2017 Civic Hatchback Priced From $19700 (US). Arrives Next Week

[inv4zn]

there is a coupe available on the hatch?

.....? What.

It's sedan or coupe or hatch.

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[Pur3MotioN770]

A couple things I noticed looking at the specs. Those 18" wheels on the Sport and Sport Touring add 2 feet to the turning radius... that's a lot. Plus anybody driving on bad roads needs to think twice about those 40 series tires. Not much rubber between your rim and the road.

Has anyone verified the earlier report that the Sport needs premium gas?

Seems to me the best overall deals are the basic LX manual and the EX.

The specs say 87 is the required fuel, but Premium is recommended.

 

[Design]

A couple things I noticed looking at the specs. Those 18" wheels on the Sport and Sport Touring add 2 feet to the turning radius... that's a lot. Plus anybody driving on bad roads needs to think twice about those 40 series tires. Not much rubber between your rim and the road.

The Accord Sport has a similar relationship with 40 series tires on 19s. Slightly more rubber but a VERY heavy wheel. And Honda was able to tune the dampers/bushings to minimize NVH on all but the very worst of surfaces. I imagine they've taken what they've learned and applied (within reason) to the Civic Hatch Sport. But will definitely need a test drive to confirm.

 

[Design]

there is a coupe available on the hatch?

4 door only. Even VW is dropping the 2 door hatch.

 

[VarmintCong]

I really really like the hatch but I would need the Touring Sport to satisfy my needs and If Im going to pay that much? I will just wait for the Si. Just saying Honda is releasing these cars in strategic order to maximize sales.Like think if your paying 26-27k you are only 6k away from the Worshipped, Iconic, Amazing Type-R.

I'd wait for Si if it comes in a 5 door. But probably moonroof is standard on the Si so I might not fit. Have to go sit in one again.

 

[gtman]

Another confusing thing about the spec sheet. Its says the LX, EX, EX-L have a single outlet exhaust. That can't be right. It has to have the same dual muffler/hidden tips exhaust setup right?

 

[corbygray528]

Another confusing thing about the spec sheet. Its says the LX, EX, EX-L have a single outlet exhaust. That can't be right. It has to have the same dual muffler/hidden tips exhaust setup right?

I don't see any real reason it has to be the same. The sport has an upgraded exhaust, so it would make sense that the other trims have a different setup. They are obviously engineered and tuned independently of each other. The EX-T in the sedan and coupe are single exhaust aren't they?

 

[gtman]

The sedan and coupe have a hidden dual muffler exhaust with the turbo that's what I'm saying.​

 

[corbygray528]

The sedan and coupe have a hidden dual muffler exhaust with the turbo that's what I'm saying.​

Ahhhhh my mistake, I thought they only had one.

 

[syncro87]

A couple things I noticed looking at the specs. Those 18" wheels on the Sport and Sport Touring add 2 feet to the turning radius... that's a lot. Plus anybody driving on bad roads needs to think twice about those 40 series tires. Not much rubber between your rim and the road.

Has anyone verified the earlier report that the Sport needs premium gas?

Seems to me the best overall deals are the basic LX manual and the EX.

Your post reminded me of an old article I read.


Grassroots Motorsports did a test years ago where they took the same car and put a variety of wheels on it. For example, 15, 16, 17, and 18 inch. The tires were such that the overall diameter was maintained, but the wheels changed.

If I recall, the car with the plus one size (16" for the sake of discussion) was the quickest car. It had better traction than the 15 base car, and hence had a faster 0-60 time, and the rotational mass had not increased yet at that small size increase to outweigh the traction gains.

What people at the time didn't expect, though, was that after that, the cars got slower and slower. The 17" wheel car was slower than 16, and the 18 car slower than 17 from 0-60 and in the quarter mile.

The larger wheels and tires, after a certain sweet spot (16 in this case), had greater weight/rotational mass which hindered acceleration. Significantly so.

The lesson from the test was that oftentimes a car with larger wheels and tires may handle better, but would feel more sluggish to the driver, and would indeed be slower in the real world.

It makes sense. Once you cross a certain threshold, larger wheels and tires may look cool but actually hurt performance. At least acceleration.

 

[TypeR]

A couple things I noticed looking at the specs. Those 18" wheels on the Sport and Sport Touring add 2 feet to the turning radius... that's a lot.

Might also have something to do with the Sport having a different steering rack? Well at least the lock-to-lock and steering ratio are different from the other trims

 

[VarmintCong]

Your post reminded me of an old article I read.


Grassroots Motorsports did a test years ago where they took the same car and put a variety of wheels on it. For example, 15, 16, 17, and 18 inch. The tires were such that the overall diameter was maintained, but the wheels changed.

If I recall, the car with the plus one size (16" for the sake of discussion) was the quickest car. It had better traction than the 15 base car, and hence had a faster 0-60 time, and the rotational mass had not increased yet at that small size increase to outweigh the traction gains.

What people at the time didn't expect, though, was that after that, the cars got slower and slower. The 17" wheel car was slower than 16, and the 18 car slower than 17 from 0-60 and in the quarter mile.

The larger wheels and tires, after a certain sweet spot (16 in this case), had greater weight/rotational mass which hindered acceleration. Significantly so.

The lesson from the test was that oftentimes a car with larger wheels and tires may handle better, but would feel more sluggish to the driver, and would indeed be slower in the real world.

It makes sense. Once you cross a certain threshold, larger wheels and tires may look cool but actually hurt performance. At least acceleration.

Rotational inertia is a small component compared to weight, if you calculate it, something like 40% of the effect of weight. Do dropping 10 lbs on a wheel is like dropping 14 lbs on the car.

I dropped 11 lbs per wheel on my 330i, and noticed no change in acceleration, but an improvement in steering feel and some in handling. It's all subtle but would be moreso in a lighter car with less power.

I think wheel weight only affects acceleration for 0-60 runs where the launch is so important - with low torque and heavy wheels, you won't be able to spin the tires as easily and will bog down. That could be what they observed.

 

[PirelliPZero]

Im not to familiar with CVTs but the hatch and sedans still have the same ratios of
Forward 2.645 ~ 0.405 Reverse 1.859 ~ 1.265 Final Drive 4.811

Yeah it's not a mechanical change but a difference in electronic programming. This is mostly for feel and to make the gear paddles useful. Keep in mind both the models with the big mileage drops are the models with paddle shifters.

This has been true for the Fit all along as well. The LX and EX MPG ratings are the same for the Fits with 6MT. But the EX CVT rating is lowered 3mpg highway over the LX CVT. This is because the EX gets paddle shifters and accompanying changes in CVT programming. Same thing for the Accord line. The Accord Sports, with paddle shifters, are rated 2mpg lower. And the Accord coupes are all rated at the lower MPG - despite not having the Sport's exhaust and large wheels - because they all come with the paddle shift CVT.

Even though we're discussing the effect the Civic Sport's large wheels will have on feel and possibly real-world MPG, it actually does not factor into the EPA ratings. Hence why the 6MT models are rated the same whether they're equipped with 205/65R16 or 235/40R19 (Accord LX and Accord Sport), for example.

 

[a86917864]

When will it be on the market?

 

[MikeWCivicLX]

It's the 2017 EPA testing changes.

Actually no, the sticker on my 2016 Sedan says they were already using the 2017 EPA standards. The LX hatchback is only 1 mpg lower than my '16 sedan so I think the engine difference explains it.

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