Edmunds First Drive: 2006 Honda Civic

[Zim Hosein]

More Style, Less Room
Available in two body styles ? coupe and sedan ? the new 2006 Civic is offered as four distinct models: the Civic Coupe, Civic Sedan, Civic Hybrid (sedan only), and the racy Si (coupe only). The hatchback body style, which was exclusive to the previous Si, is a goner.

For the first time, the coupe and sedan don't share a wheelbase. Honda's engineers felt the sedan's new 106.3-inch wheelbase was just too long for the coupe to feel as sporty and responsive as they desired. So while the new sedan's wheelbase has grown 3.2 inches over last year's, the coupe's is only 1.2 inches longer.

Even with the longer wheelbase, somehow the coupe has lost 2.5 inches of rear-seat legroom. Meanwhile, in the name of styling, Honda's designers sacrificed some rear headroom. The new coupe's roofline is several inches lower than its predecessor's. Combine that with the car's radically fast backlight, and those with large craniums should ride in the front.

"True coupe buyers will sacrifice a little rear-seat room for better performance and sexier styling," says Greg Thomas from Honda's product planning division. "But you can still sit full-size adults back there very comfortably."

He's right, you can.

The sedan's rear-seat room is about the same as before, and both body styles gained 1.4 inches of additional width, so sticking a third in the backseat of either no longer qualifies as bad karma.

Due to the shorter rear overhang, trunk space also took a hit. It's now 12 cubic feet in the sedan and 11.5 in the coupe (both used to be 12.9). But Honda points out that the trunk sides are now flatter so the space is more useful. And the rear seat in every model but the hybrid folds flat to increase cargo space.

Edmunds First Drive: 2006 Honda Civic

 

[veloc1ty]

zim you lose at life!

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: veloc1ty
zim you lose at life!

Why?

 

[Nitemare]

NFS4 is going to be sad....

*might be getting one, since a cabbie wrecked my Accord

 

[Zenmervolt]

I love the look of the coupe...

Enough that one may repalce the Lincoln as a daily in a couple years when they're coming off of leases... *ponders*

ZV

 

[RagingBITCH]

Ouch. The rear headroom of the Civic has ALWAYS sucked. Unless you're a 5'2" girl, it's gonna be tight for anyone.

 

[sniperruff]

style > practicality :thumbsup:

and without looking at who posted it... i thought it was NFS4!

 

[tennisflip]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
I love the look of the coupe...

Enough that one may repalce the Lincoln as a daily in a couple years when they're coming off of leases... *ponders*

ZV

Agreed. I wish the sedan had the same tail as the coupe.

 

[SSP]

Edmunds made a typo.

Although it makes 23-percent more combined power than the 2005 Civic Hybrid it gets better mileage. Honda says it gets 50 mph in the city or on the highway. (Photo courtesy of Honda)

 

[klah]

With the optional five-speed automatic, the Civic is EPA rated at 30 mpg city and 40 mpg highway.

:thumbsup:

Are Ford or GM even going to attempt to compete with that? I guess they are content with barely breaking 30mpg hwy with their compact cars?

 

[blakeatwork]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Ouch. The rear headroom of the Civic has ALWAYS sucked. Unless you're a 5'2" girl, it's gonna be tight for anyone.

I'd be going from a 4-door Firefly "sedan" to a Civic... it should feel like the bloody grand Canyon...

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: Zim Hosein

Originally posted by: veloc1ty
zim you lose at life!

Why?

 

[Wag]

I'll take 2!

No, seriously. I am so jazzed about the '06 Civic I don't even think I can wait to test drive the Coupe, and might end up with the Sedan. I'm over 35 so I might just have to.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Ouch. The rear headroom of the Civic has ALWAYS sucked. Unless you're a 5'2" girl, it's gonna be tight for anyone.

i'm 5'10" and have fit just fine in the back seat of any civic i've ever been in. can't say the same for some "full size" american sedans.

 

[Nitemare]

Anyone know when the dealerships will be getting them in?

 

[tennisflip]

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Anyone know when the dealerships will be getting them in?

Sedans are already available.

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: Zim Hosein

Originally posted by: veloc1ty
zim you lose at life!

Why?

I'm still waiting for an answer as well Shawn.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: klah

With the optional five-speed automatic, the Civic is EPA rated at 30 mpg city and 40 mpg highway.

:thumbsup:

Are Ford or GM even going to attempt to compete with that? I guess they are content with barely breaking 30mpg hwy with their compact cars?

ford has cars that break 30 on highway mileage. they just don't sell them here.


i wonder how hard it would be to start selling fiesta here? the diesels get 52 miles per gallon of diesel in the city.

 

[Aftermath]

ford has cars that break 30 on highway mileage. they just don't sell them here.


i wonder how hard it would be to start selling fiesta here? the diesels get 52 miles per gallon of diesel in the city.

The Ford Focus auto with the 2L I4 gets 26/32. If you go with a manual it goes up (slightly) to 26/35.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Ouch. The rear headroom of the Civic has ALWAYS sucked. Unless you're a 5'2" girl, it's gonna be tight for anyone.

i'm 5'10" and have fit just fine in the back seat of any civic i've ever been in. can't say the same for some "full size" american sedans.

Then you're really a midget measuring 4'6".

 

[Rogue]

This pic doesn't look half bad actually:

http://automobiles.honda.com/images/civics/wallpaper/1024x768/gallery16.jpg

 

[DragonMasterAlex]

Originally posted by: klah

With the optional five-speed automatic, the Civic is EPA rated at 30 mpg city and 40 mpg highway.

:thumbsup:

Are Ford or GM even going to attempt to compete with that? I guess they are content with barely breaking 30mpg hwy with their compact cars?

Nah, they're too busy promoting their "Biggest SUV EVAH!!" while the rest of us go broke on $3+ per gallon gas

Jason

 

[MazerRackham]

Man, I wish my 05 RSX-S had a LSD!!! Oh well. Hindsight is 20/20 eh?

I don't know why ANYONE would buy a 06 RSX-S over the 06 Si at this point.

 

[PingSpike]

Hmmm...that 5 speed auto sounds pretty nice with the MPG is getting.

 

[JDub02]

The SI looks awesome. I don't think I could give up 10 mpg over the regular civic and be required to run premium.

I have a 60 mile/day round trip commute to work. These new civics are looking awfully tempting. I was considering a scion tc, but the civics get another 10 mpg on top of the scion.