Civic X at Nashville Auto Show Test Drive Review

[TNMike]

Hi everyone,

Long time reader, first time poster.

I just got in from the Nashville International Auto Show and was able to "test drive" a 2016 Civic. They have 3 of the EX trim models at the show for test drive, but there is not one on the show floor. Wish they had two to test drive and one on the floor, as I didn't have to wait 30 seconds for my test drive. I would have waited awhile if it meant having one on the floor, but I guess smarter people than I had a different opinion.

I actually walked up and did the test drive before I went in to the show, so if you are in the Nashville area, you could go tomorrow and test drive the Civic and never pay admission to the show. (Which I would advise if you don't have an interest in any other cars, save the $10). They are giving out $10 Visa gift cards for test driving the Civic or Honda and completing a three question survey.

The test drive above is in quotes because I made the mistake of showing up right before the Predators game and the test drive consisted of driving around the block in bumper to bumper traffic.

Still, it was nice to get behind the wheel and feel this car out. I don't think I got it above 25 mph, so I can't speak to performance, but the driver seat was comfortable, the information system was well laid out, and everything I was looking at matched pretty well with what I have read on here.

I have not read every thread on these forums, so a few of these observations may already be known, but they were new to me....

Color changing LED on the dash tells you if you are driving Economically or not. There are two LED lights at the top of the information cluster that kept going from white to green. The Rep with me said that in Econo-mode the green means you are driving efficiently, white and blue are "bad".

The Internal cabin temperature is listed in the top left of the information panel. I assume in the higher trim with dual comfort controls you get each zone represented accordingly.

There is a lot of "stuff" on the steering wheel. I didn't get to play with much of it. I did find the scrolling volume control to work nicely.

The Active Lane Assist turned on with either the press of a button, or automatically when you turn on the turn signal.

The Brake Lock takes some getting used to. I've never had it, so it was weird to go straight to the gas pedal.

I'm 6'1" and there was plenty of room in the front seat. In the show I sat in a Mazda 3 that I felt like I had to fold myself into. This was definitely roomier.

The Rep doing the test drive said release would be November 18th, but one of the sales people inside said the 16th. Either way we are a couple of weeks out, basically.

I found it interesting to learn, the three Civics in Nashville will be going down to the Miami Auto Show from here. This was their first stop (the one I drove was sitting at 204 miles) and they will be driven down to Miami from here. So they will put a fair number of miles on these vehicles. Wish I could volunteer to take one of them down there.

Inside the show, they did not have any new information on the Civic, no brochures, no documentation, nothing. I did meet a nice Sales Rep from Clarksville who plans to buy one of the new Civics himself. He test drove it there as well, as they have not had a training on it yet.

I tried a couple of pictures, but it was already dark, so they are nothing compared to the images already posted here.

I'm not much of an investigative reporter, so I can't offer a whole lot of deep insight, but if you have questions about my limited experience with the Civic, let me know and I will answer if I can.

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[MMM]

Thanks for sharing and welcome to get site. Odd that they'd have cars to test drive but not on display. Was that test drive held independently by a local dealer at the show? Would be cool if it was run by Honda themselves at other auto shows too but nobody here who's seen the car at other shows have said there were test drives available.

How did the interior compare to the Mazda3 besides space? I consider it the new Civic's main rival.

 

[///Mookster]

G26okie posted feedback and pics from the Miami show which has Civics on display already. Maybe these cars are going down to the show for the same thing - a test drive experience.

Enough of a test drive to convince you to buy?

 

[TNMike]

Thanks for sharing and welcome to get site. Odd that they'd have cars to test drive but not on display. Was that test drive held independently by a local dealer at the show? Would be cool if it was run by Honda themselves at other auto shows too but nobody here who's seen the car at other shows have said there were test drives available.

How did the interior compare to the Mazda3 besides space? I consider it the new Civic's main rival.

Several of the companies represented had test drives outside of the show. Honda seemed to be the redheaded step child of the bunch here, as the chevy, ford, and toyota cars were all lined up together under a portico, and Honda was by themselves right on the curb of the street. It was really oddly set up. If they had been under the portico there was a lot of light and I could have gotten some better pictures.

The guy I did the drive along with was going from auto show to auto show. So I guess he works directly for Honda, he seemed well trained on the product, and the differences between the 2015 and 2016. He could have been an independent contractor hired just for these area test drives, or he could work directly for Honda. I don't know. He did not have an affiliation with a local dealer, that much I do know.

I didn't get to see the Mazda 3 started up. I thought the navigation system panel looked like a fold down, I don't know if that is automated, but I tried to fold it down and it did nothing, and it just seems awkward. Maybe with power it feels more natural, but I didn't like it. Kind of like someone just permanently attached a Garmin to the center console. The control knob is a lot like the one on the BMW a relative drives, and he likes it fairly well, but I don't know that it is any better than the Honda steering wheel control system.

It is hard to compare the interior quality, the Mazda was a tricked out leather, and the Honda was an EX with cloth. I did feel like the cloth interior was comfortable and seemed pretty high end given it's the lower end of the trims. But again, it was dark, so I didn't get to give the interior a real good examination.

I guess I just felt like the Civic fit me better than the Mazda. Too me there really was no comparison. I looked at the 2016 Sentra, as I currently drive a 2013 Sentra. There has been almost no change in the Sentra at all. I think the Civic wins hands down over all of these.

What surprised me most was how much better the Civic interior looks than the 2016 Accord. I haven't looked at the Accord, since I am not interested in a mid-size, but it just doesn't compare. The salesman I was talking to admitted that once 2016 Civics hit the lot they know they will have a hard time moving the 2015 Civics left on the lot. I think they may honestly have trouble moving the Accord too.

One thing I forgot to mention - the test drive rep suggested that his understanding was that the LX and EX trims would be the first to come out, with the EX-T and EX-L arriving later. Not sure if that holds up as true or not, but that was his impression.

 

[tnmz6i]

I was there today and by the time I realized they were doing test drives, it was dark and it appeared that they had stopped for the day. I plan to go back tomorrow and get behind the wheel. Really wish they had brought a Touring, but something is better than nothing. Also found it odd they did'n have any Civics on the show floor, just every other Hondapretty much.

 

[C Note]

What surprised me most was how much better the Civic interior looks than the 2016 Accord. I haven't looked at the Accord, since I am not interested in a mid-size, but it just doesn't compare. The salesman I was talking to admitted that once 2016 Civics hit the lot they know they will have a hard time moving the 2015 Civics left on the lot. I think they may honestly have trouble moving the Accord too.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm not going to complain but I think Honda will find that the new Civic sedan is going to eat into some Accord sales. I see very little reason anyone would buy an Accord other than they really really need the extra space.

I also think the staggered release / delay in the coupe is so dealers can continue to try to deplete their Gen 9 inventory. It's hard enough with one new body style fighting for sales.

 

[Georgew1965]

I was thinking the same thing. I'm not going to complain but I think Honda will find that the new Civic sedan is going to eat into some Accord sales. I see very little reason anyone would buy an Accord other than they really really need the extra space.

I also think the staggered release / delay in the coupe is so dealers can continue to try to deplete their Gen 9 inventory. It's hard enough with one new body style fighting for sales.

I have to agree with you about Accord sales possibly suffering. I have 325K miles on my current 2000 Accord and am shopping for a new one now. But this new civic has me thinking about downsizing. Now if I can only find a dealer that actually has one to look at and drive. The wait is a bit frustrating.

 

[G26okie]

Thanks for sharing and welcome to get site. Odd that they'd have cars to test drive but not on display. Was that test drive held independently by a local dealer at the show? Would be cool if it was run by Honda themselves at other auto shows too but nobody here who's seen the car at other shows have said there were test drives available.

How did the interior compare to the Mazda3 besides space? I consider it the new Civic's main rival.

Interior quality/design, while the Mazda 3 was definitely ahead of the other cars in the class that I sat in, the 16 civic wins for both imo.

Interior space in the Mazda 3, the front was not too much of a difference both about the same. The rear there was a noticeable difference, with the 16 civic feeling much less cramped.

Also as I thought, the Mazda 3 looks great in pics, but in person it looks...off. There is something wrong with the proportions. The 16 civic looks much more premium if we are comparing the civic touring vs s grand touring Mazda.


TNMike wasn't kidding when he said the civics interior is even nicer than the accord.

 

[Ten10]

I have to agree with you about Accord sales possibly suffering. I have 325K miles on my current 2000 Accord and am shopping for a new one now. But this new civic has me thinking about downsizing. Now if I can only find a dealer that actually has one to look at and drive. The wait is a bit frustrating.

They could have avoided some of that if they had just decreased the size (or at least not let it grow so much). Just sayin.

 

[Izze]

They could have avoided some of that if they had just decreased the size (or at least not let it grow so much). Just sayin.

Then the Accord and Civic would be even closer in size and completely overlap, even more than now. That would hurt Accord sales even more. Need more differentiation between the models to sell more of both cars overall.

 

[Kevin35623]

They really need to make the new accord head and heels above the civic for the next gen or sales will slack

 

[tnmz6i]

Just got back from the interesting, albeit very short, Civic X test drive at the Nashville Auto Show. I have to say, the car looks at least as good, or even better, in person than in all the pics. MSM is not my color of choice but it suits the new Civic very well. The Interior really is at least as nice as an Accord, and has a lot of the same features and even some that surpass the Accord like Brake Hold, electric parking break to name a few. As for interior comfort, I can't say that I really noticed anything to remark on. I guess that's a good thing. I simply adjusted my seat a few inches forward and felt right at home. The slightly lower seating position in relation to the steering wheel felt very natural. Visibility, especially forward visibility, is excellent. The cabin was very quiet, even with the sunroof open at 30 MPH. I plugged in my phone and tested out Apple Car Play. It works pretty much as described. a bit clunky is some functions, but very useful overall. The lack of the volume know would take some getting used to. More than once, I reached for the volume know that doesn't exist and instead found the climate control. After orienting myself to using the touch slider/rocker on the steering wheel, volume changes were much easier. A traditional knob would be far more functions, but I see why they ditched it as it would mess up the design of the center stack. Overall build quality looked excellent. I didn't notice any odd gaps or major panel mis-alignment. The doors close with a solid "thunk" and the materials all seem very high-quality overall. Trunk space looks to be at least as good as my Accord Coupe, and maybe even slightly more useable due to the more open passthrough. I can't say the I found much of anything to really dislike about the 10th Gen. Really anxious to get behind the wheel of the Touring model when they arrive.

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