Honda launches new Civic hatchback
Honda has brought its first five-door Civic hatchback to North America from England, and it comes with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the passenger room of a sedan and SUV-like cargo space.
The 2017 Civic hatchback has value-priced LX and Sport models, with a starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price in Canada, of $21,490 for a base LX with manual transmission. The lowest starting retail price for a Civic hatchback with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) that the driver operates like an automatic is $23,790.
The engine, generating up to 180 horsepower, is fuel efficient, too, helping the new Civic attain Canadian government fuel economy ratings as high as 37 miles per gallon in city driving and 47 mpg on highways. Those are better mileage ratings than the smaller, 2017 Chevrolet Spark gasoline-powered hatchback and Fiat 500.
The U.S. government also reports the Civic hatchback earned five out of five stars for occupant protection in both frontal and side crash tests. The hatchback’s low-to-the-ground body helped achieve five out of five stars for rollover protection, too.
Consumer Reports magazine lists the 2017 Civic, across all body styles which include a sedan and coupe, as one out of five for reliability.
The hatchback is a hallowed model at Honda. The first Honda the company sold in the U.S. was a diminutive, N600 hatchback in 1969 followed by a fuel-thrifty, three-door Civic hatchback in 1972. Over the years, Civic hatchbacks developed into some memorable, three-door “pocket rockets” that combined small size, lightweight design and spunky power.
Officially, Honda hasn’t sold a five-door Civic hatchback in the U.S. until now, though Honda did sell a utilitarian, Civic five door in the 1980s that it called a wagon.
Today’s Civic hatchback combines most of the interior space of the current Civic fourdoor sedan with the cargo room buyers expect from the latest small SUVs. The Civic has so much room that the U.S. government classifies it as a “large car.”
In the front seats, there’s a generous 42.3 inches of legroom — the same that’s in the Civic sedan. Rear-seat passengers have 36 inches of legroom, which is 1.4 inches less than in the sedan. Headroom of 39.3 inches in the front seat is identical to that of the sedan’s, with the hatchback’s rear-seat headroom shaved just 0.3 inch.
The real difference is the cargo space behind the rear seats, which offers 25.7 cubic feet of room, compared with the sedan’s 15.1-cubic-foot trunk.
The total cargo space in the hatchback grows to 46.2 cubic feet when the back seats are folded. That’s 85 per cent of the cargo space found in the back of a Kia Niro small SUV, and the Civic doesn’t require a large lift to get items into the car.
The test Civic Sport model was surprisingly nimble and composed in its ride. The Sport model wears sizable, 18-inch tires that gripped the pavement well. Stabilizer bars front and rear, plus a suspension specially tuned for fun, made driving enjoyable. The ride was taut and quite controlled but not overly tight or rough. The electric power steering earned nods of approval for its quick, yet stable response.
The 1.5-litre, double overhead cam, turbocharged, directinjected four cylinder made the hatchback lively, thanks to 167 foot-pounds of torque coming on by a low, 1,800 rpm. The sixspeed manual transmission in the test car was a satisfying shifter.
Even with aggressive driving, the test car averaged the government’s 33-mpg rating for combined city/highway travel.
This was enough for 408 miles of travel on a single, 12.39gallon tank of gasoline.
Note that Honda recommends regular unleaded gasoline for all but the Sport and Sport Touring hatchbacks, which are recommended to use premium.
Some people disliked the hatchback’s edgy exterior styling.
Others complained that the radio had no volume knob but a touchy slider button on the dashboard, instead.
Volvo of Sweden outright and is setting up Lynk & Co as a new global automotive brand that will eventually come to North America. The deal also includes Lotus Engineering, that over the years has provided support for several automakers. The Spy Guy sees these transactions as further proof that Geely intends to become a major force in the industry within the next decade. Expect to hear of more acquisitions in the not-to-distant future.
“Explor-atory” information:
Intel received by The Sneakster reveals that the next generation of Ford’s long-serving Explorer utility vehicle will be a significantly different model when it debuts in late 2018 as a 2019 model. It will be bigger than the current Explorer, which should mean more room for third-row passengers. A taller structure will contribute to increased cargo capacity. The body is likely to be aluminum and also bolted to a new, lighter platform. Explorers will continue to come with turbocharged fourcylinder and V-6 engines, but all will be connected to new nine-speed automatic transmissions. It also appears likely that a revival of Lincoln’s Aviator nameplate (replacing the MKT wagon) will be based on the Explorer.