[RobbJK88]

Wow wow wow! Finally seeing it here it doesn't look nearly as long as some of the other spy photos that made it look Accord sized (maybe it was the size of the driver) even the rear overhand doesn't look as dramatic. This must be a base LX given the steel wheels (which would explain the interior shots as well having the 5" screen). And those look like those could be 17" steel wheels at that, no smaller than 16" i'd say which is nice. The shape looks great. The lines look good from what is visible. I was spot on guessing the projector beam headlights as well. Sad there is no visible exhaust/center mounted exhaust, but that could be an upper trim/coupe only feature as well.

I love the shape of the car. Nice high trunk and hood while keep the roof profile low and the windows narrow gives it a very chunky but planted look. Very sporty in my opinion. It doesn't look as anemic as the current sedan does. So excited to see more of the coupe now!!!!

 

[RobbJK88]

Rear overhang is massive, only real complaint, but thems the breaks of FWD. Regardless I'm curious about the aero effect from the new shape. Based on my rudimentary knowledge of aero, looks like the higher tail/less drastic roofline rake will reduce drag somewhat...

Also, the windshield on the new civics is rounder? instead of being totally flat plane like the current ones this one has a rounded curve to the glass should also help with drag.

 

[RobbJK88]

Good find CanGuy, cheers. I think this is the best look we've been given at the sedans front end, for what its worth...

Agreed, and it gives a nice size comparison next to the woman standing there, though i'd venture a guess she's pretty short. It shows the civic isn't growing that much, not immediately noticeable at least. Though i can tell it is definitely wider. Which makes me happy. Loving the stance of the car overall. Can't wait to see the final versions (hopefully september).

 

[RobbJK88]

The first picture makes it seem almost Accord wide... which makes sense if they're going to share bones.

I figured most of the noticeable growth would be in the width. Not the length or height (which actually decreases supposedly). Its probably easier to scale this global platform in length rather than length. I don't mind the width gains tho. it'll help with handling.

 

[RobbJK88]

Agreed. I liked the 8th gen civic because they looked robust, grounded. The 9th got more defined character lines but i feel they almost look anorexic, like the sheetmetal is stretched too tight over the frame. The 10th gen has a good combo of both. A more substantial robust look. But also more defined and dramatic character lines that aren't common in this class of car.

 

[RobbJK88]

I wonder how much wider it actually is than the 9th-gen Civic. I'm curious if the added width would make the Civic at all less popular or practical for narrow city roads.

My guess is it won't grow or shrink in any dimension by more than an inch or two. nothing really that noticeable to the average car shopper. But that little bit of width can help handling alot.

My guesses would be (given the current civic is narrow even for its class) about 2 inches in width. About 2-3 inches in overall length. and a height reduction of about .25-.5 inches

Its not going to be anything insanely dramatic, but that little bit of width and lower height will lower center of gravity and potentially boost handling feel. Granted hoping honda does alot more than just that to enhance this cars handling performance and feel.

 

[RobbJK88]

Can't recall if anything solid was mentioned about its suspension setup but that will also contribute to how it feels.

No, nothing too technical has been mentioned yet. I don't see honda straying too far from the current setup torsion beam front multilink rear etc. But there is alot of tweaks and tuning they could do to that suspension to make it work alot better for the car. They just have to invest the time and money into doing it. They can make the accord handle as well as a GTI, why not the civic? That only leaves room to make the Si and Type R even better than the competition.

 

[RobbJK88]

Am I right in thinking all of the trim levels will have the same suspension system, or will we get something stiffer on the higher end more performance models?

From LX-EXL the suspensions have always been the same setup. The coupe usually gets stiffer springs to increase its handling slightly and give it more of a sporty feel. The sedan gets softer more comfort geared suspension.

The Si coupe and Sedan then get their own sport suspension setup (still basically the same setup but with thicker components and different tuning)

Then the Type R will have it's own standalone setup most likely.

 

[RobbJK88]

for whats its worth i did read the 10th civic would use a similar setup to the 9th NA model, ditching how Europe does it.

That makes sense. The current Euro model rides on the Fit platform so the suspension setup is similar to that of the Fit, not the 9th civic we have.

I figure it'll be mostly carried over from the 9th gen but with tweaks and upgrades to make it perform better. Pretty sure even the accord uses a similar setup as the civic, the current suspension has potential it just needs to be reworked. I'm sure the new platform required changes to be made anyway.

 

[RobbJK88]

I can see the new platform being more comfort oriented if its expected to underpin the accord as well...

Well the platform itself doesn't have as much to do with handling characteristics. That all goes to the shocks, dampers, etc. The new platform will be lighter and more rigid which will assist in better handling characteristics. The longer wheel base will help with comfort of ride. The wider stance will help with lower center of gravity (i.e. better cornering) But the individual tuning and setup of the suspension they attach to the platform will ultimately decide the characteristics of how the civic and accord drive. The current accord, while comfort oriented is no slouch in handling pulling numbers equal to the VW GTI in figure 8 and skidpad.

The sedan will be more comfort oriented. Softer tuning for softer ride. The coupe will most likely get beefier stabilizer bars thicker struts and a higher tuning to make it more sport oriented in feel. The actual difference in handling numbers have always been marginal between the two, but i could see honda making a bigger difference between the two this time around and offering a Sport or SE trim to the sedan with the coupe's sportier setup

 

[RobbJK88]

sure, what i was getting at was as it gets bigger in size it gets more comfortable. no more light nimble flickable. might feel like that maybe... but still bigger car then we have...

ah. yes. they will be bigger. but like i've said. growth is really going to be marginal. no more than an inch or two in any direction. And if the engines got the pep and they quicken up the steering the new lighter chassis still has the potential to feel quick and flickable. In this day and age size doesn't determine a cars character as much as it used to.

I'm looking forward to a civic that feels like it hugs the road again. My 95 civic for all it's painful slowness was so tight to the road. It never swayed or felt floaty. I hope this return to what the civic once was brings back the feeling of hugging the road. It inspires alot more confidence when driving than the current cars sometimes sliding floating feeling.

 

[RobbJK88]

How 9th and 10th feel is what I can see coming up in comparisons as with any movement up or down in size that will be one of the bigger questions folks have.

I just hope it still feels sporty enough.

I think honda's mission is to bring back the fun to drive sporty nature of the civic. I'm pretty confident if nothing else they're going to bring class leading handling to the civic. The difference that i think we'll see, as it seems to be a trend with other car makers is making the car feel more mature and refined. Less like a jouncy tuner go kart and more refined planted predictable. They did it with the golf and GTI. Reading those reviews about how they matured the GTI and Golf while upping its handling ability. It'll be less boy racer and more refined sports tourer. Which isn't a bad thing.

 

[RobbJK88]

Here's some new pics of the all-new 10th-gen Civic sedan. These were taken by a guy named Victor somewhere in Texas.

I think a big reason it looks so much larger than the 9th parked next to it is:

A: The hood is much longer and taller, its also more squared off, it gives an illusion of added size (granted there will be some)
B: The rear trunk lid is also much higher than the 9th rear and i don't know if its the camo, but that sedan trunk is flat as heck (where the license plate area is)
C: The width is the most noticeable growth. This looks as wide as an accord is now. Which i don't mind, i always thought the civic was too narrow. This'll help interior space (along with the longer wheelbase) But keep in mind according to honda the height of the car overall goes down from the current, thats a recipe for lower center of gravity and a more road hugging ride.

Some things i noticed that i wish i could see better in the pics. Those are not the standard headlights (with the projector beams we've been seeing) those look like the LED lights from the concept and refreshed accord (so they are doing an all LED option/trim) Judging from the one interior picture (or picture of a finger and store front reflection) i think this is a top line EXL as the seats look leather (which would explain the LED headlights and huge alloy wheels)

Up to this point all we've really seen is base models and upper EXL models testing so it'll be interesting to see what features fall into what trims. I wish we could get more coupe spy pictures like this.

 

[RobbJK88]

The camo definitely has the desired effect of creating an illusion in regards to size. It throws you off. There's more width but length appears close to the same as the 9th-gen. As Robb pointed out the 9th-gen looks much too narrow. Also the 9th-gen looks like the smallest overall C-segment car out there. Honda needed to beef up the Civic a bit and make it look more substantial. My thinking is this is the "Sport" trim but I could be wrong. A little hard to decipher the interior but the seat appears to be cloth as I tried blowing it up.

It'll be interesting to see how they dish out features and amenities across the trim levels. I swear those headlights look like full LED units as opposed to the basic projectors we've seen so far. One thing i've also noticed that i hope gets tweaked with the sedan is the gap in the wheel wells. That's alot of gap... the 8th gen had such small gaps and the 9th gen they increased. This doesn't seem to be an issue on the coupe though from the spy pictures i've seen however. You'd think same platform and basic wheel sizes the wheel gaps wouldn't be so different from coupe to sedan.

 

[RobbJK88]

I found some more spy shots with a google search. Again, gives good insight into the width of this car. It's true that the civic currently is one of the narrowest on the market. I'm happy to see it widen its stance a bit.

Also found some pretty on point renders from a pakistan website.

 

[RobbJK88]

Definitely. Between the camo masking dimensions and curves and various angles the pictures are taken at, its hard to really guess at sizing. Some pic the civic looks about the same size as the 9th. Others it looks accord sized. The one spy picture that shows the very short stocky lady leaning on the trunk (assuming she's short at about 5 foot) gives a good size comparison.

The pictures of the 10th in the parking lot next to the 9th gen sedan is also a good indicator that length has gone up that much (a few inches at most) and that the height is only marginally lower if at all. The biggest most noticeable difference in all the pictures is the width of the car which looks almost accord like.

I noticed also in the terrible interior picture posted above (the one with the finger) the seats have contrast stitching which i hope makes it across the trim levels. It's a nice little touch that adds alot of visual appeal.

 

[RobbJK88]

http://www.civicx.com/threads/newest-2016-civic-sedan-closeup-spy-pics.69/http://www.civicx.com/threads/newest-2016-civic-sedan-closeup-spy-pics.69/

Looks like more pics have surfaces of the sedan. Hot weather testing in the western U.S. These are some really clear pictures and are pretty close up (good camera and zoom).

You can really see alot of the details in the headlights and accent lights as well as the LED tails which aren't as flat as all the renderings make them look.

Very good pictures (and also a bunch of the already seen interior shots)

 

[RobbJK88]

Can anyone here knowledgeable in tires make out what brand and size of tire is being used on the test mules?

No idea what brand. On the various spy photos i've noticed them using standard height tires (with the normal taller sidewalls) and i've seen them using semi-low profile tires (run flats?). What i have noticed is that all the tires ive seen, even on the hubcapped testers is that the tires look good sized. At least 16 if not 17 inchers.

I'm hoping still that they do away with hubcaps on the LX and go alloys across the board. 16s on the LX and 17s on the EX/EXL reserving 18s for the Si and Type R.

At least the wheels seem to fill up the wheel wells better on most of these testers we've seen than they do on the current civic that seems like the car sits too high on its suspension.

 

[RobbJK88]

Honda throwing run flats on these would be horrible IMO. I rather they stick to normal tires. Plus on a budget car like this, going with the cheaper 'normal' tire seems ideal.

Looking at the competition alot of cars are using run flats. They offer better grip and handling than taller sidewalls. And they save money by not including a spare tire. So budget is a moot point there.

I would still like to see low profile or semi-low profile tires used at least on upper trims. I can't stand the look of full size traditional tires and while they help in ride comfort they hurt handling in turns because of side wall flex.

I just want better tires than my current 14 has. They has zero grip. Chirping tires and drifting back end you push it the least bit... unacceptable when my 07 and 10 didn't do this...

 

[RobbJK88]

I see i see. Thanks for the information. I'm definitely not a tire expert. haha. I still don't like the look of the traditional full size side walls. I prefer the lower sidewalls like my 07 coupe had or even like my 14 coupe has (compared to the sedan).

I just want better gripping tires. Both my 2013 sedan and 2014 coupe have far less grip than my 07 or 10 coupe and sedan had...