Drive the 2012 Civic EX IDTEC

Just had some time to spare at my dealer and the new Civic was there on the driveway, so I had to take it for a spin.

Was an EX model with all the toys
SATNAV, Glass roof, leather....

First impression after stepping into the car was,.. the feel of quality.
This is not a Civic, this is something else..

Getting the engine to start was a first quest (keyless entry and start)
The display indicated: press clutch and then start button.
An there it was the IDTEC diesel.
The engine was cold, but the noise was like it was warm, nice.

Then the drive,.. I was expecting memories of my 06 Civic to come back...
But they did not (lucky thing)
No engine clatter, no hard and noisy suspension.
Only the feel of a premium car
All buttons and steering controls, did not seem to be Honda (and I had many)

The car feels wide and big
The engine feels so smooth
The suspension feels... (ha no you do not feel it)

So the hard sporty ride has gone, and you get a premium car like feel instead.
The engine has lost the brute force I remember from my 06 (I did like this)
Now the low rev torque is gone, you have to search to power above 2500RPM
But then, the engine seems to like that.

I do have some reservation on the road noise, but the leather and glass roof do not help on this, higher pitch noise is still there.

Stupid thing honda does (on mainland anyhow) , EX MUST take leather, EX MUST take glass roof. On the lower versions, we do not get the toys.
HONDA: some of us do not like this practice!!
BTW a vegetarian will never buy EX, sounds stupid but it is a fact.

For the rest, great job!!

Some (phone) picts and a video (video made with my phone while driving and shifting gear...) and it was almost dark.
Note the DRL (looks a bit too yellow for me)
Note the "in door" blue LEDs
Note the rear view camera guide