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4 Posts
We're huge fans of the 06-11 Civic - we've had a fair few of them - all 1.8 manuals - we can't see the point of paying a fortune for a diesel as we dont do enough miles. Anyway, new Civic.
Looks
I am yet to meet anyone who likes the way it looks. It's ugly at the front, and hopefully in about a year's time they will give it a facelift, and then we might be interested. The rest of the car is fine, if a little overcomplicated on the lines.
Internals
Some of the bad points of the 8th Gen Civic have been attended to. There is a wash wipe! However, the rear view is not really any better at all.
The corner of the dash that sometimes gets you in the knee when you get in and out has been removed.
But the centre pockets have been messed up. They are smaller, and the one at base of the gear stick has been removed.
The biggest problem internally, as if it was some French crud, is that they have left the handbrake on the passenger side, so you have to reach across the centre console to get it - very French, very cheap, very rubbish.
The dials and displays - well for my liking there are now 4 screens to look at - I just dont want it, I want to drive a car not watch tv. Too many graphics and gimmicks, but hey ho.
Also, there seem to be a huge amount of dust gathering crevices. Now these may look good, but anyone who spends time in their car will tell you they just catch dust - these dashes will not look good after a year or two without regular cleaning!
I did feel the doors had a nice solid thud to them.
The back seats looke pretty much the same as or old model.
Also the boot, which was always a fantastic plus point of the 8th Gen Civics has been changed. the lip of the boot has been raised up - so not quite as accessible.
The drive
Does it go? Well, firstly, it doesn't have that glimmer of excitement on the gas of the old 1.8 - that was 8.9 0-60 an this is 9.1. I wondered if I might detect that difference, and when I drove, yes I could - it doesn't quite have that bit of zip - a major disappointment.
And the steering - what have they done?! - it's lost its precision, I tried a fast roundabout and it was like steering through porridge. Not good.
Finally, the suspension. Felt a fair bit better. It was never great on the 8th gen - and this is a much needed improvement.
Oh, and i fancy the gear changes are better too.
Build quality
I've read a few things about this being a real step up from the last one. I cannot agree with this. I found the quality on the last one to be fairly good. There were issues, but nothing like what you would get on German or French stuff.
Two issues immediately struck me about the new model. Firstly, on the outer panels, the guy who designed the back door obviously hasn't talked to the guy who did the back panel, as the two do not meet up at the furthest rear point of the back door - there's an uncomfortable ridge, which not only looks cheap, but it cannot do anything for wind resistance either.
Secondly, in the back of the car, which had less than 100 miles on it btw, I already detected a noise from the overhead fabric ceiling lining, just like on my 09 model.
Conclusion
To sum it up nicely, when we asked if the dealer had other colours we could see it in, presuming they would have some ready for delivery for the new plate on 1 March, our salesman effectively said they hadn't sold any!
Will I be buying one? No. It's a nice car, fine, has some good points, some bad ones, but i wont be giving up my Civic Si for it.
All I can suggest is they review it when they find it is not selling, they give it a facelift, and come up with some offers.
Looks
I am yet to meet anyone who likes the way it looks. It's ugly at the front, and hopefully in about a year's time they will give it a facelift, and then we might be interested. The rest of the car is fine, if a little overcomplicated on the lines.
Internals
Some of the bad points of the 8th Gen Civic have been attended to. There is a wash wipe! However, the rear view is not really any better at all.
The corner of the dash that sometimes gets you in the knee when you get in and out has been removed.
But the centre pockets have been messed up. They are smaller, and the one at base of the gear stick has been removed.
The biggest problem internally, as if it was some French crud, is that they have left the handbrake on the passenger side, so you have to reach across the centre console to get it - very French, very cheap, very rubbish.
The dials and displays - well for my liking there are now 4 screens to look at - I just dont want it, I want to drive a car not watch tv. Too many graphics and gimmicks, but hey ho.
Also, there seem to be a huge amount of dust gathering crevices. Now these may look good, but anyone who spends time in their car will tell you they just catch dust - these dashes will not look good after a year or two without regular cleaning!
I did feel the doors had a nice solid thud to them.
The back seats looke pretty much the same as or old model.
Also the boot, which was always a fantastic plus point of the 8th Gen Civics has been changed. the lip of the boot has been raised up - so not quite as accessible.
The drive
Does it go? Well, firstly, it doesn't have that glimmer of excitement on the gas of the old 1.8 - that was 8.9 0-60 an this is 9.1. I wondered if I might detect that difference, and when I drove, yes I could - it doesn't quite have that bit of zip - a major disappointment.
And the steering - what have they done?! - it's lost its precision, I tried a fast roundabout and it was like steering through porridge. Not good.
Finally, the suspension. Felt a fair bit better. It was never great on the 8th gen - and this is a much needed improvement.
Oh, and i fancy the gear changes are better too.
Build quality
I've read a few things about this being a real step up from the last one. I cannot agree with this. I found the quality on the last one to be fairly good. There were issues, but nothing like what you would get on German or French stuff.
Two issues immediately struck me about the new model. Firstly, on the outer panels, the guy who designed the back door obviously hasn't talked to the guy who did the back panel, as the two do not meet up at the furthest rear point of the back door - there's an uncomfortable ridge, which not only looks cheap, but it cannot do anything for wind resistance either.
Secondly, in the back of the car, which had less than 100 miles on it btw, I already detected a noise from the overhead fabric ceiling lining, just like on my 09 model.
Conclusion
To sum it up nicely, when we asked if the dealer had other colours we could see it in, presuming they would have some ready for delivery for the new plate on 1 March, our salesman effectively said they hadn't sold any!
Will I be buying one? No. It's a nice car, fine, has some good points, some bad ones, but i wont be giving up my Civic Si for it.
All I can suggest is they review it when they find it is not selling, they give it a facelift, and come up with some offers.