New (2022) Civic

[AmitG]

https://www.honda.co.uk/cars/new/civic-hybrid/over...

Basically:

• Bigger than the old one
• Hybrid only - 2.0 litre engine + 2 electric motors giving 180BHP
• Hatchback only
• Made in Japan (Swindon factory has gone for good)
• Exact UK specs not known yet

Obviously the Type R version will be totally different.

My thoughts:

• 180BHP is actually pretty decent. My dealer reckons that there might be at least one non-R model with adaptive dampers, which would be cool
• The non-hybrid versions are getting really good reviews in the US
• It looks a bit boring. I actually preferred the "no fks given" flamboyance of the old one. But I guess that it put people off
• Interior looks nice but I wish the infotainment screen was bigger - 9" is not a lot these days

I guess that the nearest competitor is the Toyota Corolla. The Civic has a better interior but the Corolla has an estate version - and 90% of the Corollas I see are estates, so IMHO Honda have missed a massive opportunity by not making an estate version.

I am mildly tempted, I will be taking a look when it arrives in showrooms.

Interested to know people's thoughts. Any existing owners that would consider upgrading?

[AmitG]

I believe that Honda's latest interior design guy is ex Mazda, which may explain the resemblance to a Mazda interior

Agree on warranty - Hondas are generally super reliable, but 3 years is not that great these days. Would it really cost them much to make it 5 years? I am not aware of Hondas exploding in year 4, at any statistically significant level.

[AmitG]

Whataguy said:

One magazine was reporting a starting price of 24k... I very much doubt that.

Looking at the equivalent 180hp Corolla I reckon it will be around £30k starting price for the Civic.

Agree. No way it will start at £24k. For a start, it would undercut the HRV, which is smaller and has 60 BHP less.

Looking at the current range, Jazz starts from about £20k, HRV starts from about £29k, and CRV (which has a similar powertrain to the new Civic) starts from about £31k. That to me suggests a starting price of about £30k, exactly in line with your estimate.

[AmitG]

A few more tidbits from CAR magazine, who IMHO are normally reliable on this stuff.

• Starting price of £30k. That makes sense.
• Only 2 trim levels, Sport and Advance. Advance has 6l less boot space, which will almost certainly be due to a subwoofer in the boot.
• 0-60 in 7.8 seconds. That is actually very decent IMHO.

I suspect that Honda UK are not expecting to sell many and so the colour and trim choices will be limited. And of course, there is only 1 powertrain available (but Type-R will be different).

So far I am feeling a bit "meh" about it. But I look forward to seeing it in real life.

[AmitG]

Re. Corolla power increase - I saw that. They are also improving the interior quality, adding a full digital dash and a bigger touchscreen.

Plus Corolla is available as an estate, Civic (AFAIK) will not be. It's a shame that the Corolla saloon is no more. I had one and loved it.

Right now it's difficult to see why one would go for the Civic over the Corolla. But I'll wait for the specs...

[AmitG]

CAR magazine have a pretty good (IMHO) write-up

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/honda/ci...

They seem to rate it pretty highly but say that most people will not see the value that Honda have put into the car because of the high sticker price.

The Autocar review is bizarre - it reads as if they never actually drove it...

I will certainly have a test drive at the dealer but right now I'm finding it hard to get excited about it. The exterior design is too safe IMHO. Maybe it looks more interesting in real life. The interior is nice but again a bit safe and the screen looks like a bit of an afterthought. Also I suspect that the infotainment is the same as the Jazz and that puts it behind the times. I could use Android Auto but it is not wireless which is a pain.

Also, you have to get the top grade to get the fully digital dash, and that means you get the pano roof which I don't really want.

Plus there is only one remotely interesting colour (Crystal Blue) which is an extra £825. That's a lot for paint.

On the flip side I suspect that the drivetrain is great and the quality is very high. CAR reckon that it drives really well - way better than the Corolla, which in fairness is not difficult.

IMHO it was clear that it was never going to cost £23k. That was crappy journalism. £30k sounded about right.

I am interested to see how Honda does with it but I suspect that they will not sell that many, and they know this (hence the limited colour/spec choices). I can't see them making many conquest sales. But I might be wrong.

The real selling point could be availability i.e. you can actually get one in a reasonable time. My dealer reckoned that once they land in the UK there will be lots of them available for purchase. So for someone coming off a lease and needing a car soonish, and looking at 6+ months for a Focus/Golf/A3, it could be a smart choice...

[AmitG]

It's in Honda dealers now.

I was pushed for time so I could only manage a quick look from the outside. These days there is so much content on the internet that you pretty much know what to expect. However, a few things struck me:

• Side profile is Audi A5. Rear design is Tesla Model 3. Front is original. Unfortunately, the front is the most boring bit It's very tame compared to the previous gen.
• I was surprised at how low it is. I don't know the dimensions offhand but it looks lower than an Audi A5.
• I'm surprised that they bothered to include a rear window wiper. The rear glass is quite aggressively sloped, more so than many saloons.
• It looks much better in real life compared to the pictures. The long bonnet line, the low profile, the rear three quarter view...I found myself liking it a lot more than I thought I would.

The interior looked good but I did not have time to sit in it.

I am possibly interested, and will see if I can get a proper look next weekend...

[AmitG]

Bobtherallyfan said:

Had our first look today and a quick test drive….proper two hour slot booked for later in the week. Very impressed so far….nicely finished and very airy inside with lots of legroom front and rear. We are supposed to have a car delivered early October but might have to rethink…..it seems you might not be able to fit a roof rack to the Advance spec with the panoramic sunroof. We await confirmation of this from Honda. Thats a deal breaker for us as the top spec is the only one with martrix leds and powered seats which we want.

I'm in the same boat. I want the top spec model to get the premium audio and the digital driver display but I don't really want the pano roof because it reduces headroom and frankly I would never use it. I think Honda missed a trick here, they should have deleted the pano roof and made it cheaper...

[AmitG]

Loads of technical info (including UK specifics) here in case anyone is interested. This was apparently the presentation to UK dealers

https://www.civinfo.com/attachments/2yn-23ym-civic...

[AmitG]

Which trim level did you go for in the end?

[AmitG]

Mezzanine said:

Black S2K said:

Mezzanine said:

Had a good look at a few today, the interior is certainly a step up and the exterior styling from front and sides looks good to my eyes.

The blue initially stole my gaze as it really pops but then I saw a red one and that looks stunning (as far as a Civic can look stunning).

What had completely passed me by was that these are all automatic now (Type R withstanding) - what a shame.

Would be a few years of depreciating before I could consider one anyway but the CVT only is a real turn off for me

CVT is rather a misnomer - it's akin to a Diesel/electric locomotive and accelerates the same way. It's all wonderfully seamless.

Continually-variable battery charger might be more accurate.

Oh that’s interesting, the sales guy just said it was a CVT.

Definitely not a CVT in the conventional sense (belts and cone pulleys).

In fact there is no transmission at all in the hybrid Civic, whether CVT or otherwise.

Normally the car drives off battery (EV mode). The engine may cut in to act as a generator to top up the battery.

At high speeds, or when max power is needed, the engine connects directly to the wheels through a clutch, so there is a fixed 1:1 ratio between engine speed and road speed. The electric motors modulate the acceleration and speed, with excess engine power being diverted into the traction battery to keep it topped up.

It's simple but very clever, and different to the Toyota system.

The one bit I don't understand is the "gear changes". On my Jazz, I get fake "gear changes". Most people seem to think that it's an audio trick, with the system playing a fake sound through the speakers. It definitely isn't. It's a real noise coming from the drivetrain. I have no idea what type of witchcraft makes it happen.

[AmitG]

Bobtherallyfan said:

Just picked ours up. Took a punt on the colour but we are very happy with our choice.

I have to admit, that does look VERY nice.

That colour is Crystal Blue, right? It's darker than I thought it would be.

[AmitG]

Went to dealer and had a good look today. It's lovely.

The interior is much higher quality than I was expecting. Overall it feels like a really high quality product.

They had a red one and a blue one, both look but I am leaning towards the red. Although on the way out, a white one caught my eye and that looked very good too!

I will wait and see what Toyota bring out in the next 3 months (there are rumours of a new Prius) then I will take a test drive and decide.