05 Civic Ex Paint Colors
People accept that car companies apperceive their competition’s every move, as if there was some array of mission absurd aggregation beatific in every weekend to adviser R&D progress. While some less-than-ethical advice barter goes on, on the whole, a car architect like Honda finds out what the competition’s latest accoutrement looks aback we do. Charge proof? Attending at the 2011, 2012, 2013 Honda Civic. The 9th bearing Civic was advised to début as a 2011, but the banking abortion acquired Honda to go aback and re-work their bunched car as a 2012 to accumulate prices low. In the abiding bold of auto-leapfrog, Honda blurred the administration Ford, Hyundai, Kia (and conceivably alike Nissan) were headed. The aftereffect was bashed by Consumer Reports and raked beyond the dress-down by best of the press. Did buyers care? Apparently not. The 2012 Civic was purchased in absorbing quantities by real-people. Honda could accept begin alleviation in their sales, but instead they did article unusual: they re-re-redesigned the Civic for 2013. Say what?
The 2013 Civic isn’t aloof a second-year options amalgamation shake-up, and it isn’t alike a mid-cycle blush and trim shuffle. The changes afterwards abandoned a year on the bazaar acreage about amid a brace and and a redesign-on-the-same-platform. How can I alarm it a redesign? Well, if Lexus can alarm the “new” LS a new car… But I digress.
While I didn’t apprehend as abounding complaints from my assembly in the auto-biz about the Civic’s barrier appeal, Honda took the befalling to affix a chrome smile from the 2013 Accord assimilate the Civic, redesign the bonanza covers (front and rear), add smoked appendage lamps, new auto and accomplished aggregate off with a contemporary bore grille. While I didn’t accept a distinct affair with the way the old Civic looked, I accept to accept this one looks better, abnormally from the advanced or aback breadth Honda spent some banknote to accept the appendage lamps cantankerous assimilate the block lid giving the Civic’s backside a added exceptional feel. From the ancillary it would assume that acquainted has afflicted with the aforementioned four-window silhouette, but the aberration is in the glass: it’s thicker this year for bigger complete isolation.
Interior
The botheration with the 2012 Civic wasn’t the exterior. And, in my mind, it wasn’t the autogenous architecture OR the autogenous plastics quality. Yep, you heard me appropriate with that. The old Civic’s plastics weren’t great, but they were accessible to clean, textured alluringly and I aloof didn’t apprehend annihilation altered from an $18,000 car. What I did accept a botheration with was a abridgement of color-matched $.25 and billowing panels. Our 2012 tester’s four capital birr apparatus sported four altered variations of the aforementioned ambition color. For 2013 Honda cranked the thumbscrews on the genitalia suppliers and all the colors in our Civic EX were the same.
In accession to the blush change, Honda had an eye on blow points, swapping out the adamantine doors and birr “faces” for doughy injection-molded units with affected stitching. Keeping costs d0wn, the aforementioned barometer array and birr anatomy abide from aftermost year as able-bodied as the birr genitalia added from your reach, but they accept all been re-cast to texture-match the new bits. Alike the radio’s plastics accept accustomed a blush and arrangement advancement to attending classier. The change has brought the Civic from hardly beneath boilerplate to a solid contender, although I anticipate I adopt the appearance of the Elantra, Sentra and Focus to the Civic’s dual-level dash.
Honda continues to put adequately abstract lumbar abutment in the advanced bench backs, article you don’t acquisition in abounding of the competition. The added abutment was absolute for my back, but aback it isn’t adjustable, you should get affluence of bench time afore you buy to be abiding you can alive with the shape. For my boilerplate six-foot frame, the basement and active position accepted ideal abundant that admitting administration driveway time with a 2013 Mercedes CLS63, I begin myself allotment the Civic for best trips during our week. Say what? The Civic’s adjustable abeyance and bench ergonomics were bigger on my aback than the $120,000 Merc.
As with best cars that accept families in mind, the Civic’s rear seats are abutting to the attic and the aperture openings are advanced and alpine authoritative ingress/egress accessible with or after a adolescent bench in tow. Honda has a acceptability for activity over form, and that pays assets in the rear with a aerial roofline that allows a added cocked basement position, added than can be said of the Elantra. Fold those 60/40 rear seats bottomward and you’ll apprehension an breadth Honda didn’t touch: cargo. The Civic’s block pass-through is still somewhat baby and abnormally shaped preventing beyond items from benumbed along. The trunk’s 12.5 cubic anxiety is in band with the Focus and Corolla, but a few Cubes abaft the Elantra and Sentra. Aback it comes to bag carrying, the Sentra has a added ambush up its trunk: a 24-inch roller bag can ride angular in the Sentra’s burden authority acceptance you to backpack a hasty seven attache sized rollerbags, try that in your Panther replacement.
Infotainment
The Civic’s acceptability is a huge affection that can’t be abandoned in a review. Honda has continued been accepted for reliability, solid body affection and aerial resale value. That’s great, but like abounding shoppers I affliction added about active my iDevice in and bond my phone. Thankfully Honda got the agenda and for 2013 Bluetooth buzz affiliation and audio alive are standard, as is Pandora smartphone integration. As of the time we collection the Civic, the Pandora app affiliation is abandoned accordant with Apple iPhones, but chat is an Android app is accident at some point. Unlike BMW’s iDrive, you don’t charge a Honda app to use alive radio, you aloof download the Pandora app and the car knows what to do. If you appetite to see the arrangement in action, bang on the video at the top of the review.
As before, the 160-watt four-speaker audio arrangement is accepted on abject models while EX models bung in A-pillar tweeters. Additionally banausic is the somewhat blue split-level attributes of the arrangement breadth the radio controls are in the centermost of the birr but the affectation is chip into the dual-level apparatus array binnacle. If you feel decidedly spendy, you can add Honda’s easy-to-use but absolutely big-ticket $1,500 nav arrangement to the Civic EX or EX-L. The touch-screen assemblage does accompany a assembly of articulation commands to the party, but for the price, I’d skip it. If you are debating amid the EX with nav and the EX-L without, go for the L without. 2013 hasn’t brought any cogent changes to either system, although acknowledgment to software changes from Apple and Honda, you can now use your iDevice’s built-in music browsing interface to baddest your tunes. Is that safe? Who knows, but it is handy.
Drivetrain
If you had hoped 2013 would accompany a alternative of the new EarthDreams agent from the Accord, you’re not alone, I had fantasies about that as well. It’s not that the 1.8L, 140 horse four-cylinder agent in the Civic is a bad mill, in accuracy it’s smoother than the diesel-like attributes of any gasoline direct-injection engine, the botheration is the ability to ammunition abridgement ratio. Abnormally with that Accord sitting on the aforementioned lot. The four-banger is still akin to Honda’s 5-speed chiral or 5-speed auto which assume advised to highlight the low 128lb-ft of twist. The ample arrangement advance of the 5-speed aggravating to antithesis off-the-line dispatch with artery ammunition abridgement leave the Civic activity abnormally asthmatic aback you’re acropolis aggressive or passing. The abridgement of a 6-speed manual or a CVT (Nissan claims their CVT has a arrangement advance agnate to a 7-speed auto) is a austere blank and abundantly the acumen the Civic is a abounding 1.5 abnormal slower to 60 than a Focus, added than 2 abnormal abaft an Accord and alike 0.2 slower than the beneath able CVT-equipped Sentra. We were clumsy to get our easily on the Elantra for a 0-60 analysis in time, but added outlets acquaint us its faster as well.
The cog swappers may be old school, but they do administer to bear acceptable EPA numbers. Our 5-speed automated Civic wore a 28/39/32 (City/Highway/Combined) appraisement and managed to get a TTAC real-world account of 33.5 MPG in alloyed driving. It’s attenuate that any agent get over the EPA accumulated account in our testing, so this is decidedly noteworthy. The Fusion SE delivered its 31MPG accumulated aftermost time we activated it, the Corolla claims 29MPG accumulated but we denticulate 28 aftermost time we had one, and I’m abiding you’ve heard about Hyundai’s MPG woes. The new Sentra denticulate the accomplished in the accumulation we activated at 36.2MPG and the Cruze 1.8L the everyman at 27, you can acknowledge the CVT in the Sentra for that number. Speaking of CVTs, the 2013 Accord EX tester denticulate 32.5 on the aforementioned drive acknowledgment to Honda’s new cog-less swapper.
Drive
I didn’t anticipate the aftermost Civic was a awkward blend out on the road, but added reviewers weren’t so kind. One has to be alert of the antagonism aback comparing, and that’s why I aching my head. The Corolla is age-old and drives like a Tonka truck, yet it’s the sales leader, the Cruze’s council is so aloof and overboosted its like active an RC car. (The Corolla is affidavit that car shoppers are lemmings, except for our readers of course.) I allegorize the old Civic to the new Elantra aback it straddled the average amid close and soft, adventurous and not with affluence of “numb” tossed in for acceptable measure. The Focus attempts adventurous with close springs and a well-tuned chassis, but electric ability council makes abiding that every bunched car has a advantageous dosage of Novocaine aback it comes to council feel. At affair was the Civic’s rep as a fun to drive auto with affluence of feel, aciculate dynamics and feel, 2012 dead that in favor of aggravating to be aggregate to everyone. To accomplish the Civic “crisper” and amuse the forum-fan-boys, Honda swapped out every bushing they could get their easily on and tweaked aggregate that was tweakable. The changes absolutely accord the Civic the affected collar it lacked aftermost year, but do little for ultimate anchor or council feel. Anchor is article you can fix yourself with new rubber, but council feel should aloof be mourned because it’s not advancing back.
The added affair Honda underestimated about the antagonism was how far they would go in agreement of babble isolation. Hop in a Cruze and it’s as quiet as an entry-level affluence car, the 2012 Civic? Not so much. To fix the affair Honda awash as abundant cream as they could acquisition in the caster wells, firewall breadth and beneath the carpet. They swapped the window bottle out for thicker actual all the way about and spent some added time to boldness dashboard squeaks. The aberration is nightand day, while the Cruze is still the quietest in the bunch, the Civic is on par with the Focus and Elantra (well advanced of the Corolla.)
Most refreshes do little to adapt the actuality of the product, so the 2013 Civic is all the added impressive. It additionally begs the question: if Honda could do this aloof one year later, why didn’t they aloof go actuality in the aboriginal place? We may never know.
Refinement costs money, but thankfully Honda seems to be bistro best of the amount as the 2013 archetypal is abandoned $160 added baby than aftermost year. Because the added affection agreeable and the added flush autogenous and exterior, dealers can alpha adage “and, it’s a Honda” at the end of the sales angle instead of “but, but, it’s a Honda!!” as barter airing abutting aperture to the Hyundai dealer. OK, I kid, but the acumen is important, it takes the Civic from a acquirement you had to absolve to your car buddies, to one that is absolutely aggressive and understandable. At $18,695, the Civic LX (automatic) is assuredly aural a few bucks of the $18,650 Elantra GLS. At that point it comes bottomward to aesthetics and cast preference. I adopt the way the Civic looks to the new Elantra (although I’m told I’m crazy by our Facebook peeps), but I am additionally alert that the Elantra carries a bigger assurance and a analogously priced Elantra or Sentra still action a few added accepted goodies.
There’s aloof one added albatross in the room. I collection the Civic and the new Accord aback to back, article that I doubtable abounding a client will do. (You know, because they are on the aforementioned banker lot.) I apperceive it’s a glace abruptness to analyze a car with its beyond stablemate, I apriorism the Civic’s better blackmail is its big brother, and for acceptable reason. The Civic/Accord comparo is alike added apt if you’re because a $20,815 Civic EX (like our tester) or the $22,265 EX-L. Jumping up to an Accord LX gets you dual-zone altitude control, an 8-inch infotainment screen, advancement camera, added autogenous room, added refinement, a bigger trunk, and 2-second faster dart from 0-60. That’s afore you anticipate of the amount of accepting an Accord cast on your block vs a Civic. What’s the assessment for this jump? A air-conditioned $1,665 (or $36 a ages on a four-year loan) and the accident of the EX model’s sunroof. What about abridgement you ask? That’s the kicker. Acknowledgment to Honda’s new agent and CVT, the Accord averaged 32.5MPG on the aforementioned drive as our Civic, aloof one MPG less. If you’re attractive for basal transportation, the Civic LX archetypal is assuredly able to advertise on added than aloof Honda’s brand, but if you’re fatigued to that Civic EX, booty a ride in the Accord afore you assurance on the dotted line.
Hit it
Quit it
Honda provided the vehicle, allowance and gas for this review
Specifications as tested
0-30: 3.47 Seconds
0-60: 9.78 Seconds
1/4 Mile: 17.46 Abnormal @ 79.8 MPH
Average Observed Ammunition Economy: 33.5MPG over 751 miles
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