2012 Honda Civic LX

I'm still attempting to update this blog as often as I can. I think I'm doing a better job than I did last year where I went months without an update. Here's a common car that's been updated.

Introduction: The Honda Civic was introduced in 1973 as Honda's first true attempt at making cars. Before the Civic, Honda was only known for making motorcycles and little did anyone know that the Civic would become one of the most important car names several years later. The timing of the Civic couldn't have been better due to the 1973 oil crisis where demand for small and light cars were in higher demand in North America. For its entire history the Honda Civic has popularized front wheel drive back during a time when the Corolla was rear wheel drive. It also popularized the use of multi-link suspension and eventually double wishbone suspension. Honda removed the double wishbone suspension from the 7th generation Civic due to its cost. The Civic now in its 9th generation has still retained its lead as top selling compact car in North America

Normally this car isn't very interesting to review but lately this car has been getting a lot of criticism starting with Consumer Reports. The majority of them criticized the cost cutting and the rather tepid improvements made to this car. This has provoked a response from Honda saying that a new refresh will be on the way sooner than normal and will address some of the criticisms. Now, I'm part of no publication nor do I get any form of sponsorship, I want to get to the bottom of this to see whether this car is actually bad or not.

Performance: The new Honda Civic is given a new 1.8L engine to replace the old 1.8L engine. When it comes to the raw numbers, the performance figures don't really change. You get the same 140 hp and 128 lb.ft of torque you got from the old car. The acceleration figure is still exactly the same at 9.2 seconds to get to 100 km/h from a dead stop. The car is no heavier and no lighter still being roughly 1200 kg. You're still given a choice between a 5-speed manual or automatic, not the 6-speeds other new cars are given. The only benefit you're given for going with this model over the old one is the fuel economy is a bit better on the highway. However judging from what most people have managed, its only marginally better. Frankly at the end of the day this is pretty much the exact same 2006 you're given with no real reason to switch. Its 6 years later and frankly its too slow now and there are more fuel efficient vehicles out there.

My Score: 4/10 - 2006 performance from a vehicle in 2012, I scored the car 6/10 3 years ago its no better today.

Handling: This new car also doesn't bring back the double wishbone suspension Honda fans absolutely love. You still have multi-link rear suspension fortunately, which means no terrible torsion bar to deal with but I can't see any real changes to the car either. The steering is even lighter than last time which annoyed me already. Honda has tweaked this suspension further in the range of comfort rather than performance, as a result this is the least bone jarring Civic I've been in...but the limit to when this car understeers is much easier to reach than it used to be. Driving a car that is capable of understeer at 40 km/h is disappointing to say the least. This car has gotten more boring.

My Score: 5/10 - Understeer limit is easier to reach, boring to drive, however comfortable for a Civic.

Interior: One of the things I loved about the previous Civic was the rather advanced looking dials and gauges you were given. This car didn't really chance much of that, however they added something which I annoyed me to no end. The speedometer is no longer separate and now part of a large dash readout. Most of the information is easy to read. What I hated however was the bar lights that surround the dash. Its the most distracting thing I've found in a car dash readout, it turns blue and green with what seems to be no real reason and because its in your line of sight your eye starts to become curious at why its changing colours. Sadly I haven't found way to turn off this frankly stupid feature. I turned off eco-mode which doesn't seem to do anything with that and remained annoyed as I drove this car. The interior quality of the car remains much the same as last time...lots of very cheap plastic which isn't very nice. They still angled the dash which damages my knee in the old car, this new car does it the same way, you won't notice if your tall, but if you're short this is a problem. The stereo is a better unit this time around, much easier to use than the somewhat messy one from the old car. This being the LX model it will have A/C, power locks and other features you'd expect a car of this level to have the cheapo DX model doesn't. The visibility remains much the same, the C-pillars are still fairly large on a car this size. The build quality on this car is much the same as last time as well. This car is built in two plants in North America, its either going to be made in Greensburg, Indiana, United States or Alliston, Ontario, Canada.

My Score: 4/10 - Not a whole lot different from last time, however the utterly annoying bar lighting is terrible and its still lacking standard features like power locks even 6 years later.

Exterior: From the front, this car is exactly the same as the old one. Apart from the slightly different grille there's just no difference from the old car. The rear has changed a bit, but this look is the same boring look people criticized Toyota for the 5th gen Camry and the 1st gen Prius. There's not much to say, they didn't bother styling this car.

My Score: 1/10 - No effort into styling this into a "new" car. All styling changes have actually made the car more dull than before.

Value for money: Now starting with the base car its under 15K. However this is the model most people will buy and this car is about 18K. Why? Its simple if you want A/C, power locks, split folding rear seats, the base DX is no good. The cheapo Corolla has split folding rears as standard, the Mazda3 goes further by having power windows and locks and standard rear disc brakes. This car is also only offered in sedan or coupe form, no hatchback or wagon is available, if you wanted a hatch the Civic has been no good since 2002. The driving impressions on this new Civic is just downright dull, you're just better off with a Kia Forte, Mazda3, Mitsubishi Lancer and the VW Golf. The interior appointments are of low quality, you'll find the Ford Focus, VW Golf, any maybe the Chevrolet Cruze to be better appointed. Want the more fuel efficient car? Mazda3, Hyundai Elantra, Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze are your best choices. So you're just essentially riding on the Honda Civic badging, overall this car would be great as a 2006 model...but its 2012 and the Civic from 2006 is pretty much the same...I mean it can't even beat competition from itself from 6 years ago. All new is totally wrong, this is still that same 2006 car now competing against cars that feel post-2010. As a result its terrible value, and if you like this car here's my suggestion, buy a used Civic from 2006-2011, they're exactly the same and you save money in the process.

My Score: 3/10 - Against actual new cars, this car is outdated simply by the fact its really no better than it was 6 years ago. Its not even good value or reduced in price like most other outdated cars. You could get worse cars but this is simply unacceptable for a 18K car.

Overall: 17/50 - For a "all-new" car, this has one of the laziest efforts ever made by an automaker. I can't think of a worse reason for giving money to a company that just doesn't try. It'd get less criticism if they called this car the 8.5th generation Civic, its definitely not a real 9th gen but that's Honda's own fault.

2006-2009 Honda Civic

Despite being Christmas holiday I seemed to have found not nearly enough time to write a review and do all the things I wanted to do on this holiday. Here goes a common car...


Introduction: The Honda Civic was introduced in 1973 as Honda's first true attempt at making cars. Before the Civic, Honda was only known for making motorcycles and little did anyone know that the Civic would become one of the most important car names several years later. The timing of the Civic couldn't have been better due to the 1973 oil crisis where demand for small and light cars were in higher demand in North America. The Civic now in its 8th generation is often a sales leader in its segment in many markets.

The Civic is one of the most well known cars on the planet along with the Toyota Corolla. There isn't a continent that doesn't have a modest presence of Honda Civics, more often than not there is a pretty large presence of this car. When I got the chance to drive these cars I always wondered what the hype was about, since at least around here this car is the choice of many young drivers.


Performance: The standard Civic has a 1.8L engine that produces 140 hp and 128 lb.ft of torque, this is actually quite impressive for an engine this size and despite being close to 4 years old is still more powerful than the 2009 Toyota Corolla. However this engine despite the power has disappointing acceleration partly down to the lower torque number. To accelerate from 0-100 km/h it takes about 9.2 seconds meaning this is not the quickest car in the segment, it actually loses to the old Mazda3 and the Mitsubishi Lancer. You notice the lack of torque the moment you need to go to highway speeds, it goes slower...eerily similar to how a Toyota Prius starts to slows down, the exception however is the Civic makes a lot more noise and its not very pleasant. The good news though is the fuel economy is quite good.

My Score: 6/10 - Lacking torque causing disappointing acceleration , noisy at the top end, however its still a decent engine with good fuel economy...its just not very exciting.

Handling: This is where I usually hear of the Civic's party piece over the likes of the Toyota Corolla and pretty much everything else. My impressions of this car...is not the same, I actually disagree with most auto reviewers about this car. I found this car when it came to corners to be pretty...boring. The steering is quite light and unfortunately it really lacks the feel that I get from a Mitsubishi or a Mazda. The cornering itself is actually quite alright, you will notice some of the roll when you push it but its not nearly up to that level. This is one of the more comfortable Hondas I had a ride in which is a plus, I remember my ride in a RSX and my bottom was very sore. If Honda actually made this car feel like the old Fit, I'd have a much more different feeling about its handling but I actually feel pleased to say Honda has sacrificed fun in favour of comfort.

My Score: 6/10 - Its got alright handling, but its not an exciting car to take to a corner if this is what you want in a car...buy a Mitsubishi or a Mazda.


Interior: Features with the interior will depend entirely on which of the trim levels you bought the Civic in. The base DX for instance will have no power locks, in all honesty Honda intended you to buy power locks because the Civic is one of the least manual lock friendly vehicles out there. The LX is fitted with a few more options while the EX has all the interior toys. The interior itself has been styled...quite well, Honda clearly went with a more futuristic theme with the way all the plastics are styled to look. I really like the addition of the digital dash, most of the important information from the dash is located above the wheel where its most effective to be viewed. The stereo despite its size is disappointing, its not as intuitive as the rest of the interior. The most worrying thing for me however is the plastic quality most noticeable with the doors, its very thin and flimsy. The Civic is not the cheapest car and seeing such flimsy plastic is not something I like when cheaper and frankly worse cars use thicker materials. Build quality however is very good, I haven't seen one issue with trim from any Civic. Canadian Civics are all made in Alliston, Ontario, Canada.

My Score: 7/10 - Kudos to Honda for the digital dash for trying something Toyota and Nissan used to do but chickened out, good styling theme, well built, but disappointing materials.

Styling: Honda went through a bit of a compromise with the styling. Its clear Honda wanted to go with the futuristic theme, but for all markets except Europe they held back and decided to go with a mix of future styling and conventional styling. Europe on the other hand truly went beyond to make the Civic like no other car. The Civic those of us who aren't from Europe is not a bad looking car...but if really fails to distinguish itself from newer cars. Its sad they held back because if this was the Euro Civic I'd easily give it a 10. Everything is different on the Euro Civic, from the door handles to the exhausts(triangle shaped), nothing is all that different with the one we have. Add that the LX gets some terrible rims.

My Score: 6/10 - Honda held back, compared to the Euro Civic we got the less interesting and therefore less attractive version.

Value for money: The Civic has some very fierce competition, this segment is by far the largest and has the most competitors. In terms of pricing its defeated by the American and Korean entrees. In performance and fun its defeated by the Suzuki, Mitsubishi and Mazda. Its extremely conventional unlike the Sentra which opted for CVT. Its not as fuel efficient as Toyota's Corolla, and its quality and reputation are very closely equaled by the Toyota. Considering the Civic started at $17,000 initially it was the second most expensive vehicle in the segment. If it had the Euro styling I can see why one would pay more, but it doesn't. As a result its not a particularly great value down to the fact it just doesn't do anything better than anyone, someone has beaten it somewhere.

My Score: 5/10 - Fair value overall due to being average or good in most fields, not a great value however as it doesn't push far enough in any category to be great at something.

Overall: 30/50 - Its an average car, its a pity it doesn't do anything particularly well in its own segment. I wonder if I scored the Civic the worst on the internet who isn't a anti-Honda lunatic? That said I feel the Lancer and Mazda3 are much better cars overall, I may love the digital dash but that just isn't enough to make it a good car.