Honda touches up its bestseller with revised styling and a couple of new trim levels.
BY STEVE SILER
August 2008
Honda knows how to time things. Just as fuel costs have prompted Americans to say “Whoa, Mamma Joe!” on their personal appetites for fuel (i.e. they are downsizing their rides), Honda is ready to receive them with its fuel-sipping Civic lineup, which conveniently enough has just been updated—albeit barely—for 2009, with a midcycle enhancement and the addition of two new sedan trim levels.
Two New Trim Levels
The Civic DX was always a stripper, but not the DX-VP (VP stands for “Value Package”) allows the most frugal Civic shopper to get a radio and air conditioning, which we admittedly thought every car came with these days. On the other end, the new Civic LX-S is basically a mid-grade LX with a sportier interior theme—black fabric with silver stitching, a leather-wrapped wheel, faux-suede bolsters—as well as a rear spoiler and alloy wheels.
Conservative Update, Inside and Out
Not surprisingly, the Civic redo is on the conservative side…there is no need to mess with a car that recently replaced the Accord as the bestselling car in Honda’s lineup. Thus, new bumpers, new chrome swaths between the lights, and a turn-signal color swap from chromatic to clear are the most evident styling changes, while a fresh set of wheels appears across the top end of the Civic range. The sporty Civic Si coupe and sedan get standard fog lamps.
Elsewhere within the Civic lineup, interior improvements come in the form of new fabrics and Bluetooth connectivity on Civics equipped with Honda’s excellent navigation system.
The hybrid model gets options that were previously denied to the greenies: leather upholstery (an option that ought to be popular among PETA members) and heated seats and mirrors.
Carryover Powertrains
As before, the Civic will be offered with a wide array of powertrains that carry over unchanged from ‘08, including a 140-hp, 1.8-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine, a natural-gas-powered version of same (Civic GX), the hybrid that combines battery power with a puny 1.3-liter engine, and a zesty, 197-hp Civic Si. Our favorite is the Civic Si, of course, but we recognize that hybrid and GX models will become increasingly popular if gas prices remain high.
The Civic is currently the third most popular car in the country behind the Toyota Camry and Toyota Corolla. And now, it’s the freshest of the lot.
BY STEVE SILER
August 2008
Honda knows how to time things. Just as fuel costs have prompted Americans to say “Whoa, Mamma Joe!” on their personal appetites for fuel (i.e. they are downsizing their rides), Honda is ready to receive them with its fuel-sipping Civic lineup, which conveniently enough has just been updated—albeit barely—for 2009, with a midcycle enhancement and the addition of two new sedan trim levels.
Two New Trim Levels
The Civic DX was always a stripper, but not the DX-VP (VP stands for “Value Package”) allows the most frugal Civic shopper to get a radio and air conditioning, which we admittedly thought every car came with these days. On the other end, the new Civic LX-S is basically a mid-grade LX with a sportier interior theme—black fabric with silver stitching, a leather-wrapped wheel, faux-suede bolsters—as well as a rear spoiler and alloy wheels.
Conservative Update, Inside and Out
Not surprisingly, the Civic redo is on the conservative side…there is no need to mess with a car that recently replaced the Accord as the bestselling car in Honda’s lineup. Thus, new bumpers, new chrome swaths between the lights, and a turn-signal color swap from chromatic to clear are the most evident styling changes, while a fresh set of wheels appears across the top end of the Civic range. The sporty Civic Si coupe and sedan get standard fog lamps.
Elsewhere within the Civic lineup, interior improvements come in the form of new fabrics and Bluetooth connectivity on Civics equipped with Honda’s excellent navigation system.
The hybrid model gets options that were previously denied to the greenies: leather upholstery (an option that ought to be popular among PETA members) and heated seats and mirrors.
Carryover Powertrains
As before, the Civic will be offered with a wide array of powertrains that carry over unchanged from ‘08, including a 140-hp, 1.8-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine, a natural-gas-powered version of same (Civic GX), the hybrid that combines battery power with a puny 1.3-liter engine, and a zesty, 197-hp Civic Si. Our favorite is the Civic Si, of course, but we recognize that hybrid and GX models will become increasingly popular if gas prices remain high.
The Civic is currently the third most popular car in the country behind the Toyota Camry and Toyota Corolla. And now, it’s the freshest of the lot.
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