What We Think Of The New 2016 Honda Civic

Absolutely awesome! Having owned three Civics in the past, and sold luxury brands recently, I am amazed by the dramatic improvement in this 10th Generation.

The exterior design is sporty and clean. The interior feels absolutely premium, especially with leather. Love the new gauge clusters, thicker steering wheel, infotainment screen and all the extra legroom. And how about that dramatic increase in interior noise levels?

It's, without a doubt, the biggest generation to generation redesign the Civic has ever had!

Picking a trim is tough. I love Honda manuals, and the LX with the 2.0L engine still drives very nice. But the techie in me wants Apple CarPlay, so I believe that I may end up with the EX trim.

That being said, if I am in no rush, I would wait until the new Si comes out late next year.

Im sure regardless of the trim I left the store with, however, that I would be very happy.

I would Lease, giving myself the option to buy at the end.

Not only would I purchase, I did. Our previous car was an 8th gen Civic. My wife has been complaining that it's not fast enough to merge sometimes. The 9th Civic was not a consideration, instead we were looking at Mazdas. Then came news of the 10th gen Civic so we waited until some nearby dealers got it so we could do a test drive. She was sold. It's not only much faster, but it rides smooth and it satisfies my the techie in me. The turbo mated with the CVT is powerful but smooth. The handling is much more firm, yet the ride is refined and smooth. Our touring has features that I would not have expected in a compact sedan, such as remote start, heated rear seats, and power passenger seat. The interior feels like a much more expensive car. And last but certainly not least, the exterior is much improved and sportier looking. The only things I wish it had are rear cross traffic alert and memory seats for the driver. Here is a picture of our new *** Touring with the 8th gen behind

Well, I was blown away by the design of the new Civic. I am, however, a hatch kind of guy. If the HB version looks like this, iow, if it’s a LIFTBACK, then it will probably move to the head of my Next Car List, ahead of the somewhat dowdy Impreza. Here’s hoping. Still, no-one buys Subarus because of how they look.

One of my favourite things about the Impreza is its fantastic visibility. Subarus in general have this attribute, at the expense of looks. Some think the cost of this is bit high, LOL.

But speaking of visibility, the mirrors of the new Civic must be mentioned. I love that shape, which should make manoeuvering in the city easy. A nice big field of vision. One of the things I hated about the new Corolla redesign was the narrowed mirrors. Come to think of it, the small oddly shaped mirrors was one of the things I disliked about the first generation Fit, and Honda improved them for the second generation. And then for the third generation... ...never mind!

Anyway it’s a bit weird, but the mirror shape is MY favourite thing about the new Civic. OK, I’m a bit of a light geek, so the LED headlights are pretty awesome. Those are my favourite feature on the new Corolla as well, and the Civic’s are even better. Hoping that they will be standard on the hatch, or at least become standard when the mid-cycle refresh occurs.

Still, not enough attention is given to the (lack of) visibility of modern cars, and this new Civic seems to be making progress, which is against the current of recent automotive design. Thank you, Honda.

Will I get the 2016 Civic? Well, no. Because I am a hatch kind of guy! The Civic HB will be a 2017 model, I am guessing, and THAT ONE will be on the list.