2017 Honda Civic Sport

Honda is bringing back the hatchback for 2017 with the Civic Sport. Our test car boasted a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine, a manual transmission and a very aggressive appearance from the rear.

The interior picture shows an automatic. Saying they offer a 6-speed manual is one thing, but making it available is another. Will the manual be another unicorn.

Otherwise, very nice!

The car we had around the office was a manual. It looks like we used press photos for the review. So yes, the car is available with 3-pedals.

I had been considering one of these to replace my Fit but I feel like the styling department left it in the oven way too long. I can get behind the Type-R looking extreme, but I would have preferred the lower-rung model to have a little more subtlety. As I just posted in another thread earlier today, I think the Mazda 3 is more my speed.

In reply to pointofdeparture:

I agree. The angry robot styling trend needs to end. Yesterday

Does the manual car get an actual manual parking brake instead of a button?

In reply to NickD:

I've come to the conclusion Nissan, Honda and Toyota are just making weird looking crap to see how weirdthey can get and us americans will still buy it.

But then you look at the Accord and it's a proper handsome sedan. I want one with a 2.4/6spd.

Bobzilla wrote: In reply to NickD: I've come to the conclusion Nissan, Honda and Toyota are just making weird looking crap to see how weirdthey can get and us americans will still buy it.

+1

In reply to Bobzilla:

Hyundai too. Their styling got pretty wonky too in recent years, like the Veloster and 2nd-gen Genesis Coupe and the Sonata hybrid.

The manual is available on the LX and Sport trims in the hatch, the others get the CVT. The manual is only available in LX trim for the sedan. I want to like the Civic hatch, but all of the fake grilles bug me.

Honda styling (IMO) "back in the day" was always so graceful, understated, elegant, yet purposeful some how.

Good GAWD that's an ugly car...No matter how great it drives, I just could never buy one knowing that at some point in the day I could accidentally see the outside of that thing and realize I was paying actual money to own that monstrosity...ugh

doc_speeder wrote: Good GAWD that's an ugly car...No matter how great it drives, I just could never buy one knowing that at some point in the day I could accidentally see the outside of that thing and realize I was paying actual money to own that monstrosity...ugh

It's actually much more subdued in photos than it is in real life, especially from the rear......that's all I'm gonna say about that.

I'm sorta interested in these. The styling is weird, but Japanese cars are supposed to be weird. I'm waiting on the next Civic Si though.

In reply to SilverFleet:

What stinks is that the new Si is coupe/sedan only, because the Type-R is hatch only. I was disappointed to hear that.

I'm just overly excited to see if this means the old Honda is coming back. Notice I said "overly" excited.

mazdeuce wrote: But then you look at the Accord and it's a proper handsome sedan. I want one with a 2.4/6spd.

I stopped at the dealer last Saturday for a filter and grabbed a free hot chocolate then looked at the Accords. They had a nice Marino Red Sport 6-speed SE sedan that had full leather and heated seats (wife's complaint).

I asked about price and they said they won't discount them as they are rare and tons of people want the 6-speed. AND they loaded up another $1,500 worth of crap as extras.....$139 for factory wheel locks? You're protecting a $3,000 investment he told me!

In my head I figured if I wanted to trade my 5-speed manual trans 2011 Accord Sedan in they would tell me NOBODY wants a manual tranny and the trade carries a low value.

Bleh. I really want to like it, but it's hideous. I usually care more about how a car drives than how it looks, but that car couldn't possibly be fast enough to outrun that much ugly.

RANT ON: If all you can say about a car is that it's ugly (or beautiful), perhaps you should keep it to yourself. There are words that you can use, comparisons that you can make, examples that you can give, or other ways of illustrating your point. All these things create a meaningful argument. Here are examples of observations with some context, that can be the basis for a healthy debate:"The excessive front overhang gives it awkward proportions", "I prefer the clean body styles of the 1990s such as the CRX or FD RX7", "The overwrought tailights are a worn out design trend", "It's girth is out of keeping with the tradition of that model". By comparison, there are such mouth-breathing phrases as "That sure is ugly" or that classic "I need to be by myself for a minute" which is kind of disgusting, if it means what I think it does.

So now that I've exhibited my design-snobbery, my take on this car is that it is handsomely proportioned, although a bit large for what I expect from a Civic. The detailing is overwrought, but I don't mind that. In a sense it's like the 1950s-to-early 60s attraction to extraneous filigree, but in a more integrated way. All those baroque design elements give me something to consider as I sit next to one in traffic. I don't want one, but if my wife did I'd try to talk her into a Mazda3, and relent if she insisted.

OK, I'll bite. It looks like a Crosstour with a bunch of meaningless and unnecessary angular bits randomly tacked on. Better?

Honestly I would like it a lot more if they eliminated some of the fake vents, or at least eliminate the rear and make the fronts 50% smaller. The new Fit has the fake rear bumper vents going on too, they just look really tacked-on to me.

In 1992 I thought the new Civic was ugly. Now I don't. Maybe it will grow on me after a couple decades?

clutchsmoke wrote: Does the manual car get an actual manual parking brake instead of a button?

Nope, and It's annoying as berkeley. Even though it's a manual, you still need your foot on the brake to release the parking brake.

For years ,several aftermarket companies manufactured front and rear fascias for cars. Their styling was pretty questionable. Maybe there's a market for someone to reverse that trend on this abomination, and those of several other car companies,too.

The taillights are almost like they told the designer that they can't look anything like the previous Civic. So they traced the outline of the old ones and that became the new ones.