I do like the front and side profile. It really makes a refreshing change from the usual bland stuff going around. I been following the Civic brand since 1994 and I can honestly say when each revision came out I immediately didn't like it. After a short while the style grows on me and by the end of it's life I think it looks cool.

As for the Civic looking like a Daewoo / Cylon, etc. I tend to find that Honda are quite progressive in their designs compare to other Manufacturers. For example, take the new Civic, style and compare it with the 01-06 and then compare it with the 96-00 model. Now take the Golf, it just "looks" the same between the models i.e. you'll know its a Golf. Yawwwnn. The same can be said of the Accord. In fact, if you notice Honda were there first with their 01 5 door car, the new Corrolla then came out and looked the same, and low and behold the Golf Plus came out. It seems as Honda is leaving the others ar just getting in on the market.

As for the engine selection. Honda are first and foremost a power-train manufacturer and the largest petrol one in the world. They have different objectives for each engine they design (e.g. powerboats, etc). For the Civic they are focusing on improved economy and reduced emmissions, etc. Remember they done the power thing already - e.g. 1992 B16 engine (1.6 with 175BHP naturally aspired) and have moved on. The 1.4 and 1.8 engines available in Ireland are created for efficiency and reduced emissions - the 1.8 outputs 139 g/Km but still gives 138BHP. If you want pure performance buy the Type-R.

With regard to prices Honda Ireland sells in total approx 6,000 units (i.e. Accord, CR-V, Civic) per annum in Ireland. Compare this to a single mid-sized dealer in the UK who will sell this same amount! In reality Honda Corp aren't interestd in the Irish market, we simply get the UK design. Most car manufactuers operate like this and to think otherwise is dellusional. As such the cars are not designed with VRT in mind and the 1.8 gets punished as such. However, I still think that for the spec of the top of the Irish range 1.8 €27k is very, very, good, equally the 1.4 compares to the price of a 1.4 Golf! Which are both over-priced for a 1.4 and I wouldn't buy.

And don't start about the Golf being a better built car. If you think this you haven't been in a Civic in a while. And as for Sales figures, the current Civic is sold out in the Irish market, so they are being bought.

WRT the new Civic Type-R, it's being launched in Geneva in March. Grrr....

ds20prefecture

I think this thread answers the "Do Irish people really like cars" thread.

Honda release a bold design into a terminally dull segment and people say it's too "fussy" or it "pushed the envelope too far".

I've always admired Honda greatly, but in the past their mainstream cars have been way too conservatively styled, particularly inside. This Civic changes that, and in my book that's good news.

Compare it to Toyota, Nissan, Mazda and Mitsubishi offerings in the Golf segment, and see if you can stay awake long enough to reach the correct conclusion. Ditto the euroboxes from VAG or Peugeot. Only Renault and Citroen have equivalently bold designs, even if the cars themselves are dull to drive.

Regarding price, it is broadly similar to the Golf in terms of specification and cost. It is probably better made, and will hold it's value every bit as well, if not better. The engine choice will cripple sales in Ireland, as a 2.2 diesel hatchback is just all wrong for our tax. Ditto 1.8 petrols. It needs a 1.6 diesel (like the Pug one) to really do well. But as someone already said - the Irish market is not worth the effort.

Irish people do not like cars.

The tax man

While this car is badged as a concept, the production version will look virtually identical. Due on sale early next year, the flagship will cost around £18,000. Less extreme three-door variants will debut at July's British Motor Show.

Civic Type R.

Still looks Y...U...K!!

colm_mcm

Time will tell whether it'll be a hit. personally I don't think it will be.

colm_mcm

jayok wrote:

And as for Sales figures, the current Civic is sold out in the Irish market, so they are being bought.

Toyota Corolla Hatchbacks are sold out too, and they've been on sale for 4 years. The Civic has just been launched, and it's after the two busiest months of the year. There'd be something wrong if they weren't sold out!

lomb

colm_mcm wrote:

Toyota Corolla Hatchbacks are sold out too

are they? when is the new corolla coming? i heard 2007,in dire need of an update imho, the game has moved on with the new golf, astra et all.