Honda Civic Review

Well we're here at Blue Mountain, the Collingwood area in Ontario for the launch of this 10th generation Honda Civic. On the way up here yesterday, Honda took us to their factory in Alliston, Ontario where this car has been made for decades and they had the official ceremonial unveiling of the latest 10th generation car and it's very exciting to be at the plant where they actually make this car and all the technology that went into doing it was kind of fun to see. So how is this car different? Well it is entirely different. It's a clean sheet of paper design, everything is new in this car, new engines, you got it. So what you see here is a Civic that is going to be used around the world, the same platform. Right now there's a European version, a North American version, this is the version going forward and it's bigger, you can see that right away. The wheelbase has been stretched by 30 millimeters, that's three centimeters, the car is 20 millimeters lower, it's 50 millimeters wider and the overall length of the car is 75 millimeters longer than the outgoing model. However they shortened the length of the front of the vehicle to make it look more dynamic. It's got this sweeping d-pillar at the back, it almost looks like a hatchback even though it has a trunk. But not to worry, there is a hatchback version coming, also a coupe and SI versions down the road. What you see here is the top touring model. In order to get alloy wheels you have to buy the EX, that's where you get 16 inch alloy wheels. There's a new trim level called the EXT and that's where you get the new 1.5 liter turbocharged engine, that starts at $24,990. Top of the line touring is the one you see here and you notice it because it gets the unique LED headlamps. The great thing about this 10th generation Civic, it is packed with all kinds of new technology but the prices really have only moved marginally. For example the base DX, you get the LED marker lights, you get LED tail lamps and you get a backup camera and all of the technology that goes into this car with new engines and what have you, adds about $2,800 of additional equipment but the price still remains under $16,000. Volume player in Canada is going to be the LX and it starts at $18,890. So a much more dynamic looking car, it's got the most interior volume Honda claims in its class, it's got the best fuel economy and inside some really tasty features. Now with the old Honda Civic there certainly were criticisms about the way it was put together. When they redid the car in 2012 it was riddled with hard plastic, they did update it over the years but this is a monumental shift forward in terms of design. I like the way it looks, you notice right away they've gone away from the split screen for the center cluster, it's now one instrument cluster there and it's because the dashboard is actually thinner and wider and it was meant to give it a more open and airy cabin and sportier appearance so they've gone to that single tach and speedo there in the center. So I think that's actually better. Now the car is lower by 20 millimeters as I mentioned, they also lowered the seats down and the chief engineer told me that the seats, the hip position where you sit is about the same as an Audi TT which is quite a sporty car. Now that could be a positive and a negative, older buyers might have a hard time getting in because it's so low. Now speaking about seats, in the back the Civic has always been known for that perfectly flat floor, great for getting kids in and out of the back. Now because they lowered the overall seating position there's a hump in the middle so that's where they have the exhaust so that's a trade-off in the design of this new car. So those are some things to be aware of. Then you get into what you get with this car. First of all you notice the big bright seven inch screen, now that's not available on the base model. Honda wants you to buy the LX and above because that's where you get all the features that you're going to want. The seven inch display audio, that's the backup camera as well, that's where you get heated seats, that's also where you get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. What does that mean? Everybody's wanted the power of their phone in their car, now through Android and Apple and the iOS you can basically take the power of your phone and you mirror it on this screen and that gives you the ability to use navigation, your phone, music and features, it's basically connected to the car so that's all good. Now if you get the top Touring model, the one I'm in, if you have an Android phone Apple doesn't have it yet with wireless charging, you place that in front here and it charges wirelessly which is great because every time you get in your car your phone is getting charged, that's a great feature. So you have a much sportier looking interior, much better refinement, you have the latest technology embedded in the car, a sportier looking car on the outside, sportier feeling on the inside, now let's find out if it is sportier. Now before we get going one thing I forgot to mention, a complaint I have about this car that I'm finding with the new Honda products, there is no volume knob on the head unit, there's a new sort of volume knob here in the steering wheel which is good but I still like a good old-fashioned volume knob there to adjust, so that's one thing. Alright now we're taking off in the new turbocharged version, it's a one and a half liter turbocharged engine that's available on the top two trim levels, the EXT, T obviously stands for turbo and this Touring model also comes with this engine, so this engine provides more power, more torque but the best fuel economy of the two engines that are available. Now let's start with the base engine, it's a two liter engine, the old engine was a 1.8 so this is bigger yet it's more fuel efficient, they basically used the high performance European engine in Europe and modified it here for this marketplace. What you have is 158 horsepower and 138 foot-pounds of torque, that's 15 more horsepower than the outgoing model. Now that's married to either a manual transmission and in most cases it continues the variable transmission, then you get into the turbo which really is quite impressive, 1.5 liters as I mentioned, it produces 174 horsepower and 162 foot-pounds of torque, that's 31 more horsepower than the model and could do a run to 100 kilometers an hour in 6.7 seconds and the nice thing about this engine is maximum torque comes on at 1800 rpm. Now it's interesting because a turbocharged engine matched to a CVT really makes a really quite spirited drive, what happens is because the transmission isn't changing gears it can keep the engine in the sweet spot of horsepower and torque to continuously pull this car along, so taking off from a light is actually quite spirited, it doesn't have that usual shift between gears but I'll give you an example of it right now, we're coming to a stop sign and take off, it makes some noise you can hear, it stays kind of at 1 rpm and just keeps pulling, pulling, pulling, pulling, pulling, steps down a little bit, there you go 100 kilometers an hour, that's pretty good and the other thing that's nice about this car, it's a whole new platform, 25 percent more rigid, it's quieter on the inside but the biggest change is they've gone with these hydraulic dampers so that means the bushings now have sort of liquid in them and it gives you a much more compliant feel, this car was benchmarked against European luxury cars and it has a much more polished, a much much more polished feel on the road than that Civic ever has in the past. We've been driving this all new 2016 all around the Collingwood area down gravel roads, you can see the car is all dirty and the more I drive this car, the more I'm impressed with it, this really is the new benchmark for small cars, one of the knocks against the Civic for many years has been the fact that it's been quite noisy, this is definitely quieter, the new 1.5 liter engine that I've been driving today is impressive, it gets great fuel economy, it's rated at 7.6 liters per 100 kilometers in the city and only 5.5 on the highway making it the class leader, then you add in the much more refined interior, the upscale materials and the latest technology, the best selling car in Canada for 17 years and it probably will be for many years to come because this now is the benchmark in the class.