Honda Cars : Car and Driver Magazine; 2013 Honda Civic EX-L Sedan AT Review | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

From the May 2013 Issue of Car and Driver 

• April 2013
• BY DANIEL PUND
• PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARC URBANO

For one regrettably long decade, the rolling stock of the midwestern United States consisted of Pontiac Grand Ams and Dodge Shadows. Seriously, the place was filthy with them. This seems to prove what we have long believed: A car’s sales success often has a weak correlation to its greatness. 

And so, we arrive at the 2012 Honda Civic, which was an undeniable sales success for the company. Honda says it sold 331,872 of the then all-new Civics in 2012, making it the bestselling car in its class that year. We presume that most buyers are perfectly satisfied with their purchases. 

And yet, for the long-term health of the model’s and the company’s reputation, Honda has performed a thorough do-over of the Civic for 2013, modifying its look, its interior ambience, its front structure, and its suspension and steering systems. 

With new front and rear styling, Honda grafts a shiny smile to the formerly sad, sluglike shape of the four-door Civic. Honda says it’s a more “emotional” and “youthful” design. This, of course, means nothing. But we like the new look just fine. 

Honda redid the interior as well, giving it a more conventional look and feel, with a black upper dash, a mildly reworked center stack, some shiny trim, and leather-like graining in place of the strange bacteria-in-a-petri-dish look. The ambience is more upscale. That the car also carries more sound-deadening insulation and thicker glass to block noise helps a great deal. Honda did not reduce the number of small information displays that, at four, seems about 50 percent too many. 

With new narrow-offset crash tests looming, Honda beefed up the Civic’s front structure. We did not test the efficacy of this modification. The revised structure adds almost 50 pounds of steel to the front end. That, plus more standard equipment, such as a rearview camera, had our 2013 ­tester weighing in at 2876 pounds, 125 more than the 2012 Civic sedan we tested. The weight gain hasn’t affected the car’s acceleration times, which remain about a second behind the class-leading Ford Focus. Honda hasn’t made any changes to the powertrain, a weak-kneed 140-hp 1.8-liter four and five-speed auto. 

It wasn’t the 2012 Civic’s pokiness that bothered us most, though. It was the soft and numb suspension and steering responses that inspired us to describe it as “alarmingly Lincoln-like.” 

We’re delighted to report Honda has starched the suspension with thicker anti-roll bars (up 0.9 inch in front and 0.2 inch at the rear), stiffer springs (plus 15 percent front, 18 percent rear), and retuned dampers. The effect is almost transformative. The ride is now controlled without being harsh, imparting a distinctly less-cheap feeling. The company also quickened the steering ratio by 8 percent (from 16.1:1 to 14.9:1), which makes the Civic feel like the small, light car it is. Unfortunately, Honda has added zero percent additional feedback to the operation of the steering. 

But the 2013 Civic is 28 percent closer to the car Honda should have built in the first place. Baby steps, you know.

Source;
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2013-honda-civic-sedan-test-review 

Honda Cars : 2013 Honda Civic aces tough IIHS crash test | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

After some mixed results from early models tested in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) new small overlap crash test, the latest batch of vehicles earn top scores.

The Volvo XC60 and two- and four-door versions of the Honda Civic earn Good ratings for small overlap protection. Both the Lincoln MKZ and the redesigned 2014 Mazda6 sedans earned an Acceptable rating in the latest test.

For this test, vehicles careen into a 5-foot-tall rigid barrier at 40 mph, replicating the impact with a tree or pole. The simulated crash involves just 25 percent of the width of the vehicle, concentrating the force on essentially the driver-side front corner.

To reward good performers, the IIHS added a "+" to their coveted Top Safety Pick award for those models that earn a Good or Acceptable in this rigorous test. To qualify for a Top Safety Pick+, a vehicle must earn Good ratings in at least four out of five of their tests, which include the moderate front overlap crash, side impact, rollover, and evaluations of how well seat and head restraints protect occupants from neck injuries in rear impacts. Plus, the car has to earn no less than an Acceptable in the small front overlap crash test.

The Honda Civic is the first small car to earn the Top Safety Pick+ award. For 2013, the Civic received significant front structural upgrades in the car body and cabin to improve its performance in the small overlap test. (Honda made numerous other notable improvements to the Civic for 2013, addressing several key criticisms.) To improve the XC60 performance, Volvo engineers changed an algorithm to cause the side curtain airbag to deploy in this type of crash.

Previous models that have earned the Top Safety Pick+ designation include: Acura TL, Chrysler 200, Dodge Avenger, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord coupe, Honda Accord sedan, Kia Optima, Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy, Subaru Outback, Suzuki Kizashi, and Volvo S60.

The recent tests of all five of these vehicles were made at the request of manufacturers. IIHS is currently working through a schedule to get more vehicles tested in this new protocol. As more vehicles are rated, we'll include those ratings in our online and magazine coverage.

Source;
http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2013/03/2013-honda-civic-aces-tough-iihs-crash-test-xc60-mazda6-mkz.html

Honda Cars : The 2013 Honda Civic - "Things Can Always Be Better" | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Honda Cars : Honda Rebound Aided as Consumer Reports Recommends Accord | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

By Alan Ohnsman - Dec 18, 2012

 

Honda Motor Co. (7267), stung by Consumer Reports’ withering review for its Civic small car last year, got a positive judgment for the revamped 2013 Accord that the magazine said ranks among the market’s best midsize cars.

Among 4-cylinder engine sedans, the new Accord that went on sale in September tops Hyundai Motor Co. (005380)’s Sonata and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)’s Camry, the Yonkers, New York-based magazine said in a statement today. That version and the V-6 engine Accord both earned the recommended status that eluded the 2012 Civic.

“Honda missed the mark with other redesigned models in recent years, but it nailed this one,” Jake Fisher, director of Consumer Reports Auto Test Center, said in the statement. The mix of interior room, high fuel economy, ride and handling, features and price underpin Accord’s appeal, the magazine said.

The upbeat assessment of Honda’s top-selling vehicle by the magazine that calls itself the world’s largest independent product-testing organization coincides with a rebound for the carmaker in its biggest market. Along with the unfavorable Civic review, 2011’s natural disasters in Asia slowed Honda production for months and led to a 6.8 percent U.S. sales decline last year. Through November, the Tokyo-based company’s sales rebounded 24 percent.

Honda in November released its modified 2013 Civic, with a restyled interior, new front hood and grille, new rear taillights, quieter cabin, and strengthened front-end to boost crash safety to address the 2012 car’s shortcomings.

The new version of the best-selling U.S. small car is a “major improvement,” Fisher said in an interview at the Los Angeles Auto Show last month, without elaborating prior to the magazine’s review.

Consumer Reports’ review of the new Accord appears today on ConsumerReports.org and in the January issue of the magazine to be published Dec. 27. Honda’s U.S. unit is based in Torrance, California.

Source;
 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-18/honda-rebound-aided-as-consumer-reports-recommends-accord.html

Honda Cars : 2013 Honda Civic first drive from Consumer Reports | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Honda Cars : Varoius 2013 Honda Civic Videos and Pictures | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Source with artical;
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2012/11/2013-honda-civic-sedan-and-coupe-all.html

Honda Cars : Restyled 2013 Honda Civic Arrives at U.S. Dealerships with Premium Style, Host of Popular Standard Features | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

11/29/2012 - TORRANCE, Calif.

The top-selling and award-winning Honda Civic returns for 2013, with a host of design upgrades and a bevy of new standard features, while still maintaining the efficiency and value that has made the Civic an automotive icon for the past 40 years. The 2013 Honda Civic Sedan receives all-new front and rear exterior styling, along with extensive interior styling upgrades on all models. Retuned steering and suspension sharpen the Civic's handling, while extensive body and chassis upgrades improve the ride comfort and interior quietness.

Across the board, every 2013 Civic model is equipped with a suite of class-leading standard features. Standard equipment on every Honda Civic includes Bluetooth® HandsFreeLink®, Bluetooth® Audio, rearview camera, color i-MID display, USB/iPod® connection, Pandora® Interface, an SMS text feature, steering wheel audio controls, exterior temperature gauge and sliding center-console armrest. Even with hundreds of dollars of standard features added, the 2013 Civic arrives with only a modest $160 increase in MSRP across the lineup, with pricing for the exceptionally well-equipped 2013 Civic LX Sedan beginning at $18,165¹.

New safety technologies built into the 2013 Civic include the application of the next-gen Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ II (ACE™ II) body structure, which includes additional front end structures designed to help increase occupant protection by dispersing crash energy in narrow overlap frontal crashes, and should help the Civic obtain a top rating in the new small-offset crash test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Also new are SmartVent™ side airbags, side curtain airbags with a rollover sensor and the availability of Forward Collision Warning (FCW) and Lane Departure Warning (LDW) systems, which make their compact-class debut in the 2013 Honda Civic Hybrid.

Featuring the widest array of powertrain choices available in the segment, the Civic lineup is designed to meet the diverse needs of today's compact-vehicle buyer. The 2013 Honda Civic Sedan and Coupe will be available in LX, EX, EX-L and Si models, with the Civic Hybrid, Civic Natural Gas and Civic HF also available in sedan form. The entry model Civic DX has been discontinued for 2013.

Summary of Changes for 2013

• Completely revised front and rear exterior styling (Sedan)
• Enhanced standard feature content on all model grades
• Recalibrated suspension and steering
• Extensive new NVH reduction features
• Revised interior styling including soft-touch materials
• Next-gen Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ II (ACE™ II) body structure
• Standard rearview camera
• Standard Bluetooth® HandsFreeLink®
• Standard Bluetooth® Audio
• Standard Pandora® Interface
• Standard USB/iPod® interface
• Standard SMS text message functionality
• Available Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) systems
• Two new exterior colors: White Orchid Pearl and Kona Coffee Metallic
• New interior color: Black

Powertrains
The 2013 Civic lineup includes sedan and coupe models with a conventional gasoline engine and "Si" performance models. Civic also offers a high fuel efficiency "HF," hybrid and exclusive natural gas alternative-fuel sedans.

Heavily revised for the ninth-gen Civic introduction for model year 2012, the Civic's all-aluminum, 140-horsepower, i-VTEC® 1.8-liter 16-valve four-cylinder engine is unchanged for 2013, continuing to provide exceptional responsiveness, refinement, and fuel efficiency. Providing 128 lb-ft of torque at 4300 rpm, the Honda mill is paired with either a 5-speed manual or 5-speed automatic transmission. In the Civic Sedan and Coupe, this powertrain has earned an EPA fuel-economy rating of 28/39/32 mpg² city/hwy/combined when equipped with the automatic transmission. In the Civic HF Sedan, those figures climb to 29/41/33 mpg².

Now available in 37 states, the 2013 Honda Civic Natural Gas continues as the only mass produced natural gas sedan available in the U.S. In the Civic Natural Gas, the 1.8-liter engine produces 110 horsepower, and earns an EPA fuel economy rating of 27/38/31 mpg2 (city/hwy/combined). The 2013 Civic Hybrid features a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine equipped with Honda's Integrated Motor Assist (IMA®) system, which when coupled with its Lithium-Ion battery pack, produces 110 horsepower and 127 lb-ft of torque. Paired to a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), the Civic Hybrid earns a city/hwy/combined EPA rating of 44/44/44 mpg². The Civic Sedan and Coupe, Civic Natural Gas and Civic Hybrid models all feature Honda's ECO Assist™ technology, which with the push of the green, dash-mounted "ECON" button, can help drivers operate the vehicle more efficiently.

Along with strong fuel efficiency, the Civic lineup also offers strong performance. The 2013 Civic Si Sedan and Si Coupe models are equipped with an all-aluminum, 201-horsepower, i-VTEC® 2.4-liter DOHC 16-valve engine paired to a 6-speed manual transmission. Even though it provides 170 lb-ft of torque and offers exhilarating performance, the Civic Si has a remarkable 31 mpg² EPA highway fuel economy rating.
Body
For 2013, the Honda Civic has received a host of changes that far exceed the typical mid-model refresh. The front and rear styling of the 2013 Honda Civic Sedan has been completely altered for a more youthful and premium feel, including sheet metal changes that include an all-new hood and trunk lid. Up front, a new open-mouth lower bumper with a horizontal chrome accent and a sportier, black honeycomb mesh grille is anchored by new integrated fog lights on EX-L and above trims. The grille is flanked by new clear-lens corner lights to provide a more premium look. The 2013 Civic's more sculpted front end flows into a new taller, more deeply faceted hood.

In back, a new rear bumper design and new rear trunk lid are capped by a clean, horizontal chrome trim piece. The all-new design of the jewel-like taillights now carries into the trunk face, providing a more finished and upscale look. The rear bumper features integrated reflector treatments and a new lower diffuser panel finished with a honeycomb mesh vent. While the expressive exterior styling of the 2013 Honda Civic Coupe remains unchanged, restyled wheels on all models help sharpen the look of the 2013 Civic.

Constructed of 55-pecent high-strength steel, the 2013 Civic's body minimizes weight and maximizes strength for greater rigidity. The 2013 Civic's body has seen a host of changes to the front floor, side sill, A-pillar, upper wheel housing and front bumper extension. This addition of high-strength steel is expected to pay refinement dividends and provide a stiffer structure for the numerous chassis updates for the 2013 Civic. In addition, the Civic's new structure is designed to help it excel in the new Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) small overlap crash test.

Chassis
Under the skin, the 2013 Civic has had significant alterations aimed at enhancing handling refinement and noise isolation. A reworked Electronic Power Steering (EPS) setup reduces friction and provides a quicker ratio, while stiffer wheels, stiffer front springs and a thicker front stabilizer bar with new Teflon-lined mounting bushings are designed for more fluid suspension action and a flatter, more responsive cornering attitude.

The rear suspension also receives a thicker stabilizer bar, increased spring rate, new Teflon-lined stabilizer-bar bushings, and reworked suspension bushings to increase both bump- and roll-motion stiffness. With its retuned MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension, handling linearity, responsiveness and overall vehicle composure have been increased, while at the same time improving ride quality and the characteristic Honda fun-to-drive feel. For 2013, front brake-rotor diameter on automatic-equipped Civic LX, EX and EX-L Sedans and Coupes jumps 20 mm from 262 to 282 mm for improved stopping performance.

A large range of new noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) countermeasures work together to reduce road, engine and wind noise in the 2013 Civic's interior. This includes a stiffer front subframe, new thicker windshield and front door glass, and additional soundproofing material in the dash, floor, doors, and rear tray to help reduce unwanted road noise, and provide a more serene ride and quieter cabin.

Interior
Inside, extensive refinements in design and construction gives the entire 2013 Honda Civic lineup a more premium feel, with an all-new tricot headliner, new soft-touch materials on the instrument panel and upper door treatment, and revised textures and panel junctions throughout the instrument panel and center console. Subtle silver accents in the interior lend a higher-quality look, along with door panel and seat fabric upgrades. Providing a more upscale environment, black carpeting and a trunk lid finisher are now standard on all Civic models. For the first time, Civic is available in both cloth and leather with an all-black interior.

The 2013 Honda Civic provides a host of new class-leading standard features, including Bluetooth® HandsFreeLink®, Bluetooth® Audio, rearview camera, color i-MID display, Pandora® Interface, USB/iPod® interface, SMS text message function, steering wheel audio controls, exterior temperature gauge and a sliding finished center armrest. Available on Civic EX, EX-L, Hybrid and Natural Gas models, the Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System™ with voice recognition³ now includes a multi-view rearview camera and provides routing and guidance to individual addresses and more than 7-million points of interest within the continental United States. With its 16-GB flash memory system, it offers fast route calculation and includes FM traffic, a subscription-free service that alerts drivers to traffic conditions.

Safety
Named a "2012 Top Safety Pick" by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Civic returns for 2013 with a re-engineered Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ II (ACE™ II) body structure. The changes that went into the ACE II body structure were designed to help increase the protection provided to vehicle occupants in a frontal collision, including the addition of front end structures to help disperse crash energy in narrow overlap frontal crashes. These changes should also help the Civic obtain top marks in the new Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) small overlap frontal crash test.

Also new for 2013, the Civic features Honda's new SmartVent™ front seat side airbag construction that recently debuted in the 2013 Honda Accord. The new SmartVent™ airbag design helps mitigate the risk of excessive side airbag deployment force, while eliminating the need for the prior Civic's Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS). The elimination of OPDS allows improved heating of the seatback on Civic EX-L models. Additionally, the 2013 Civic is equipped with a side curtain airbag with rollover sensors, nearly two years ahead of regulatory requirements.

A first in the compact segment, the 2013 Honda Civic Hybrid will provide standard Forward Collision Warning (FCW) and Lane Departure Warning (LDW) systems. FCW is designed to detect a possible collision with another vehicle or object ahead and provide visible and audible alerts to the driver. LDW provides visible and audible alerts if the driver begins to drift out of a detected lane without using the turn indicator.

The 2013 Civic's additional safety technologies include standard dual-stage, multiple-threshold front airbags, an anti-lock braking system (ABS), Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA)⁴ with traction control, a tire pressure monitoring system, and a pedestrian injury mitigation design in the front of the vehicle.

Warranty and Awards
The 2013 Honda Civic is covered by a 3-year/36,000-mile new-car limited warranty, a 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain limited warranty, a 5-year/unlimited-mile corrosion limited warranty and on hybrid models a 15-year/150,000-mile emissions warranty when the vehicle is registered and normally operated in California and certain states that have adopted California Zero-Emission Vehicle regulations.

Since its complete redesign as a 2012 model, the Honda Civic has received host of awards and recognition. It was named one of About.com's Best New Cars of 2012. Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com named the 2012 Civic one of the "10 Best Green Cars of 2012" and one of the "Best Family Cars of 2012." In addition, KBB named the Civic Natural Gas a "2012 Best Redesigned Vehicle." The Civic Natural Gas was also named "2012 Green Car of the Year®" by Green Car Journal. Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com has already awarded the 2013 Civic with a Best Resale Value award in its segment.

2013 Honda Civic On-Sale Dates
Model	On-Sale Date	Starting MSRP
Civic Sedan	November 29, 2012	$18,165
Civic Coupe	December 5, 2012	$17,965
Civic Natural Gas	December 10, 2012	$26,465
Civic Si Coupe	December 12, 2012	$22,515
Civic Hybrid	January 23, 2013	$24,360
Civic Si Sedan	January 23, 2013	$22,715
Civic HF	February 6, 2013	$19,765

Honda Cars : The 2013 Honda Civic fully exposed | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

 

 

 

 

This of course is a Minor Model Update in response to Consumer Reports specifically.  You can see the soft touch dash and stitching, the 'faux' chrome around the vents, the 2013 Accord front and rear style ques, and from what I understand the EX-L is now changes to a TOURING model and will include a Backup Camera.

Picture Source (and a great site worth checking out I might add!);
http://carstyleblog.com/this-is-the-new-2013-honda-civic/#more-607

Honda Cars : 2013 Honda Civic Spyshots | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

 

 

Ever since the introduction of the current model Civic, Honda has faced consistent backlash from reviewers in the media for its highly evolutionary redesign of the popular compact sedan. Despite high sales of the current Civic, Honda has gone back to the drawing board and revised the car with sportier styling and a higher quality interior for the 2013 model year. The folks at 9thgencivic.com have managed to photograph a production ready 2013 Civic in the real world, including a few shots of the interior.

The improvements are minor but significant. Outside the car has a revised front bumper and grill that is reminiscent of the new Accord. The headlights are now more in line with the Civic Si coupe. The rear end receives a new darker style tail light design treatment and a new trunk. Inside the design is largely unchanged but with more refined and upscale detailing such as faux stitching on the dash and faux aluminum trim around the air vents.

Source;
http://carstyleblog.com/revised-2013-honda-civic-caught/#more-575

Honda Cars : 2013 Honda Civic to Debut at Los Angeles Auto Show With More Youthful and Premium Styling | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

1/12/2012 - TORRANCE, Calif. Honda today revealed the first look at the much-anticipated 2013 Honda Civic Sedan, in advance of its debut at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show on November 29. The refined styling of the 2013 Civic Sedan, which goes on sale at Honda dealerships on November 29, will encompass a host of safety, feature, comfort, chassis and interior styling enhancements that will further define the top-selling Civic as the best car in the compact class.

The more upscale and premium styling of the 2013 Civic Sedan's front end includes a new open-mouth lower bumper with a horizontal chrome accent and a sportier, black honeycomb mesh grille, anchored by new integrated fog lights on upper trims. The grille is flanked by new clear-lens corner lights to provide a more premium look. The 2013 Civic's more sculpted front end flows into a new, more deeply faceted hood, complemented by a collection of sharp new wheel designs.

In back, a new rear bumper design and new rear trunk lid are capped by a clean, horizontal chrome trim piece. The all-new design of the jewel-like taillights now carries into the trunk face, providing a more finished and upscale look. The rear bumper features integrated reflector treatments and a new lower diffuser panel finished with a honeycomb mesh vent.

"The 2013 Honda Civic exterior refinements infuse Civic with a more youthful, premium style. Coupling these with additional changes beneath will ensure that Civic maintains its top-ranked status," said Vicki Poponi, assistant vice president of product planning for American Honda.

Heading into 2013 with styling and content additions, the Civic's fun-to-drive nature and core attributes of safety, spaciousness and fuel efficiency remain intact. As the compact segment's retail sales leader, the Honda Civic continues as the benchmark for consumers looking for the smart purchase in a very competitive segment.

Full details of the 2013 Honda Civic will be revealed on Nov. 29 at 10:05 a.m. PST at the Los Angeles Auto Show. For photos showing the styling direction of the 2013 Civic, visit www.hondanews.com.

Source;
http://www.hondanews.com/channels/corporate-headlines/releases/2013-honda-civic-to-debut-at-los-angeles-auto-show-with-more-youthful-and-premium-styling

Honda Cars : Autoblog: Honda warns dealers to clear out 2012 Civic stock, 2013 emergency refresh on sale Nov. 29 | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Not too sure it this is going to indeed be what the 2013 Honda Civic is going to look like for North America, but here's what I found anyway....

Source for Pictures....
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/3ds-max-honda-civic-2013-usa/640818

by  Chris Paukert

Thanks to an anonymous tipster, Autoblog has learned that the so-called "emergency refresh" of the Honda Civic is just around the corner. In fact, the automaker is already urging its dealers to clear out remaining 2012 model year stock because "The changes made to the 2013 model will make the outgoing 2012 Civic a difficult model [to] sell when they are side to side." Those are the words of David Hendley, Assistant Vice President of Honda National Sales excerpted from a recent letter to dealers. The communiqué goes on to note that the refreshed Civic will go on sale on November 29 – a date, we note, that coincides with press days for the Los Angeles Auto Show.

According to Hendley's letter, buyers can look forward to "dramatic improvements to the exterior styling that moves Civic into a more premium sporty direction." The text also promises that the 2013's interior will receive "upgrades and improvements to bring more sophistication and quality to its appearance." For his part, American Honda President Tetsuo Iwamura has previously been quoted as saying that changes will be made to "improve the Civic's drivability," suggesting suspension and powertrain alterations are afoot as well.

The ninth-generation Civic has only been on sale for a year, and such a substantial refresh this early in the generation's lifecycle is unprecedented these days.

The ninth-generation Civic has only been on sale for a year, and such a substantial refresh this early in the generation's lifecycle is unprecedented these days – not just for Honda, but for the industry as well. The Japanese automaker has been stung by widespread criticism for the 2012 Civic range's lackluster dynamics, lessened interior quality, noise levels, low feature count and uninspiring design – perceived shortcomings exacerbated by the industry's hyper-competitive compact car segment. Among the critics, the Civic was given poor marks in a review by this site as well as influential institute Consumer Reports, which went so far as to remove the Civic from its coveted Recommended list. In fact, CR editors labeled the 2012 Civic a "car to avoid" in August.

A lack of critical praise doesn't seem to be harming Civic sales, however. According to the automaker's own sales data, the 2012 model is performing quite handsomely, having sold 234,029 units through September of this year, with 21,546 of those units coming last month alone. That means Honda is shifting almost 40-percent more units this year than the (admittedly aging) eighth-generation model did in 2011. The Civic is now selling near the top of its class, and Hendley notes that the company's Indiana plant will be running at full-tilt to build the updated 2013 model – in fact, he indicates that the US will even draw units from Canadian production.

When contacted for comment about the Hendley dealer letter, Sage Marie, Honda's Senior Manager of Public Relations, confirmed to Autoblog that the automaker will have Civic news to reveal next month, noting that Honda is keen "to ensure Civic remains the benchmark in the segment and remains as competitive as it can be."

Dear Honda Dealer,

Thank you for your effort of selling down the 2012 Accord. As you remember from the dealer meeting earlier this summer in Philadelphia, our priority at the time was to get the Accord down to a reasonable days supply by our September launch date for the new model. Our sell down of the 2012 Accord is right in line of where we want to be, and the 2013 Accord is doing extremely well since it's release back in September. Your focus and selling effort on Accord is greatly appreciated.

Obviously, Accord sales makeup a huge part of getting to the company goal of 1,300,000 by the end of the year; however, Civic's role is just as important. You may be aware that the refreshed 2013 Civic will be available for sale on November 29, 2012. When it arrives on your lots you will see dramatic improvements to the exterior styling that moves Civic into a more premium sporty direction. The interior has even more upgrades and improvements to bring more sophistication and quality to its appearance. As I said in Philadelphia, we are taking a good Civic that is currently the leading selling vehicle in the small car segment regardless of fleet sales, and made is a great car. This is a car the breathes the famous Honda driveability, quality, reliability (DQR) that has made Honda what it is today. A brand that consumers want us to produce for you to sell. This vehicle is not produced simply to catch up to our competition it is being produced to expand its dominance and reign once again as the bench mark of the small car segment.

Civic makes up almost 25% of our 990,00 Honda sales for the year - it is a critical component in our goal to reach 1.3 million sales for the year. For your dealership to take full advantage of the refreshed Civic and the marketing we will have supporting it you must greatly increase the turn rate on our 2012 Civics. With the unprecedented enhancements we have made to the current Civic after its first year in its cycle you will want to have little to no Civics on hand at arrival time of this refreshed 2013 model. The changes made to the 2013 model will make the outgoing 2012 Civic a difficult model sell when they are side to side. I strongly encourage you to discuss your Civic inventory situation with your district manager today, and set up a sell down strategy that will reduce your total remaining model year 2012 Civics by a minimum of 60% before December 1, 2012. I cannot stress enough, sell down of your 2012 Civics is critical to the 2013 Civic launch and the success of inventory balance at your dealership.

Take action now! The 2013 Civic will come to your at full speed. Our plant in Indiana which produces Civic will run at full capacity with Civic production, and we will even get production from Canada too. Commit to reduce your model year 2012 Civics by 60% or more before December 1, 2012. And be prepared on November 29, to receive the greatest Civic ever produced!

Sincerely,
David Hendley
Assistant Vice President Honda National Sales

Source;
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/23/honda-warns-dealers-to-clear-out-2012-civic-stock-2013-emergenc/  

Honda Cars : Temple of Vtec: 2013 Honda Civic Spyshot and Update | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Straight from Jeff @ www.vtec.net
"Over the weekend we received word that Honda has sent out a memo to dealers indicating that the 2013 Civic will be going on sale on November 29th, 2012. We're told that Honda is encouraging to sell off their inventory of 2012 models by as much as possible prior to that date, as the 2013 enhancements will make the 2012 model a "difficult sell".

It's our understanding that the car will be essentially identical to the 2012 Civic from a mechanical standpoint, but it's our understanding that there have been fairly significant styling changes to the interior and exterior of the vehicle. While we haven't seen the car yet, we've heard that the 2013 Civic will be getting a new hood design, a new grille, and new taillights which are said to extend further into the trunk now. It is said to look pretty much the same from the side view.

Below is an old spy shot of what we thought could have been a '13 Civic prototype captured in May. There is some camo tape on the rear but it does a pretty good job of masking whatever changes might be there. 

The interior is said to have been upgraded not only in terms of materials, but also in feature count. Bluetooth audio, Pandora, SMS, etc. features are said to be standard in everything from the LX model up. The Civic will also be getting backup cameras but it's unclear at which trim level this feature will be standard."


Source;
http://www.vtec.net/news/news-item?news_item_id=1105544

Honda Cars : Honda Europe: Civic Type R gets Honda go-ahead | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Type R is likely to be previewed at the Geneva motor show in March next year before going on sale in about 12 months’ time.

The new Honda Civic Type R will be confirmed for production at the Paris motor show in September, company insiders have confirmed to Autocar. It is then likely to be previewed at the Geneva motor show in March next year before going on sale in about 12 months’ time.

Engine details of the new Type R are still under wraps. The old Type R went out of production before the standard Civic because its high-revving, normally aspirated VTEC engine failed to meet emissions regulations. Honda could have updated the engine for the new Type R, or it could be destined to get a downsized turbo engine in line with hot hatch rivals.

Before the hottest new Civic arrives, Honda will launch a cooking version of the new five-door hatchback. Mugen and Team Dynamics both recently showed proposals for a ‘Type S’ version of the new Civic at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and a decision on the direction of the new 1.8-litre petrol model is imminent.

Source;
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/civic-type-r-gets-honda-go-ahead

Honda Cars : Are you the Minor Model Changes 2013 Honda Civic? | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Even though this is the Euro Civic Sedan for 2013, I can't help but think that these changes are what the North American Civic might get.... Only a few more months and we'll know for sure....

Honda has dropped the first photos of the European-market Civic sedan, ahead of its launch later this year.
While the hatchback variant is bespoke to Europe, the sedan variant is essentially a tweaked version of the global Civic sedan – both inside and out.


When compared to the U.S model, the European Civic boasts a redesigned centre console, made from hard-wearing materials, and updated seating fabrics. The Civic sedan also features Honda’s new I-MID (Intelligent-Multi Information Display) screen that allows the driver to monitor the vehicle’s functions.

Initially, the Civic sedan will be launched with a four-cylinder, 1.8 litre petrol engine, with the rest of the engine line-up likely to mirror the hatchback model.

Sales of the European Honda Civic sedan will kick-off late Summer in selected European markets, sans the United Kingdom.

Source;
http://motormania.eu.com/MM/2012/06/07/new-car-2013-honda-civic-sedan/

Honda Cars : Erik Berkman of Honda Interview | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

In April Erik Berkman became the first American to lead North American research and product development for Tokyo-based Honda.

Erik Berkman’s iPhone wallpaper isn’t of his wife, children or dog. When Honda  Motor Co.’s new North American development chief gets a text message, he sees a background picture of the automaker’s V-6 IndyCar racing engine.

Dario Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500 last month using the engine designed by a team led by Berkman, who was at the track known as the Brickyard to watch. Motor-sports passion -- central to founder Soichiro Honda, who said, “If Honda does not race, there is no Honda” -- will be an asset if Berkman can apply the same speed and creativity to product development.

Honda’s first American president of R&D for the region is helping shape everything from a modified Civic and new Accord due this year to an overhaul of the Acura line that includes the NSX supercar. The 30-veteran of Tokyo-based Honda plans to win back its reputation for innovative cars in the face of improving Korean, U.S. and German competition as well as critical reviews.

“I know that there is a particularly high expectation for Honda to get back that magic it had at one time,” said Berkman, 53, in an interview last month at his new domain, the vast R&D center in Raymond, Ohio. “What are we going to do, complain that expectations are too high for us? That we want low expectations? That’s not right.”

Product development and engine innovations have a special place at Honda, which has been led since its beginning only by engineers, even as tight business controls appear to have led it to take fewer risks on core models in the past decade.

Sporty Ride

Along with overseeing eight U.S.-developed Honda and Acura models, Berkman has to find a way to add content and upgrade interiors within a company that controls spending so tightly it made money even through the recession, natural disasters and exchange rate pain. Honda is the only major automaker to have never had an annual loss.

While Honda and Toyota Motor Corp. won fans in the 1970s for durable cars that were inexpensive and fuel-efficient, Honda boasted the sportier ride, reflecting the founder’s racing fervor. Honda’s R&D Americas president has to get that back.

“Honda is off the rails; they still build a great car, but they aren’t leaders,” said John Wolkonowicz, an independent analyst in Boston who specializes in automotive history. “In the ’80s Honda, had the best cars on the market. They drove the best, had great fuel economy and people really loved them.”

While Honda’s U.S. sales in 2007 more than doubled the combined U.S. deliveries of Hyundai Motor Co.  and affiliate Kia Motors Corp. , the Koreans were within 1 percent of Honda last year. Accord, the best-selling car in the U.S. in 2001, has been topped by Toyota’s Camry every year since then. Toyota’s Corolla has exceeded Civic’s U.S. sales annually since 2003.

Honda’s Man

Berkman may be the ideal man for the job he started April 1, succeeding Hiroshi Takemura, who returned to Japan as deputy director of automobile operations. The compact engineer with close-cropped brown hair joined Honda in 1982 when it started making cars in the U.S. in Marysville, Ohio. His only automotive job before that was with a company John DeLorean hired to turbocharge DeLorean Motor Co.’s DMC-12 gull-winged sports cars.

After starting as a production engineer, Berkman moved to Honda’s U.S. R&D unit in 1991, working on models including the 1994 Accord wagon, 1999 Odyssey minivan and 2001 Acura CL coupe. His biggest success was leading development of the 2004 Acura TL sport sedan.

Before it became one of Acura’s best-selling cars, it was far from universally loved within Honda. High-end content, such as performance brakes by Italy’s Bre SpA (BREmbo), was seen as too costly. The exterior styling was too edgy and polarizing.

TL Controversy

“It was so controversial, it almost didn’t happen,” Berkman recalled. “It was too much for some people.”
Reactions to the TL’s design in consumer clinics didn’t clarify the situation, Berkman said. “Half the people said they loved it, half of them hated it,” he said.

Ultimately, his vision of the car was approved for production. More than 77,000 were sold in its first full year, making it 2004’s top luxury sedan.

“I fought for the one I wanted, and it worked,” he said.

Honda is counting on those instincts to come through again. Honda President Takanobu Ito, who worked with Berkman at the U.S. R&D center in the 1990s, and Executive Vice President Tetsuo Iwamura, head of North American operations, have high expectations for him.

“Through his career, he has a very good understanding of Honda,” Iwamura said in a March interview at Honda’s U.S. headquarters in Torrance, California. “What we expect him to do is, through this good knowledge and experience, fulfill his dream of making North America strong.”

Civic Tweaks

Honda is looking better in 2012 already. With the factories again running at full capacity, U.S. sales have expanded 10 percent this year, buoyed by a 48 percent increase last month. While the company has easy comparisons with last year’s disaster-limited results, it has three models among the top 10 sellers in the U.S. this year: the midsize Accord, CR-V compact sport-utility vehicle and the Civic.

The 2012 Civic drew a harsh review in Consumer Reports in August 2011 and failed to win the magazine’s “recommend” designation. The non-profit publication for decades consistently placed Honda models among its top picks. The magazine said the new car, compared with the version it replaced, had a choppier ride, less agility, longer stopping distances, more road noise and a worse interior.

Berkman has helped to fix it midstream. The model’s mid- cycle refresh, due in about three months, was moved up by about a year. Among the improvements will be better interior materials, he said.

“There’s an opportunity with the minor model change to tweak Civic,” Berkman said. “If we do that, we’ll knock off one more criticism.”

‘Earth Dreams’

He’s planning changes in styling, materials, driving dynamics and technology across the Honda and Acura model lines.

That begins this year with a revamped Accord featuring Honda’s new “Earth Dreams” family of engines and related technology, including continuously variable transmissions, the company’s first such powertrain change in a decade. Honda previously used CVTs only on small cars made in Japan.

Starting with the 2013 Accord, the new transmission, with an infinite number of gear ratios, replaces the current five- speed automatic to aid fuel-economy and performance, Berkman said. The engine line, with displacement ranges from 660 cubic centimeters to 3.5 liters, is being added to every new Honda model starting with Accord.

“You’re going to find that Accord is a very well-balanced product that is the best overall product in everything, whether we’re talking about interior packaging, content of the vehicle, the fuel economy of the vehicle,” he said. It “will be one of the most feature-rich vehicles we’ve ever made,” he said, without elaborating.

Acura Supercar

Acura, Honda’s premium brand that some auto reviewers don’t regard as a full-fledged luxury line, will also see new styling and benefit from technology such as the high-performance hybrid system going into the NSX, he said. The car, likely to cost more than $100,000, will be raced as well as sold, Ito said in Detroit in January.

The NSX will go on sale in about two years, Honda has said. An ad for the car that ran during this year’s Super Bowl featured comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno.

Berkman said his team is eager to shake off the idea that Honda’s vehicles have become bland or lack the value of its glory days.

“Having high expectations or pressure is what’s necessary to get us to a point where we’re performing,” he said. “We want everybody to fall over and go: There it is again. There’s that Honda we used to praise.”

Source;
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-14/honda-suffering-reputation-loss-taps-american-s-retooling.html

Honda Cars : Spyshots: Honda Civic Type R Mule has Big Wing | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

This is primarily for the UK market, we won't be seeing this in North America....

When we drove the new Honda Civic earlier this year, all we could think about was a question: when will the Type-R arrive? Now we have something that’s not an answer but is good enough: a set of spyshots that show a test mule of the hot hatch.

The images show a Civic that’s wearing a huge (by OEM standards) wing at the back and a slightly modified front bumper (this seems to have a metallic add-on lower elements), with these indicating that we are talking about a go-fast version of the Civic.

Honda will stay true to its Type-R philosophy, so instead of slapping a turbo and throwing itself in the HP war that currently going on in the hot hatch segment, it will use a high-revving naturally aspirated engine that’s set to offer 220-230 hp. However, the heart of the vehicle will be its chassis, with Honda expected to make radical changes, but without its usual partner, Mugen.

Source;
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/spyshots-honda-civic-type-r-mule-has-big-wing-45666.html

Honda Cars : 2013 Honda Civic launches in Thailand (are you the refreshed Civic for NA?) | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Hmmm, it's no secret that the 2013 Honda Civic will be getting a minor model refresh, I wonder if this is what it's going to look like....

We simply love the current Honda Civic even though it has been virtually unchanged for the last six years. As expected, there is a new model coming now and as we showed you last year, it is much similar to the Civic that is being sold in the US market – albeit with minor design changes for the ASEAN countries.

Earlier this week, the all-new Civic was launched in Thailand and provides an insight into the model that will be launched in India. For the Thailand market, the Civic gets two engine options – 1.8-litre and 2.0-litre i-VTEC petrol mills. There is still no word about the diesel powerplant though. Surprisingly, the paddle shifters that were so popular with the automatic variants of the Civic are now available only on the 2.0-litre version and not on the 1.8 automatic.

The interiors too have been updated and get new features like telephone connectivity, in-dash navigation system, push-button starter and reversing camera. The design of the interiors is an evolution of the two-tier design that you see in the current Civic. The steering wheel has a new design though and is a big departure from the current design which is now common to the Civic, City and Brio. The highlight of the interiors is the ECON switch and the Intelligent Multi-Information Display (i-MID). The new Civic also gets projector headlamps now with HID lamps and auto-leveling feature.

Honda has a total of five variants for the new Civic, out of which four are powered by the 1.8-litre mill. The pricing starts at THB 773,000 (Rs 13.4 lakh approx.) and goes all the way up to THB 1,124,000 (Rs 19.5 lakh approx) for the top of line 2.0EL variant. The top end version is also sportier of the lot with black leather interiors, paddle shifters and the more powerful engine.

Source;
http://www.oncars.in/Car-News-Detail/2013-Honda-Civic-launched-in-Thailand/2382

Honda Cars : Temple of Vtec Reader Chad Davis spies a 2013 Honda Civic? | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Hmmm, for those that don't know, Honda has accelerated their Mid-Model Life change on the redesigned Honda Civic due to panning of the car (Consumer Reports).....


Here is directly from www.vtec.net
"TOV reader Chad Davis sent this photo to us last night. The subject car was spotted in Ohio, and as you can see it's wearing one of Honda R&D's license plates, it's definitely a Civic, and it's taped up as if to hide something. This naturally leads one to conclude that we could be getting an early look at the hastily revised 9th generation Civic, which is due for the 2013 model year.

Hopefully we will get some more shots from different angles so we can see what's going on.

A big thanks to Chad Davis for sharing this photo with the TOV community." 

Source;
http://www.vtec.net/news/news-item?news_item_id=1064540

Honda Cars : Honda Commits to Finding it's Way Back to Roots | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

By Chang-ran Kim And Ben Klayman, Reuters

The future of Honda Motor Co. may rest with a pair of contrarian Japanese car engineers working from a drab Tokyo suburb with a hotline to the boardroom. Their mission: just say no.

Honda's creative directors, Toshinobu Minami and Yoshinori Asahi, are out to kill any mediocre car designs rumbling down the pipeline. In short, they have been told to stop anything like the 2012 Civic, a cheapened redesign that prompted critics, consumers and rivals to wonder how Honda had so badly lost its way.

Inside Honda, in both Japan and the United States, that same question has also been asked with urgency.

Honda, many say, slipped into designing cars by committee in recent years and drifted away from the iconoclastic ambitions of its founder.

Honda had become boring.

"Somewhere along the way, we lost the ability to express ourselves more freely," Asahi said. "We have a lot of designers here, and when we ask ourselves, 'Which Honda car would we want to buy?' sometimes some of us draw a blank."

That's a startling admission at a company long praised for the quality and durability of its vehicles - a company that caught U.S. automakers flat-footed in the 1970s with inexpensive, fuel-efficient cars like the original Civic.

Touted four decades ago for its CVCC engine that boasted cleaner tailpipe emissions - as well as inspiring the Civic name - Honda has trailed with advances such as six-speed transmissions and direct fuel-injection systems.

In recent years, Honda's "car guys," the engineers that built the automotive upstart into a powerhouse, were overshadowed by the "bean counters," financial executives more willing to cut corners on vehicle content to shore up margins, insiders say.

That approach looks good on a spreadsheet, but it also carries the risk of a backlash. Consumers can turn on a debased version of a popular car and the resulting publicity can burn a brand - a lesson GM, Ford and Chrysler all learned the hard way in the slide to crisis in 2008.

Ironically, Detroit's willingness to settle for also-ran status in small-car quality created the opening for Honda in the 1970s and 1980s. Now, analysts and industry executives wonder whether Honda can rekindle the underdog ambition of founder Soichiro Honda.

Changes at Honda can't come soon enough after a terrible year. Slow to recover from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan a year ago, Honda's U.S. sales tumbled seven per cent in 2011. By contrast, Nissan bounced back with a 14 per cent sales gain to almost match Honda's market share. Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. have overtaken Japanese automakers as the benchmark for value-for-money.

"Honda somehow managed to get very, very far away from their engineering discipline," AutoTrends Consulting president Joseph Phillippi said, adding it could take three years for Honda to show it has turned the corner in car development.

Honda's earnings remain supported by a strong finance arm and its leading motorcycle business. In addition, the automaker is taking steps to shift more production to North America to shore up profitability.

In another move that shows the importance Honda attaches to getting it right in the United States, the board last month promoted North America chief Tetsuo Iwamura to become the No. 2 global executive, the first time that job has been based outside Japan.

But behind the scenes, the battle for Honda's automotive soul is being played out in places like Asahi and Minami's sprawling third-floor studio in the Tokyo suburb of Wako. If the upscale Aoyama neighbourhood that houses Honda's headquarters can be likened to New York's Fifth Avenue, then Wako would be a dreary town in New Jersey.

Since September, when they were promoted to fix Honda's car designs, Asahi, 47, and Minami, 44, have been working from Wako with a mission to shake things up. Both worked in the early 1990s on the fourth-generation Accord, a bigger Honda that won praise for its simplicity and a near-indestructible fourcylinder engine.

Honda's creative duo now have a direct line to chief executive Takanobu Ito. Frustrated with the pace of decision-making at Honda, Ito has put himself in charge of Honda's car operations, splitting the core of the company into three units headed by engineers: the Acura brand, mid-sized vehicles and small cars.

Honda is rushing a redesigned Civic to market late this year, essentially a facelift to protect the image of a car that is key to both Honda's future and heritage.

Source;
http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Honda+will+revamp+after+dent+from+Civic/6245829/story.html