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Motortrend's 2012 civic long term update
May 08, 2012
By William Walker
Unfortunately I have been spending a lot of time behind the wheels of vehicles other than the Civic lately. A slew of family visits has seen me happily playing tour guide and bus driver behind the wheel of both our Honda Odyssey and Nissan Quest, which reside in the long-term test fleet. As far as people movers go, either option is swell, but man was I glad to ratchet through the gears of the Si upon the families departure. I have come to think of the car as my own, and after the sale of my personal loved and loyal Mk4 Volkswagen GTI, the Civic is my only means of transportation.
The feeling of enjoyment I had returning to the Civic was not a foreign one to me. Every time I would drive my GTI, I would get out pleased, telling myself how nice it is and how much I liked driving it. In fact there are a lot of similar aspects of the two cars. One thing I always loved about my GTI was the amount of visibility and the civic has it in spades. Unlike many modern form-over-function cars the civic has a very thin a-pillar. Also, directly aft of the pillar is a small fixed wing-window that gives you tons of forward visibility. The two rear pillars are also fairly thin and overall it really feels like you can easily see out of any angle, save for maybe the view up from the drivers seat, like at a stoplight. Other than the obvious safety during normal driving benefits, good visibility helps during aggressive driving allowing for a good view of corners and the road ahead.
Another similar feature is how clean and simple the cockpit is. After a short jaunt in the 2013 Subaru BRZ, I mentioned to a co-worker how clean and purposeful the interior was. I realized that simplicity is an uncommon trait in a lot of modern vehicles; a trait that luckily the Civic shares with its Toyo-baru countryman. Although the gauges have a layered design and there are two separate infotainment screens, buttons are far and few between. The steering wheel mounted stereo controls are easy to use and give you the option of toggling through your different audio sources with a single push. Maybe it’s an automotive journalist problem, but being able to jump into a car and easily figure out every control is a welcome change for the increasingly intricate user interfaces in a lot of cars these days. Everything is nice and simple, I have even completely changed my once disapproving mind about the dual-layer gauge cluster, it’s awesome. Because the tachometer and speedometer are not only separated by the steering-wheel rim, but by the fact one is analog and the other digital the perception time is very quick.
The interior is by no means lacking in faults. Although I enjoy the layout and aesthetics of the cockpit, the materials leave a lot to be desired. Most likely in the quest for higher profitability the interior surfaces have been stripped of any sort of soft-touch material. The rock-hard plastic that remains is nicely textured, but doesn’t really convey the sense of quality. The seats are fairly bolstered and solid, which makes them slightly uncomfortable for long journeys. Compared to the similarly priced Mk6 Volkswagen GTI the Civics seats and interior unfortunately feels a little low-rent. Maybe with Honda’s next generation the Civic will rejoin the rest of the soft-touch pack.
Cheated may be too strong of a description of my feelings towards the interior of the Civic. There are some very thoughtful and well-designed features that Honda has obviously spent some time and put some thought into -- like the infotainment system -- but when the competition offers that plus comfy place to rest your posterior, you can’t help but wonder.
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/oneyear/sedans/1205_2012_honda_civic_si_update_1/
May 08, 2012
By William Walker
Unfortunately I have been spending a lot of time behind the wheels of vehicles other than the Civic lately. A slew of family visits has seen me happily playing tour guide and bus driver behind the wheel of both our Honda Odyssey and Nissan Quest, which reside in the long-term test fleet. As far as people movers go, either option is swell, but man was I glad to ratchet through the gears of the Si upon the families departure. I have come to think of the car as my own, and after the sale of my personal loved and loyal Mk4 Volkswagen GTI, the Civic is my only means of transportation.
The feeling of enjoyment I had returning to the Civic was not a foreign one to me. Every time I would drive my GTI, I would get out pleased, telling myself how nice it is and how much I liked driving it. In fact there are a lot of similar aspects of the two cars. One thing I always loved about my GTI was the amount of visibility and the civic has it in spades. Unlike many modern form-over-function cars the civic has a very thin a-pillar. Also, directly aft of the pillar is a small fixed wing-window that gives you tons of forward visibility. The two rear pillars are also fairly thin and overall it really feels like you can easily see out of any angle, save for maybe the view up from the drivers seat, like at a stoplight. Other than the obvious safety during normal driving benefits, good visibility helps during aggressive driving allowing for a good view of corners and the road ahead.
Another similar feature is how clean and simple the cockpit is. After a short jaunt in the 2013 Subaru BRZ, I mentioned to a co-worker how clean and purposeful the interior was. I realized that simplicity is an uncommon trait in a lot of modern vehicles; a trait that luckily the Civic shares with its Toyo-baru countryman. Although the gauges have a layered design and there are two separate infotainment screens, buttons are far and few between. The steering wheel mounted stereo controls are easy to use and give you the option of toggling through your different audio sources with a single push. Maybe it’s an automotive journalist problem, but being able to jump into a car and easily figure out every control is a welcome change for the increasingly intricate user interfaces in a lot of cars these days. Everything is nice and simple, I have even completely changed my once disapproving mind about the dual-layer gauge cluster, it’s awesome. Because the tachometer and speedometer are not only separated by the steering-wheel rim, but by the fact one is analog and the other digital the perception time is very quick.
The interior is by no means lacking in faults. Although I enjoy the layout and aesthetics of the cockpit, the materials leave a lot to be desired. Most likely in the quest for higher profitability the interior surfaces have been stripped of any sort of soft-touch material. The rock-hard plastic that remains is nicely textured, but doesn’t really convey the sense of quality. The seats are fairly bolstered and solid, which makes them slightly uncomfortable for long journeys. Compared to the similarly priced Mk6 Volkswagen GTI the Civics seats and interior unfortunately feels a little low-rent. Maybe with Honda’s next generation the Civic will rejoin the rest of the soft-touch pack.
Cheated may be too strong of a description of my feelings towards the interior of the Civic. There are some very thoughtful and well-designed features that Honda has obviously spent some time and put some thought into -- like the infotainment system -- but when the competition offers that plus comfy place to rest your posterior, you can’t help but wonder.
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/oneyear/sedans/1205_2012_honda_civic_si_update_1/
