Do we hate the new civic?

Wow that's a nice Accord.

Not sure if this is really of interest to the GRM crowd, but here goes anyway. My wife does ALOT of driving for her job, up toward 35k miles/year. She was happy with her 2009 Accord EX, 4 cylinder, 5 speed MT for her daily commute (comfortable car, returning ~ 26 MPG on average), and it was a good car for family trip 'freeway driving', returning ~ 32 MPG in those circumstances. Then she got t-boned - hard - in the driver's door. Great news is she emerged with only a bruise on her left shoulder. Nothing else. Bad news is the Accord was totaled.

Replacement was a 2014 Accord EX, equipped nearly exactly like her 2009 was, but this time with the CVT transmission instead of the manual. Now, MPG has jumped to ~ 33 MPG for her daily commute, and 39 MPG for family trip / freeway driving. Upside also is that her driver fatigue is down in traffic situations.

So, would I want to drive the CVT car everyday? Nope. (Fortunately I have my 6MT GTI instead!) That said, I can certainly see the merit in the CVT that Honda is putting out!

I know opinions are mixed on the two-tier dash thing. But I personally don't like it much. My dad has a Civic (I think it's a 2008?) that has it and while I thought I would get used to it, I never have. On the other hand, my dad likes it.

You definitely can see how fast other Civics are going very easily... :)

I would have to drive the CVT before I figured out if I despised it, or merely disliked it intensely, or maybe didn't hate it after all. To date, I have hated every one I've driven, but it's been a while. The technology must have moved on since then.

Even if I liked it, I'd always be worried about the long term. But then again, we have twin brothers who co-drive a stock 2015 WRX with the CVT, so that's a minimum of 72 autocross passes per season at our events alone, and more like 100. That thing launches and shifts with authority, at least so far.

Granted, I'm biased, as I worked on the Accord CVT and was very briefly the new model project leader for the CVT that is in this car, but you really should drive it before you blow your top. I mean, you're right, from an enthusiast standpoint, it isn't exciting, but from just being a car, it is really really good. I definitely prefer it to the previous generation parallel shaft AT.

It does resemble a crosstour. The Honda boards have been moaning about this for a while now. Down to the fact the windshield wipers are similar to the crosstour...

My take on the 1.5T with the CVT is that they wont want those models to pull away sales from the Si. Which leads me to believe the Si will have similar power outputs or even the same engine. Just a guess. But even the Fit EX-L only comes with a CVT, could be Honda just keeping their ducks in a row.

I for one loved the two-tier dash. Probably my favorite part of the last two generations interior. Driver oriented dash, huge tach, speedo that allows minimal time of eyes being off the road to check speed, and different then most of the boring E36 M3 out there now.

I don't care for the new Honda front ends, they remind me of the garbage Acura beaks. 09-11 Civic Si had the best front end on any Honda as of late, although I don't mind the updated coupe Si.

Just looks strange, and CVT on anything is a deal-killer for me. Maybe the Si will be better.

That said, I think the current Accord is the best-looking one since the early 90s.

I was in Germany last week and saw this Civic wagon, why can we get that instead?

BTW, I am sorry you guys like the Crosstour. Its hideous, and I consider myself a Honda fanboy.

Slippery wrote: I was in Germany last week and saw this Civic wagon, why can we get that instead?

Same reason we don't get the sweet Mazda6 wagon.....because bloated SUVs (or in the case of the Civic, stupid compact SUVs)

It says lighter unibody but is the car itself lighter.

Opti wrote: It says lighter unibody but is the car itself lighter.

Supposedly, it is from what I've read.

DirtyBird222 wrote: I for one loved the two-tier dash. Probably my favorite part of the last two generations interior. Driver oriented dash, huge tach, speedo that allows minimal time of eyes being off the road to check speed, and different then most of the boring E36 M3 out there now.

I agree with you there. I never drove a Honda, but I did like that two tier dash, I thought it was excellent at what it was designed to do, keep your eyes on the road

mad_machine wrote:

DirtyBird222 wrote: I for one loved the two-tier dash. Probably my favorite part of the last two generations interior. Driver oriented dash, huge tach, speedo that allows minimal time of eyes being off the road to check speed, and different then most of the boring E36 M3 out there now.

I agree with you there. I never drove a Honda, but I did like that two tier dash, I thought it was excellent at what it was designed to do, keep your eyes on the road

For real, I thought it was dumb at first. Then I realized how awesome it was, then I traded an Si in for a WRX and really realized how great it was. Then I got another Si and traded it in for an STI and really realized again and am craving one again even though I just got a WRX replacement. DOH!

mad_machine wrote:

DirtyBird222 wrote: I for one loved the two-tier dash. Probably my favorite part of the last two generations interior. Driver oriented dash, huge tach, speedo that allows minimal time of eyes being off the road to check speed, and different then most of the boring E36 M3 out there now.

I agree with you there. I never drove a Honda, but I did like that two tier dash, I thought it was excellent at what it was designed to do, keep your eyes on the road

Another two-tier dash lover. I thought it was silly at first, but now I really dig it. With the info/radio screen on the top tier (to the right), it really does keep my head up while driving.

I gotta say, I like my '13 much more than what I see of the new one. Looks aside, you're going to be lucky to fit a piece of carry-on through the opening on that trunk. How you build something like that and not make it a liftback, I can't understand.

classicJackets wrote: I really liked what I was reading until I hit your final point. That is really bad. Deal breaker bad, for me.

It's how Japanese companies are going. They went from sporty vehicles or potential vehicles across the lineup to gain respect of the Us market to the pinnacle of malaise.

If you want anything that isn't like that you need at least an SI which i doubt will come with a CVT.

I'm digging the new bodystyle in white:

I rode in my SO's new Civic the other day. Too many gadgets, Camera's all around. I didn't even notice the transmission. She loves it.