SSFTSX

Toureq hybrid is more for power considering its superhcharged engine. and it is even more expensive than Diesel which already more expensive than conventional toureq.
Honda hybrids for compacts are more for efficiency/lower price than power delivery. so if your already compromising on power than fuel efficiency become more important. and since Honda diesel is lower price, more torque/power (220km/hr top speed) and more efficient than Honda hybrids. it make more sense than Hybrid.
Honda 1.6L diesel is comparably priced with Honda Insight. which tells the car is no more expensive than conventional gasoline Civic. and still 20% more efficient than Insight. It will achive Prius like fuel economic.



Problem with Honda logic is that they are selling expensive hybrids and those hybrids are not achiveing sell goals but expecting diesel to automatically achieve that goal from start.

biker

^ that is an issue for any maker - once you dip your toe into the diesel pool, you have to commit to it and be prepared to stay for at least 10 years (like the Germans have done). That sales figure is pretty high - I doubt any maker here sells in that kind of volume (VW sells maybe 2k+ TDIs/mo).

TSX69

Honda Civic Gets Back to Where It Once Belonged

GLOBE-SPRAWLING auto companies are not, as a group, particularly nimble. Very capital-intensive, you know, many stakeholders. Hey, slow down, mister. Things happen for a reason around here.

So response time is always an issue. In order for street-level consumer sentiment to reach board level, it has to pass through dozens of layers of filtration and creative butt covering. There are really 2 whole message ecologies to navigate, one outside the walls, on the consumer side—i.e., what is it exactly consumers want?—and 1 inside the company, the winding staircase to the boss's office.

Only then can the rail cars of redesigned windshields be ordered, the truckloads of LCD displays, the boatloads of tires. Thousands of jobs are in play. Did we get this 1 right?

In the recent history of the Honda 7267.TO +3.97% Civic, the answer would be no. A redesign of the company's perennial Jederwagen debuted in spring 2011 to resounding scorn. The problem was unsubtle: American Honda product planners had cheaped out—extracted value, if you like—lowering unit costs in areas like sound abatement, interior materials and general thoughtfulness of design. Honda execs now admit the car was uncompetitive, which is the coldest comfort to the thousands who bought it anyway.
Photos: 2013 Honda Civic

The moment of public shaming came when Consumer Reports announced last year that for the 1st time in a generation, it could not recommend the new Civic. If it had been a samurai movie, it would have been raining.

Twenty months later, we are looking at a very different automobile, not so much redesigned as given a deep-skin laser ablation. Typically, revisions this significant would be reserved for a midmodel refresh, which most companies execute every three years or so; Honda has pulled that refresh forward by a year and a half.

The Civic's cabin has been mightily upgraded, with better seats and upholstery; richer, faux-stitched material on the upper dash and doors, in a dark charcoal color; a more elegant center-stack controller with brushed alloy-like fascia and brightwork bezels. The upper instrument panel in the Civic's split-level dash features a 5-inch LCD display with standard backup camera view. Bluetooth, Pandora and other infotainment features are rolled in as standard equipment.

Artful polished-chrome accents around the upper and lower grille and at the taillights have lifted the dreariness from the Civic's exterior. The car now seems to abide with forward-situated purpose, the brightwork sharpening and quickening the form.

Generally speaking, car makers would rather not change any of a model's exterior after only 20 months in production. Changes in the big tooling cost real money. Honda execs have estimated that the changes to 2013 Civic add up to about $500 per unit. Given that the 2013 model-year effective price increase is only $160, the arithmetic suggests American Honda has elected to take smaller margins on the new Civic in order to remain competitive.

Historical note: Chrysler attempted the same thing in the 1950s, accelerating Virgil Exner's Forward Look designs, scheduled for 1958, to the 1957 model year. But the changes were so hasty and production so haphazard that the company sent some cars to dealerships partially assembled, with instructions on how to attach parts workers might find in the trunk, in the glove box or even in the mail.

Mechanically, the most notable upgrade is the Civic's reinforced front-chassis section, designed to cope with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's new 40-miles-per-hour narrow-offset front crash test (which is quite a wallop, by the way). Honda's internal studies suggest the new Civic will ace the institute's narrow-offset test.

The revamped car's added chassis rigidity gave the ride-and-handling department more room to firm up the Civic's suspension without compromising ride compliance. Upgraded springs, struts and antiroll bars, as well as bigger brakes and lighter alloy wheels, round out the road-holding package.

Out on a nice country 2-lane, the new Civic definitely feels more centered, more settled in its sneakers than the previous car, with less body lean in corners and more composed transitional behavior over uneven pavement. The electrically assisted power-steering ratio is a tick quicker, and the self-centering feel is more affirmative.

The Civic's powertrain remains unchanged: a 1.8-liter port-injected 4 cylinder with 140 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque, buttoned to a 5-speed automatic and front-wheel drive. The redesigned car weighs 50 to 100 pounds more than the previous addition, depending on trim level, so the performance penalty is negligible. Figure on a 0-60 mph acceleration of about 9 seconds. EPA fuel economy comes in at 28/39 miles per gallon, city/highway.

In terms of the ownership experience, the single best change to the Civic has to be the improved aural quality of the cabin and the refinement of the powertrain notes. The previous car was surprisingly shouty, especially at full throttle, and a distracting amount of wind and tire noise droned inside the car at highway speeds.

The hurry-up redesign adds an acoustically laminated windshield and side-front windows, as well as hunks of sound-dampening material around the front wheel wells, floor and firewall. All this has eliminated a lot of acoustic hot spots around the windshield. The noise abatement throws a muffling blanket over the exertions of the hardworking little 4-banger, making it feel less stressed and more refined.

It's not that the Civic has been transformed so much as awakened. And in point of fact, the pulled-forward redesign merely restores the Civic to its accustomed place near the head of the compact-sedan pack. The 2012 model-year Civic is destined for the memory hole. The more instructive part of the story is Honda's willingness to respond so quickly, to take a hit in unit cost to protect the brand's good name.

In this season of resolutions, it's nice to see the capacity to change.

A Screaming-Fast Sports Coupe—Named Accord? Yep

FOR A CAR THAT wears the mantle of large family sedan so well, the Honda Accord makes for a pretty nice looking sports coupe. And the V6 version is hilariously quick. Most drivers will use no more than half-throttle to navigate le quotidien, but when the way is clear and the merge lane is wide, I recommend the other half. Here the full extent of the Honda-ness comes out, as this pneumatically smooth dual-cammer soars over 6,750 rpm, filling the cabin with the trill of belts and valves. Hoo-ah.

20 years ago, a car with the metrics of the Accord Coupe V6—3.5-liter, 278-hp V6, 6-speed manual, multilink rear end, 18-inch alloys, 3,400 pounds, 14 seconds flat in the quarter-mile—would have been regarded as a fire-breathing dragon of a sports coupe. Actually, such a car didn't exist, and if it had, it wouldn't have gotten 18/28 mpg.

Not that our test car is common, even today: An Accord Coupe—with a 2-inch-shorter wheelbase than the sedan, and corresponding loss in rear cabin room—with the V6, not the fuel-efficient direct-injection 4 (185 hp), and a 6-speed manual transmission, all in a front-drive car with 60% of its curb weight on the front wheels? You'll see more unicorns.

As others have noted, the 6-6configuration is the 1 that Honda sends journalists to blow their minds. It works. Give it the gas, grab a gear. That is what I call merging.

Email Dan at rumbleseat@wsj.com.

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TSX69

How Honda Hustled to Redo Civic

LOS ANGELES -- Jay Guzowski was getting more nervous by the day.

As senior product planner for the redesign of the 2012 Honda Civic, Guzowski was shepherding the compact car from design freeze to market. But as he listened to others around the American Honda conference table -- with a year to go before the car's on-sale date -- he heard a disturbing refrain: The upcoming Civic was not good enough.

He had heard it before, but now there was a drumbeat from corporate managers, r&d engineers and dealers.

In 2009, Honda had witnessed the wreckage of the global economy after the Lehman Brothers collapse. The Civic's development had almost reached design freeze when Honda executives decided the car would seem too upscale for an entry-level offering. The content level needed to be reduced to reflect cautious consumer tastes. Honda Motor Co. CEO Takanobu Ito's decision to take content out of the 2012 Civic would delay the car's launch by nearly 6 months, from late 2010 to early 2011.

In the interim, though, industry scuttlebutt was that the competing Hyundai Elantra, Chevrolet Cruze and Ford Focus redesigns weren't cutting back on equipment and content just because consumer confidence had taken a hit.

The photos, renderings and prototypes confirmed just that. The new Civic looked cheap by comparison. The interior materials and fabrics chosen may have cut costs but were clearly inferior. The layout of the instrument panel and center cluster was cluttered and jumbled, with too many cut lines and low-grade plastics. Changes to the exterior styling were barely discernible from the outgoing model.

"The feedback we heard was loud and clear," Guzowski said. "I was taking the temperature and making sure it wasn't a 1-off we were hearing."

Guzowski looked at his calendar -- April 2010. Then 33 years old, he had been at Honda only a few years, after stints at Volvo Cars of North America and American Suzuki's ad agency, Colby & Partners. Guzowski, a former instructor at Art Center College of Design and analyst with Honda R&D Americas, understood when Honda stylists and engineers described their worries about the car. His next task was to steel himself to inform his bosses far up the executive ladder that their franchise car didn't measure up.

It was too late to save the 2012 Civic. All Honda could do was limit the damage.

"We read the market wrong," admitted Vicki Poponi, American Honda assistant vice president of product planning and a former executive at Honeywell's Garrett turbocharging division.

"After the Lehman shock, we thought there would be different consumer behaviors. We knew that unemployment would last a long time and that there would be recessional trends. We thought consumers would be more sparse in their needs and be tightening their belts. The Civic was going to reflect that world," Poponi said.

But after internal study teams expressed concern that the 2012 Civic was underwhelming, Honda executives faced a big decision.

Honda could let the Civic run for the traditional 3 model years of the 5-year cycle before implementing midcycle improvements. Or the company could deem the car's problems so deep-seated that they needed attention sooner.

The former would involve heavy incentive spending and hurt the brand's image. The latter would require replacing machinery and tooling before they were amortized and would strain Honda's r&d resources. Making big changes to a car before 3 model years also waves a red -- or white -- flag to the rest of the industry.

But the Civic is Honda's most crucial car. Although the subcompact Fit is beneath it in the lineup and the mid-sized Accord is often a bigger seller, the Civic is the main entry point to the brand.

The Civic was key in the trend of modified tuner cars among young buyers in the '90s. The United States represents almost half of Civic worldwide sales. Nearly 1 in 4 Americans who buys a Honda buys a Civic.

Through mid-2010, a few meetings with top management at American Honda -- including CEO Tetsuo Iwamura and sales boss John Mendel, as well as Honda R&D Americas President Erik Berkman -- showed that Honda couldn't wait. The possibility of damaging the brand was too great. A proposal to quick-change the Civic was sent to Toshihiko Nonaka, head of Honda R&D in Japan, who concurred.

"We saw that it wasn't going to be best in class," Poponi said. "We saw that we didn't go far enough. There was no wait-and-see, no gnashing of teeth or debates about what we have to do. Everybody was right on board."

Because Honda is a proudly lean organization, blame for the 2012 Civic could be assigned to many people. But after the car was unveiled with a thud, Ito publicly accepted the blame at the Tokyo auto show in November 2011, saying, "The ultimate responsibility rests with me."

The intimation was that Ito was ensuring that the 2013 update wouldn't fall short.

Civic virtues
Why the Civic is vital to Honda
• In 2012, it was the best-selling compact car in the U.S.
• In 2010, Honda sold more Civics in the United States than total vehicles sold by Mazda or the VW brand.
• 58% of previous-generation Civic buyers traded in a non-Honda.
• 57% of previous-generation Civic owners bought another Honda.
Source: Honda,
Automotive News Data Center

Playing for pride

The 2013 Civic has a black-on-black interior fabric choice, a Honda mainstay that had been left out of the 2012 model.

Fortunately for Honda, the decision to quick-change the Civic was made as most development team members were putting the final touches on the 2012 model. They had not yet been reassigned to their next projects. With the decision to fast-track the update, the team stayed in place, including chief engineer Mitsuru Horikoshi.

"Normally, there are different chiefs for [the redesign] and the minor model change," Poponi said. "But the 2012 Civic development team wasn't fully disbanded, so they just stayed with the process. There was no loss in the cadence."

Guzowski said there was "very little downtime getting people up to speed" in making the changes.

"Honda is a very flat organization. Everybody is involved all the way through the process," Guzowski said. "Everyone had tangential knowledge of what needed to be done. There were no secrets."

Besides, the existing team was playing for pride.

"The team didn't want to give up, either. There was a lot of emotion and commitment involved," Poponi said. "If Honda were driven by financials, we wouldn't have done this. We never asked if this was financially right for the company. We knew we had to do what was right for the customer and that the rewards would follow."

Meanwhile, Honda's marketers had to sell the existing car. The media introduction in March 2011 may have revealed that the automaker knew of the 2012 Civic's shortcomings. A brief drive through clogged Washington morning-rush traffic led to a parking lot at FedExField, where a short, uninspiring autocross course gave little insight. Honda returned journalists to their hotel via bus rather than having them drive back in Civics. But even the fleeting drives were revealing.

Scathing reviews began arriving in the media. In July, Autoweek said the Civic "has lost its way in the world." In August, Consumer Reports removed the Civic from its "recommended" list for the first time in memory, describing it as "cheap" and "insubstantial." In October, a Wall Street Journal review called it "a dud" and "a betrayal."

Making the fixes

But by the time those articles were published, Honda engineers were well into updating the car. Those reviews merely confirmed what the automaker knew.

"Our decision to refresh and shift was made way before Consumer Reports," Poponi said.

With a nearly clean slate, Honda planners and engineers looked at the needed changes. The deadline: in time for the 2013 model year, or about 18 months from the launch of the 2012 model.

"We looked at what were the drivers of the discontent," Poponi said. "Mostly, it was that the instrument panel was too busy and the car overall lacked a premium feel."

There were limits to what could be changed. Redesigning too many components or their locations would require new engineering, more crash tests and tens of millions of dollars in modified assembly line tooling. And with the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami crippling Honda's Japanese r&d operations, American Honda and Honda R&D Americas had to pick up much of the development slack.

Still, the list of changes was lengthy. The instrument panel layout was redone to remove clutter and reduce the number of irritating seams between components. The instrument panel's rice-paper pattern was replaced with a more traditional embossing. The faux "piano-black" surface surrounding the climate-control buttons was made less shiny and plasticky. The swirl pattern of the seat fabric was changed. A black-on-black interior choice -- a Honda mainstay left out of the 2012 model -- was added. On the outside, the hood and trunk were given sportier designs. More noise-canceling underbody sheeting was added.

The quick change provided another side benefit for the Civic. For the 2013 model year, Honda was planning to introduce its Advanced Compatibility Engineering II, or ACE II, body structure for the redesigned Accord. The additional longitudinal braces in the front crash structure would improve the Accord's safety rating in the new frontal offset tests.

Normally, such a dramatic structural change would have had to wait for the Civic's midcycle change in the 2015 model year. But because the team was pulling ahead the program, it incorporated the ACE II body structure into the 2013 Civic.

"We didn't just plan this car to countermeasure the obvious shortfalls," Poponi said. "We wanted to leapfrog."

But just because the product planners and engineers wanted to make changes, that didn't make them so. Updating assembly lines takes weeks, if not months, and the pressure was on.

"We asked the people in the factory to redo things they had just done," Poponi said. "Doing this sort of thing comes from the bottom up. Even if leadership wanted to do it, the shop floor could have dragged their feet. They worked their fannies off."

Moving the metal

Even though Honda knew a fix was on the way by the end of 2012, that didn't eliminate the problem with selling the 2012 Civic for 18 months.

"We knew we would hurt residuals with high incentives. And we don't do fleet, so we had fewer tools to manage," Poponi said.

Online interest in the car plummeted quickly after launch, according to data from Compete Inc., a market research company. Honda was losing ground to new launches from Hyundai and Ford. Fortunately for the company, American Honda Finance's strong credit rating and opportunities for low borrowing rates allowed the sales arm to promote attractive lease deals to help move the metal.

The outgoing 2011 Civic had lower incentives than the compact segment average -- often by several hundred dollars -- until the final months' sell-down when incentives spending spiked. But within months of the 2012 Civic launch, Honda opened the incentives spigot, even as the economy recovered, according to TrueCar.com data.

Incentives on the Civic climbed from $901 in September 2011 to $1,988 in February 2012, while average segment incentives rose from $1,102 to $1,367. Through summer, Civic incentives remained around $1,700 per unit, often several hundred dollars above the segment average, according to TrueCar.com.

In the last months of 2012 sales, American Honda Finance offered a $1,999-down, $149-a-month lease, although some dealers whacked the down payment to 0. Honda also launched a stair-step volume incentive for dealers to encourage them to clear out inventories.

Honda executives were forthcoming in saying the Civic was on a short cycle for its changes while the original 2012 Civic was still on sale. The disclosure was unusual for Honda, which usually refuses to discuss upcoming product for fear of hurting the old model's sell-down. The remaining 2012s would be pitched as solid deals for value-minded shoppers.

For all the teeth gnashing in the media about the Civic, dealers loved the car. Despite its shortcomings, it was among the segment leaders in sales once post-tsunami inventories reached normal levels. Through November, the Civic outsold the 2nd-place Toyota Corolla by 18,523 units and the 3rd-place Ford Focus by 61,473 units.

"The '12 was a great car. Only the press disliked it. The buyers loved the car and bought it in big numbers. We would have done fine with no change at all," said Dave Conant, CEO of Conant Auto Retail Group in Los Angeles, which includes Norm Reeves Honda, 1 of Honda's top-volume dealerships.

"Could it have been better? Yes, I suppose. Did the press expect more? I guess. But the car was a great car regardless," Conant added.

All told, when the 2013 model arrived in November, Honda added more than $500 of content, while raising the price of the sedan LX trim level by $160. Honda does not offer the base DX trim with the 2013 sedan. Sales of the 2013 sedan began Nov. 29, with other models following through Feb. 6.
A process problem

Although Honda heralds the 2013 Civic as a triumph of a lean company moving quickly, Jim Hall, managing director of the 2953 Analytics consultancy, sees a cultural problem that Honda must address.

"What's radical about the whole program was that they let the Civic get that bad before they had to fix it in this way," Hall said. "The program should not have gotten far enough along to have been approved in the 1st place."

But Honda already had delayed the 2012 Civic redesign once to reduce the content level. Should the company have delayed it again to get it right, even if it meant carrying the previous version that much longer? Hall says yes.

"This was not a cheap fix. They had to pull tooling ahead and they had to scrap tooling that won't have the required number of strikes to amortize it," Hall said. "The interesting thing is that they bit the bullet. But this year's car should have been last year's product."

What's more, Hall worries that Honda may be celebrating a near-miss, when it should be looking deeper at what allowed the 2012 Civic to happen at all.

"It wasn't a bad product, but it wasn't good enough to be a Honda. They approved it willingly," Hall said. "They have to fix their processes or else this becomes the norm."

Meanwhile, Honda may not be done with the Civic. With 4 model years remaining in the Civic's life, more changes could be down the road.

"Our intent is to keep Civic the best vehicle in the segment," Poponi said. "We won't sit on our laurels. We'll react. We can't say, 'This is it.'"

Key events
Spring 2009: Honda CEO Takanobu Ito orders decontenting of the 2012 Civic, delaying the scheduled fall 2010 launch by 6 months.
April 2010: Initial internal reports indicate the final 2012 Civic redesign is inferior, but it's too late to make changes and delay the car again.
Summer 2010: Honda execs consider moving up Civic midcycle changes to fall 2012 from spring 2014.
Winter 2010: Short-cycling is approved and midcycle change work begins.
March 2011: 2012 Civic is unveiled to media; earthquake/tsunami devastate Japan.
April 2011: 2012 Civic goes on sale.
August 2011: Consumer Reports removes Civic from “recommended” list.
Fall 2011: Web traffic for Civic plummets.
October 2011: Honda discloses pull-ahead of Civic's midcycle changes.
Spring-summer 2012: Civic incentives soar.
November 2012: 2013 Civic debuts at Los Angeles Auto Show; sedan goes on sale.

TSX69

2013 Honda Civic EX 1st Test

When the 9th-generation Honda Civic was in development, the global economy was tanking, and the Japanese automaker figured customers would be willing to settle for less as long as the price were right. Considering that the Civic was the best-selling compact car of 2012, that assessment was not entirely inaccurate. But it got a lukewarm response from critics, and Honda CEO Takanobu Ito reacted by personally taking responsibility. The result was a rushed face-lift, and we're glad Honda did it.

Our tester, a 2013 Honda Civic EX sedan, was easy to distinguish from our long-term 2012 Civic Si 4-door, and not just because of the EX's Dyno Blue Pearl finish. The front end gets a sleeker lower valance treatment and chrome-framed, Accord-like mesh grille, while the hood receives a more prominent power bulge. In back, things get decidedly racier with the widened taillights with smoked lenses and adjoining horizontal chrome strip. Reflectors are now integrated into the rear bumper, which also gets a diffuser-like design element. New 2-tone, twisted-spoke alloy wheel design on EX models add to the 2013 Civic's edgier look.

Inside, the 2013 Civic replaces the previous model's hard, oddly textured plastics with soft-touch materials. The tiered dashboard remains, and will likely take some time to get used to for the Civic uninitiated, but it now looks and feels more upscale thanks to new, higher-quality upholstery. Also still intact are the spacious-for-the-class rear seats. Mechanical changes are limited to stiffer front and rear anti-roll bars with new bushings.

Though the ride may be decent for the class, a good amount of road noise infiltrates the cabin. On the highway, the noise level increases as the Civic's buzzy 1.8-liter I-4 is added to the soundtrack. It produces the same 140 hp and 128 lb-ft of torque it did in the 2012 model, and, while there's plenty of power to move you around town, it's not enough to move your soul. The 5-speed automatic transmission seemed intelligent enough to know when we wanted to downshift, but it would be nice to have the ability to choose for ourselves with a manumatic mode.

Because mechanical changes are minimal, the 2013 Civic's performance numbers are unsurprisingly similar to those of a 2012 Civic EX we tested in 2011. It still needs 9.1 seconds to accelerate from 0-60 mph and 16.9 seconds to complete the quarter-mile, though it finishes at a slightly slower 82.5 mph. At 119 feet, the 60-0 mph braking performance represents a slight improvement over 2012's 126-foot result. The Civic also delivered a repeat performance in lateral acceleration with an average 0.81 g, and completed the figure-8 in 28.5 seconds at an average of 0.58 g, slightly slower than the 2012's 28.2 seconds.

While performance remains the same, the 2013 Civic does offer enhanced style plus more standard features, including a rearview camera, Bluetooth connectivity, and Pandora streaming radio. To preserve the Civic's value argument, Honda raised prices by a mere $160. The Civic EX carries an MSRP of $21,605, with leather costing an extra $1450 and navigation an additional $1500. The base DX model has been dropped for 2013, which means the LX and sporty Si are the only 2 Civic sedans available with a manual transmission.

Also supporting the Civic's value argument is its respectable real-world fuel economy. We spent most of our time in Econ mode, which dulls throttle response and hastens upshifts, and saw an average of 30.5 mpg -- not far off the EPA's estimate of 32 mpg combined. There's room for improvement in that number, since we didn't pay much attention to the color-changing Eco Assist display. Drivers who do will likely see a bump.

With this refresh, Honda has built the ninth-generation Civic it should have built from the onset. While there are still better-driving cars in the segment -- the Mazda3 Skyactiv comes to mind -- the good car hidden beneath the mediocre designed-by-bean-counters wrapper has a chance to shine. Though the Civic has earned the honor of best-selling compact of 2012 and looks set to repeat for 2013, Honda needs to make sure it brings its A game when it comes time to design generation 10. Toyota certainly won't be gunning for 2nd-best with the upcoming Corolla. Nor will the rest of the competition.

2013 Honda Civic EX
BASE PRICE $21,605
PRICE AS TESTED $21,605
VEHICLE LAYOUT Front-engine, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan
ENGINE 1.8L/140-hp/128-lb-ft SOHC 16-valve I-4
TRANSMISSION 5-speed automatic
CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) 2826 lb (61/39%)
WHEELBASE 105.1 in
LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 179.4 x 69.0 x 56.5 in
0-60 MPH 9.1 sec
QUARTER MILE 16.9 sec @ 82.5 mph
BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 119 ft
LATERAL ACCELERATION 0.81 g (avg)
MT FIGURE EIGHT 28.5 sec @ 0.58 g (avg)
EPA CITY/HWY FUEL ECON 28/39 mpg
ENERGY CONSUMPTION, CITY/HWY 120/86 kW-hrs/100 miles
CO2 EMISSIONS 0.60 lb/mile

Legend2TL

I love to read these behind the scene stories.

TSX69

2013 Honda Civic
Lather, Rinse, Repeat

On some level, it's hard to blame Honda for the strategy it took with its new-for-2012 Civic. Executives looked at the key players on the market as the model was being developed, soaked in the growing global economic malaise, and decided that if they wanted to make decent money on their small car, they'd have to find creative ways to take cost out of its build. In light of the financial crisis, consumers and critics would surely understand some belt-tightening in order to secure the company's legendary reliability, resale value and ease-of-use, right?

So Honda took a pass on expensive new technology – more complex transmissions, forced induction, active aero, and so on. And it also substituted in some cheaper interior materials, skimped on sound deadening, creature comforts and found lots of little ways to save money. Surely in a segment where the frankly ancient and moth-eaten Toyota Corolla has consistently ranked among the sales leaders, nobody would care, eh?

Well, Honda was half right. After an unusually long product cycle with the 8th-generation Civic, loyal customers were all too eager to plunk down their hard-earned cash for a new model, with 2012 sales totaling well over 300,000 units. But the model's long-term prospects were less certain. That's because Honda miscalculated the strategies of its rivals, playing things close to the vest when others chose to double-down in the segment.

Between the time the 2012 Civic's design was locked in and the moment it hit the market, the compact car fray became exponentially more competitive. Ford took the wraps off of its sophisticated and tech-rich Focus. Hyundai rolled out its audaciously styled and value-laden Elantra. Mazda took its already great-driving Mazda3 and elevated its fuel economy with Skyactiv engineering. Even perennial small car backmarker General Motors put forth a high-quality effort with its mature new Cruze. Critics' reaction was no less swift and stern: Not only was the 2012 Civic a galactic comedown in terms of interior appointments and design, it wasn't as much fun to drive as its predecessor, nor was it the least bit innovative. For a company that made its nut – and its reputation – on the back of its engineering prowess, all of this was bitterly disappointing.

We're not sure whether it was enduring the media drubbing (that Consumer Reports fall-from-grace had to sting), looking around at its suddenly fierce competition, fielding embittered calls from its dealers or just a simple bit of soul searching that spurred Honda to react so quickly, but here we are, just 1 model year later and there's a surprisingly comprehensive update on sale. But is it an impressive about-face for Honda or just a bit of apple-polishing and slight-of-hand? We spent a week with a loaded EX-L to find out.

When we initially heard rumors of an "emergency refresh" coming for the 2013 Civic, we honestly didn't expect much – the era of massive year-over-year changes died decades ago, after all. But what arrived at November's Los Angeles Auto Show was a whole lot more comprehensive in scope than what we anticipated.

To begin with, the 2013 Civic's nose features a thoroughly updated look, with a more complex hood stamping, larger mesh grille opening framed by a chrome-edged smile, more expressive headlamps and a reworked lower fascia with a fillet of brightwork that does wonders to help the design look more upscale. In profile, with the exception of fresh wheel patterns, the look stays largely as it was for 2012, with the same aggressively raked greenhouse and fuss-free sheetmetal contours. Out back, a redesigned trunklid houses a better-integrated license plate pocket and a chrome trim strip is bookended by larger and more elaborate two-piece taillamps. Overall, we think the look is a major improvement, appearing far more sophisticated than the 2012 car, which was at best an incremental improvement over the admittedly radical 8th-generation model.

But the 2012 Civic's personal Waterloo wasn't really its exterior – it was inside where the car stumbled. A quick peek at Honda owner forums reveals that existing Civic drivers who came in looking to trade their cars for a 2012 model were disappointed with the noticeable cheapening of cabin materials. That's been rectified for 2013, with more soft-touch plastics, convincing faux stitching on the dashboard and doors, a richer headliner, nicer upholstery and, in general, a more premium aura.

The unique 2-tier dashboard strategy remains, and while it looks busy, it's quite easy to get used to. Items like a backup camera, Bluetooth telephony/streaming audio and Pandora integration are welcome standard equipment additions, but the biggest improvement to the cabin isn't something you can put a finger on, because it lies beneath. A canopy of additional sound deadening has been added to the firewall, wheel wells and flooring, and a thicker windshield and front-row side windows further mute the outside world. Hondas have rarely been known for their noise abatement abilities, but the 2013 update helps bring a welcome composure to the Civic's cabin, cutting powertrain noise noticeably under acceleration, and road and wind noise everywhere else.

Speaking of the powertrain, it's untouched – no Earth Dreams here. You'll find the same 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine doling out 140 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque through either a 5-speed manual or the 5-speed automatic fitted to our test car. It continues to be a smooth-revving if unremarkable drive partner, more notable for the relative ease with which it hits its EPA fuel economy numbers of 28 city and 39 highway than anything else. Despite picking up a modest amount of weight thanks to its higher feature count and sound insulation (50 to 100 pounds, depending on specification), the Civic's mid-pack 0-60 time of 9.2 seconds is unchanged, yet the quieter accelerative experience is a lot more pleasant.

While Honda didn't spend its engineering resources on redressing the Civic's powertrain, it wisely focused on trying to restore some of the car's spunkiness, thickening the anti-roll bars both front and rear, quickening the steering rack by some 7% and retuning the bushings, all in the name of better handling. Despite the sun-soaked images of our California photo car, our week with the Civic was spent in the greater Detroit area, snow and all. Thus, properly assessing the full measure of the car's handling envelope wasn't on the table, but the ride did seem less busy and turn-in perhaps a skosh quicker. And while the company's engineers were fiddling around with the car's greasy bits, they also reinforced the front body structure and tweaked the side airbags for better safety.

This panoply of improvements adds just $160 to the Civic's base MSRP. That's both impressive and troubling. Impressive in that so little buys so much – we're not sure a better $160 has been spent on a car – but troubling in that Honda didn't think to do all of this last year. Assuming the company is still making a profit, do Honda's beancounters really think so little of compact buyers that they assume consumers wouldn't have spent an extra $160 to get a much better vehicle?

The reality probably lies somewhere in the middle. It's more likely that the 2013 Civic's profit margins aren't as generous as those of its counterpart from last year (tellingly, the base DX model has been dropped), and besides, Honda would probably rather fortify the model's prospect for long-term competitiveness and improve its critical stature than make a few extra bucks. That sort of recalculation would make sense to us, but we also have to wonder if this redesign isn't the result of Honda just pulling ahead what was basically an already-in-the-can refresh that wasn't scheduled to hit for another couple of model years. If that's the case, does that leave the Civic with bare cupboards a few years from now?

In the end, while there are still better driver's cars to be had in the segment, it's hard not to be impressed with what this litany of little tweaks has done for the Civic, from its more expensive appearance to its suddenly class-competitive refinement and equipment levels. While we still dearly miss the days when Honda reveled in challenging its engineers to openly and freely innovate on even its most basic of models, the Civic is once again in the thick of the small car hunt.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Sorry, but Honda also factored in a ~$1500 incentive at the minimum on each 2012 Civic. So the question should be, do buyers want to save at least $1660 or do they want extra features/better materials?

Costco

Incentive is offered likely because of the 2013 MMC. Gotta make way for the "newest" model.

The real question which remains unanswered is what was so wrong with the previously scrapped 2011 Civic that they pushed the redesign a year forward? Even then, the refresh came only one model year later due to widespread criticism.

dom

There were heavy incentives on the 12 since it went on sale.

Costco

On Honda's bread and butter seller?!

Did they have any special APR financing deals on them too? I think the lowest I've seen in commercials for Honda is 0.9% APR...

Legend2TL

+1, my wife bought our oldest daughter a black 2012 LX.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

From where I live, since the 2012 Civic was launched, there was a minimum of $1500 incentive. That's even before any negotiation with the dealership.

The previously scrapped Civic was deemed to be "too nice" according to Honda. Honda over estimated the effects of the economy downturn and thought people would rather drive cheaper cars. This mistake became apparent to Honda even before the 2012 Civic was launched, but it was already too late. Honda actually started working on the fixes (i.e. the 2013 Civic) just right before the 2012 model came out. This is why Honda was able to roll out the 2013 model relatively quickly.

AZuser

Oooh.... nice







































car.

ParaSurfer1979

Okay guys I'm updating this thread a little late but if some of you remember last year I had my mom lease a 2012 EX-L w/Navi Civic and I thought what's the BIG deal. This car is very nice. The only thing she had reservations about was the fact it did not have a reverse cam which was something her eyes were very accustomed to using since having 07 MDX & 10' CRV EX-L Navi. So when the hi quality pictures came out on www.vtev.net, I had to take my mom over to see it in person. So we were out running some errands and I call our Honda/Acura dealer GM and asked it the had a EX-L w/ Navi on the lot for momma to look at. He did so the pulled it out front. My mom is like why are we coming here? I explained to her how because of some very bad press on her civic, they did a very quick refresh of the car and the interior is 100% better. Then I explained that the back-up camera was back and could look in 3 positions this time. So that by itself made her go look. She was like "the dash board and doors have leather now" lol. I let her think that because it does indeed have a richness to it. So she ordered one that day. Same color and all. She loves the upgraded tech, the automatic climate control, Pandora, and the reading of her text messages. It's a shame that her civic has more tech than my TL. So now for the pix...

2012...


2013...

Hapa DC5

Nice, glad she likes it!

TSX69

Side-by-Side Civics:
The Chaotic Honda Sell-Off

A proper sell-down of an aging nameplate is almost seamless on the showroom floor, a blend of marketing and incentives designed so only a handful of the old model remains when the new 1 arrives with a blast of publicity.

But reality gets in the way sometimes. Take the Honda Civic. The 2012 redesign that arrived in spring 2011 was panned by critics for its cheap-looking interior, carryover base engine and bland exterior styling. Honda was forced to throw big lease and interest-rate deals on the hood to move them. It also did a hurry-up of the midcycle change, arriving in December, about 19 months after launch.

But a funny thing happened. Once customers heard about the great deals on the '12, as early as last spring, they started flooding dealerships. Critical comments in the press be damned -- there were deals on the Civic to be had.

The Civic led the compact segment in 2012, beating the Toyota Corolla for the 1st time in recent years. As a result, dealers kept ordering more units, even when they knew the quick-turnaround restyling was on the way.

"It was a strange situation," said Art Wright, a Honda dealer in Lehigh Valley, Pa., since 1972. "It was panned by experts, but the consumers loved it. Some dealers were sorry to see the old 1 go. Those deals made them a pretty easy sell."

Because of dealer demand, Honda's Civic plant in Greensburg, Ind., had only a couple weeks of transition between going full-bore between the '12 and '13 models, rather than the gentle ramp-down plants usually have. Honda's Alliston, Ontario, plant declined to give the model year split of their production numbers.

That meant when the 2013s arrived in early December, there were still scads of 2012s on dealer lots. For consumers -- and salespeople in Honda showrooms -- that could present a confusing message: a 2012 Civic with a great deal, or a 2013 with no incentives at all.

Some companies do this all the time. But not Honda, where production management and inventory control are a blend of art and science.

In December, about 85% of the 33,118 Civic sales were of the '12 model. But that still left nearly 20,000 of the old model in inventory on Jan. 1.

By the start of February, Honda had pared the inventory of '12 Civics to about 8,000 remaining units, and by last week the old Civics were almost gone.

Civic sales were flat in January, compared to the previous January, and in February, they were down 16% year-on-year to 22,713. Introductions of some of 2013 Civic models, such as the Hybrid and Si sedan, were delayed, which crimped some dealer inventories in February, Honda spokesman Chris Martin said.

Martin admitted things could have gotten confusing on the showroom floor with side-by-side Civics, some with great deals and some with no incentives whatsoever.

Now, Honda salespeople, armed with the Civic they should have had all along, have to return to selling the car the way they traditionally have -- by hawking features and competitive benefits.

Consumers looking for a killer deal have missed their chance. Incentives per new Civic sold fell from $1,988 in February 2012 to $899 last month, according to TrueCar, and this year's number is as high as it is only because Honda was blowing out its remaining 2012s. And Honda officials say they will hold out as long as possible before putting any incentives on the 2013 model.

"There's a transition in sales methodology going on with dealers, going back to our traditional sales method of selling the Civic on merit," Martin said. "We're not spending nearly so much on special finance rates and lease deals."

PHP Code:

Fast turnaround
Production changed quickly at Honda's Greensburg, Ind., plant.
Month    '12 Civic    '13 Civic
Sept.    10,038    0
Oct.    11,911    0
Nov.    11,700    2,038
Dec.    0    11,530
Source: Honda America Manufacturing, Indiana 


biker

^ just goes to show that people mostly care about the bottom line - as the saying goes "Show me the money"

fsttyms1

And she still couldnt back it between the lines I kid i kid

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

TSX69

Virtues of 2013 Honda Civic:
Low Spiffs, High Sales

Honda's redesigned 2012 Civic was much maligned, but it's hard to call it a flop. Though slammed for a cheap-looking interior, bland exterior styling and a carryover base engine, the Civic sold so well last year that many dealers weren't sure the decision to fast-track a major midcycle change was such a great idea.

The Civic outsold the Toyota Corolla for the 1st time since 2002, but it needed an assist from some big, un-Hondalike incentives.

Honda has turned off the incentive spigot for the 2013 Civic that arrived in January -- and so far, so good. The revamped car is winning over consumers who are looking for more than just the deal of the week.

Transaction prices on the 2013 model are way up compared with prices of the outgoing 2012 Civic, according to TrueCar Inc.

"It's not time for a victory cigar just yet, but we're pleased with the market acceptance," said Mike Accavitti, American Honda's head of automobile operations.

Critics say the 2012 Civic's interior was a collision of angles, mismatched colors and low-grade plastic, developed in a recession when Honda planners figured car shoppers would want a cheaper economy car.

Honda guessed wrong. The Civic was so stripped of content that Consumer Reports took it off its "recommended" list.

Despite the bad reviews, Civic sales last year surged 44% to 317,909 units, outpacing the Toyota Corolla, even though the Civic had no fleet sales and the Corolla did. But most of the Civic sales did come with major incentives on the hood.

"Nobody in their right mind enjoys incentivizing a vehicle," Accavitti said. "We have been able to drastically reduce incentives but maintain our [sales] leadership, because the product is that good."

Dan Robertson, general manager at Smail Honda Village in Greensburg, Pa., says the 2013 Civic is doing better at winning converts from rival brands. His store sells about 30 Civics a month, and grosses are up about $300 in the 1st quarter compared with last year, he said.

"Interest is way up," Robertson said. "We've actually had people trade '12s for '13s."

In addition to fixing the interior layout, upgrading its materials and modifying the front and rear fascias, Honda included standard Bluetooth, Pandora Internet radio, SMS text messaging and a rear backup camera on the 2013 Civic, and bumped up the starting price by just $160.

"Civic is doing phenomenal in its refreshed state," Accavitti said. "It continues to bring young customers to our brand."

Dave Conant, whose Conant Auto Retail Group in Los Angeles includes the biggest Honda store in the country, was among those who said buyers loved the 2012 Civic. A few months ago he suggested that dealers would have done fine with no change at all.

But last week Conant said: "This Civic has restored my confidence in Honda's ability to compete. The Civic is the real deal, the strongest car in the segment."

Prices up, incentives down

TrueCar says Civic transaction prices were less than $19,500 during the 2nd half of 2012 and less than $19,000 during the end-of-year sell-down. But since February, transaction prices for the 2013 Civic have been in the $20,250 range, or about $1,500 higher than those of the Corolla.

"They are going in the right direction," said TrueCar analyst Jesse Toprak. "It's 1 of the best, well packaged vehicles in the category in terms of the value proposition."

Art Wright, a Honda dealer in Lehigh Valley, Pa., said Civics still aren't getting full list price because "we're not in that kind of retail environment. We're in a value-oriented market, and some competitors are throwing money around."

TrueCar says the average per-vehicle incentive was routinely more than $1,500 on the '12 Civic last summer, including stair-step volume bonuses paid to dealers. To blow out the last of the '12s, Honda raised incentives to nearly $2,400 in November.

But since then, as inventories of the 2012s have waned, incentives have shrunk to $820 per unit in March, and Toprak said they're expected to go lower now that the '12s are gone.

Currently, a 2013 Civic LX sedan has 0.9 percent financing for 24 to 36 months and a choice of a 0-down, $240/month lease, or a $2,499-down, $169/month lease. But given Honda's strong residual values and the low cost of funds for Honda Financial Services, Toprak said the incentives on those offers is "is extremely well controlled and definitely under $500."

The 2013 Civic's residual values have risen sharply. According to ALG, the Civic's 36-month value rose from 54% for a 2012 model, to 59.8% for a 2013. The compact segment average was 49.1% for a 2012, rising to 51.1% for a 2013.

Low inventories

Through March, Civic sales were off 6 percent, mostly because the factories still were ramping up niche models such as the Hybrid and Si trim levels.

On Jan. 1, Civic inventories had shrunk to a 38-day supply. To build more Civics, Honda has cut production of the Acura ILX, which is built on the same line in Greensburg, Ind.

The production boost brought inventories to 68 days as of April 1, though some trim levels are in short supply. Accavitti expects Civic sales in April to be up about 8%.

Things aren't perfect for the Civic. In a competitive segment, it is still fighting for awareness among buyers. According to Compete Inc. in Boston, more shoppers are researching the Ford Focus than the Civic. The Chevrolet Cruze got more Internet interest than Civic did in March.

The '13 Civic is not getting as much online shopping activity as the '12 Civic redesign when it was launched in April 2011. But the '12 model plummeted a few months later when poor media reviews surfaced. On the plus side, the Civic still is tracking well above the Corolla, Hyundai Elantra and Nissan Sentra, according to Compete.

"It's a very competitive segment," said Dennis Bulgarelli, director of Compete's automotive practice. "Civic is still at the top. But the competition, especially from the domestics, is very strong and making it difficult for Civic to separate itself from the pack like it has in the past."

MeehowsBRZ

They have backup cameras on Civics now?! Are they that hard to see out of or people just that damn lazy that they won't adjust their mirrors when parking and backing up??

Edward'TLS

It has happened far too many times that infants and small children are getting crushed under the rear wheel of their parents' vehicles, while the vehicles are backing up, simply because they are too short to be seen playing around or carting across under the rear bumper just by looking at the mirrors from inside the vehicles.

Backup camera is a great invention in this case.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

I always think safety is the most important part and having extra safety features is always a good idea....there are many drivers out there that are simply not as capable as some of us.....

jnc2000

Except common sense still fails (at least from what I've seen). People then forget how to your their mirrors, and can't function without a backup camera.

MeehowsBRZ

I'm going to have to agree with this. I guess its helpful, but now (some) people won't even pay attention to their surroundings and will entirely rely on the camera. And there's no way the camera can catch everything that's behind a car.

fsttyms1

We are making ourselves worse drivers with all this tech and at the same time making ourselves more and more dependent on new tech to fill the gaps that the new tech leaves. Its a vicious cycle.

Moog-Type-S

Nope. It's because it will become a gov't. mandated feature on all cars within a year or two IIRC.

TSX69

2013 Honda Civic HF

In an era when most manufacturers are turning to the comparative complexity of hybrid drivetrains and their attendant battery packs in pursuit of ever-loftier fuel-economy goals, it’s refreshing to see Honda strive for incremental gains in efficiency by making just a few simple and inexpensive tweaks. The trick in this approach, however, is discovering how close to the bone 1 can cut before a general feeling of cheapness permeates the vehicle, as even the most committed skinflints have limits.

Choice Cuts

The entire Civic lineup underwent a rush makeover for the 2013 model year, and most of the changes that affected the outcome of our recently tested 2013 EX-L Sedan also apply to the HF. New front and rear fascias give the updated Civic a more mainstream look, while a brawnier front structure (to handle future offset crash-test requirements), retuned dampers, beefier anti-roll bars front and rear, and a tighter steering ratio (from 16.1:1 to 14.9:1) help restore the dynamics that previously put the Civic into the tiny segment we like to call “thrifty compacts that are actually pretty enjoyable to drive.” Inside, the materials get an upgrade, and sound deadening is improved via additional insulation and thicker glass.

The Civic HF’s quest for frugality is carried out by a few simple and relatively low-tech enhancements. The short list includes a set of wind-cheating 15-inch aluminum wheels, an aerodynamically efficient rear decklid spoiler, some additional under-body covers—the same pieces as found on Civic hybrid—and a set of low-rolling-resistance tires. To save a few pounds, the spare tire has been tossed overboard in favor of an aerosol tire-repair kit and Honda’s 24-hour assistance. Road-ready, our Civic HF tipped the scales at 2713 pounds, a full 163 less than the 2876-pound 2013 EX-L we tested previously, and 158 less than the 2013 Civic hybrid—that’s the equivalent of a major Costco haul or a freshman footballer.

What Price Efficiency?

Honda is not alone in its quest to wring every last mile out of a gallon of gasoline with a traditional powertrain. Dodge has the Dart Aero and Chevy fields the Cruze Eco, both of which come in just north of the Civic HF’s $20,555 price tag at $21,340 and $21,685 respectively. Unlike the HF, which is an automatic-only proposition, both the Dart and Cruze can be had with a manual transmission, which brings their respective price stickers to a more competitive $20,190 and $20,490. We haven’t had the chance to strap our test gear to a 2013 version of either, but we did eke 29 mpg out of a 2011 Cruze Eco in mixed driving.

EPA estimates, although a good starting point for making apples-to-apples comparisons, rarely tell the whole story. Branded with a 29/41 city/highway rating in EPA testing, we figured the Civic HF would come in just slightly better than the 27 mpg number our 2013 Civic EX-L earned in C/D testing; after all, its 28/39 EPA figures are just shy of the HF’s. But surprisingly, we smoked it. Our overall tested fuel economy came in at 34 mpg. That’s a 7-mpg improvement in return for just handful of rudimentary changes.

Mystery Meats?

Our model wore a set of hard and narrow 195/65-series Bridgestone Ecopia EP20s. Settled into the right lane with the cruise set at 75 mph, the average consumer would be hard pressed to determine the tires were optimized for efficiency. In town or on a twisty back road, however, things changed quickly. The low-rolling resistance tires began to howl at stunningly low limits, understeer building with speed. What’s worse, the adaptive electric power steering went from drowsy to darty with little warning, and kept its relationship to vehicle control veiled in secrecy. Grip registered at a lackluster 0.75 g on the skidpad, 0.2 g less than the 2013 Civic hybrid’s 0.77, and both paled in comparison to our 2012 Civic EX ‘s tested 0.82. If nothing else, the HF is a rolling study of just how significantly tires can affect a given vehicle’s dynamics.

Braking from 70–0 consumed 200 feet of tarmac, a negligible 4 feet longer than the Civic Hybrid, yet far off the mark of the 167-foot number put up by the 2013 Civic EX-L. In this case, the brake hardware shoulders as much of the blame as the tires. The HF and the hybrid still utilize a disc/drum (10.3-inch front, 7.9-inch rear) setup for stopping duties, while the EX has 4 discs (11.1-inch front, 10.2-inch rear). For 2013, only the bottom-rung Civic LX model shares in rear-drum misery with the HF and hybrid.

Accelerator-pedal inputs are transmitted to the engine via an electronic drive-by-wire system that shades the throttle progression for miserly action, and operating it is just about as exciting as it sounds. 60 mph comes up in a not-blinding 8.6 seconds, but keep in mind that’s 1.3 seconds quicker than the Civic hybrid. Despite the tight build and quiet ride, the HF still exudes a certain vibe of late-1980s austerity; maybe it’s the Tron-inspired (the original movie, not the sequel) graphics of the instrument cluster, or the narrow tires.

It may be built for thrift, but where the Civic HF truly shines is simplicity. For consumers who view automobiles simply as appliances necessary for modern life and dread the thought of navigating an order sheet, purchasing the Civic HF requires the buyer only select from 3 exterior colors: Taffeta White, Polished Metal Metallic, and Kona Coffee Metallic, each of which come with a predetermined interior color scheme. Any additional dress-up items are between you and the dealer.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE AS TESTED: $20,555 (base price: $20,555)

ENGINE TYPE: SOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, port fuel injection

Displacement: 110 cu in, 1798 cc
Power: 140 hp @ 6500 rpm
Torque: 128 lb-ft @ 4300 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 5-speed automatic

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 105.1 in
Length: 179.4 in
Width: 69.0 in Height: 56.5 in
Curb weight: 2713 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
0 to 60 mph: 8.6 sec
0 to 100 mph: 24.1 sec
0 to 110 mph: 35.4 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 9.0 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 4.6 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 5.8 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 16.7 sec @ 84 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 114 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 200 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad*: 0.75 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 29/41 mpg
C/D observed: 34 mpg
*Stability-control-inhibited.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

The 0-60mph time is the fastest I've seen on a 5AT Civic by far. It's 0.5s faster than a Civic EX-L:
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...an-test-review

I guess the narrower tires and 150lb weight reduction do make a difference.

phile

But the braking, though. 200 ft.... That's like 1990's standards.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

For comparison, the Civic EX-L stopped in 167ft. Other than the tires, the HF still uses a disc/drum (10.3-inch front, 7.9-inch rear) setup, while the EX has four discs (11.1-inch front, 10.2-inch rear).

Majofo

CarbonGray Earl

Low rolling resistance.... brakes?

TSX69

2013 Honda Civic Hybrid

The 2013 Honda Civic hybrid might not be quick, but its lightning-strike development sure was. After a fully redesigned Civic lineup debuted for 2012 to disappointment, Honda forced a speedy update down the pike. The fruit of its hurried labor has now ripened, and, impressively, the shotgun fix remedied many of the shortcomings, at least on the conventional Civic sedan. Now we’ve run the revised hybrid model through our testing to see how it was affected by the rapid re-launch.

Smile, It’s a Hybrid!

As with the entire 2013 Civic lineup, the hybrid inherits a rash of structural, chassis, and styling tweaks designed to turn the 2012 car’s frown upside-down and address its unsavory refinement levels, lackluster aesthetics, and floppy handling. And speaking of changing facial expressions, like other Civics, the hybrid inherits a pair of upturned chrome accents for the grille and lower intake, which impart a less droopy and sad-looking countenance.

Behind the revised look are slightly beefier springs, thicker anti-roll bars, and a stiffer front-end structure, which deliver subjectively better handling and body control than those of last year’s car. And thanks to a quicker ratio and reduced friction in the rack, the electric power steering is more accurate, too. The hybrid version, however, rides on fuel-economy-optimized Bridgestone Ecopia tires, their hard, narrow construction limiting lateral grip to 0.77 g on the skidpad. The low-rolling-resistance Ecopias also contributed to an abysmal 196-foot stop from 70 mph. So even though the 2013 car feels more tied down and responsive, lateral grip and stopping performances are unchanged from 2012.

Keep Calm and Slow Your Expectations

As mentioned, the Civic hybrid’s primary mission is to conserve fossil fuel. So it shouldn’t have been a surprise when a geriatric piloting a Buick Lucerne—apparently unaware of our impromptu race—poignantly demonstrated this truth by smoking this author from a stoplight. At the track, the hybrid took 9.9 seconds to reach 60 mph and topped out at just 111 mph. Even though the 2013 model still pumps 127 combined horsepower from its 1.5-liter gas engine and 23-hp electric motor, acceleration figures are 2-tenths of a second quicker and 1 mph lower than a 2012 hybrid we tested last year. And performance still trails off considerably when the battery pack is depleted. Despite our lead-footed driving style, we did manage 38 mpg—about 15 percent shy of its 44-mpg EPA combined figure and truthfully this hybrid’s most-important performance metric.

Since you’ll have plenty of time to soak in the Civic’s inner sanctum while trying to keep up with other slow-laners, it’s a good thing it’s been improved. The dash layout is a tad more conventional, and there are now better materials as well as a padded vinyl dashboard and upper-door trim. Added soundproofing, plus thicker windshield and front-side window glass—which took the edge off wind and tire noise—only added 2 pounds to our test car relative to an identically equipped 2012 model.

Despite the multiple updates and improvements, the hybrid’s price only inflates by a few hundred bucks, and bidding opens at $25,150. Our leather- and navigation-equipped test example rang in at a steep $27,850, but similarly optioned competitors such as the Volkswagen Jetta hybrid and Toyota Prius carry similar price tags.

Were it our money, we’d still check out non-hybrid, C-segment offerings like the Ford Focus, Chevrolet Cruze, and Honda’s own Civic HF, which besides being capable of returning mid-30-mpg fuel efficiency for less money, are also quicker and more fun to drive.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE AS TESTED: $27,850 (base price: $25,150)

ENGINE TYPE: SOHC 8-valve 1.5-liter inline-4, 90 hp, 97 lb-ft; permanent magnet electric motor, 23-hp, 78-lb-ft; combined power rating, 110 hp, 127 lb-ft; 20-kWh lithium-ion battery pack

TRANSMISSION: continuously variable automatic

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 105.1 in
Length: 179.4 in
Width: 69.0 in Height: 56.3 in
Curb weight: 2873 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
0 to 60 mph: 9.9 sec
0 to 100 mph: 41.9 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 10.4 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 5.0 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 7.0 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 17.7 sec @ 79 mph
Top speed (drag limited): 111 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 196 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.77 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway: 44/44 mpg
C/D observed: 38 mpg

biker

Like just about every hybrid, the fuel savings don't justify the increased up front cost.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

$3200 initial premium (Civic EX-L with navi vs Civic hybrid with leather and navi)
Combined EPA of regular Civic: 32mpg
Combined EPA of hybrid Civic: 44mpg
Mileage per year: 15000 miles
Fuel Cost: $3.5/gal
Annual Fuel Cost to Operate Regular Civic: 469 gal; $1641
Annual Fuel Cost to Operate Hybrid Civic: 341 gal; $1193
Difference in fuel cost annually: $448
Break Even Period: 7 years (excluding any government incentives, insurance discounts, etc)

Up here in Vancouver, Canada, where fuel is at $5.3/gal, annual saving would be $680. We can break even in less than 5 years.

I am more interested in the upcoming Accord hybrid. While the regular I4 CVT sedan gets 28mpg combined, the Accord PHEV in gasoline mode is rated at 46mpg. The regular hybrid should have a better rating since it will be lighter.

Annual fuel cost for regular Accord: 535 gal, $1875
Annual fuel cost for hybrid Accord: 326 gal, $1141
Difference: $734
Expected initial premium: $3500 (using Camry as a reference)
It will take less than 5 years to break even. The secondary benefits would be increased low end torque and overall quieter ride.

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

I've averaged 42mpgs on an all highway drive in my '13.

My overall average is right around 36.

I really don't think the hybrid is worth it.

biker

If you use real numbers, like real mileage (regular Civic better than EPA and hybrid not as good) and avg mileage driven (not 15K but more like 10-12K) the payback period is more like 10 years - longer than most people keep their cars.

And for PHEVs the math is even worse unless you rely strictly on the EV mode numbers (which is not realistic).