Hatchback rear visibility

fluffyvader

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Coming from a 2005 celica, the rear view from the hatch looks amazing to me... especially with a backup camera :headbang:
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pie

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Ever driven an older TT? Or a mkiv supra? After owning both, I realize it comes down to what you're used to, and how much visibility you're willing to concede to drive the car.. I couldn't see shit out of either one, but being extra careful turns into a habit pretty quick if you love the car. Each person's standards are going to be different as to what's acceptable and what's not.

That said, visibility IS a safety issue, and for that reason alone any concern is a valid one for any prospective buyers. Remember guys, safety first.
 

xcivicx

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i found the visibility terrible at first on the test drive, coming from the sedan i can say it's all an illusion, actually same as the sedan sans the side window. the coupe must have a fantastic view out the back then, much like my wifees miata.
i have driven light trucks, campers and whatnot with no back view only mirrors, you get used to it, no prob.

the hatch has a different feel inside at first, untill you realize it all the same.

when i say same- i mean its so close it dont matta

douch bag comments maybe but call them out not us.
 
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maninder

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6'2 here and I'm the only one that partially agreed with OP. Perhaps it's a height thing like you suggested. I wonder how tall OP is.
I'm 6'2'' as well and don't have a problem with visibility. Of all the hatchbacks and coupes I've driven I haven't noticed a marked difference with the Civic HB. Probably a little less than the previous generation Toyota Prius. As others have said, it's dramatically more than the current generation Camaro.
 

EMPhoto

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I'm 6'2'' as well and don't have a problem with visibility. Of all the hatchbacks and coupes I've driven I haven't noticed a marked difference with the Civic HB. Probably a little less than the previous generation Toyota Prius. As others have said, it's dramatically more than the current generation Camaro.
I'm 6'3-6'4 depending on the day and who measures me but have zero problems with visibility out of the rear.
 


velocity

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I'm 5'8 and no visibility problems. Driven the car for 5 months now. I used to valet cars as a side job. Driven so many different kinds of cars so I can definitely say the hatchback has okay or good enough visibility. But hey, that's why the backup camera is standard now. With that, I don't really need "awesome" visibility.
 

MrX

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Out of curiosity today, I went and test drove a Hatchback. I was thinking about one for my wife, but after test driving it, I said no. I have never seen any car with worst rear window visibility. That spoiler and middle brake light and wiper thing is right in the way. That may not matter to some people, but I could see it being a safety issue for her, so no thanks. The room in the back was amazing, but oh well. Thoughts?
I had concerns when I first saw the very first photo of the back. What was Honda thinking by stacking the three elements together. Should of integrated the brake light into the spoiler profile or moved it to the top spoiler. Wiper also should have had a cutout in the spoiler to hide it. Just is poor design, looks like brake light and wiper were after thoughts..
 

NeedThatHatch

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I just got back from driving a Civic Hatch like 30 minutes ago. I've only ever driven like 2-3 cars in my life, and i'm relatively young at 22. I have no experience with new cars outside of a 2012 Altima and a bit on the Spark and maybe Sentra. Either way I just find it hard to enjoy what a car has to offer when a salesman is sitting right next to me. I checked off all the things I was interested in looking at though. The leather seat quality, cabin feel and quality, a bit of nooby driving that I definitely don't have the experience to rate or understand in comparison to other cars etc.

The rear view visibility isn't terrible for me. it bothers me that it's not as wide as older cars, but the lower spoiler and wiper have no negative for me. What I DID notice was the terrible blind spot visibility when you're checking your over-the-shoulder left. The spot I want to see the most is completely obstructed by a nice, wide corner of the car. The window itself isn't nearly enough for me to see around it either. Completely obstructed. I'll have to rely on the mirror 100% and it'll still scare me.

My other check up on this car was the head room for the passengers in the back. Both the Sedan and Hatchback have this hump right above the headrests that 8 out of 10 youtube reviewers never mention. They always say how there's amazing headroom and overall space for passengers over 6 feet, but if you actually decide to sit back and rest your body and head into the seats you'll find that this roof hump bumps the upper-rear of your skull. I'm 5'8" and it was actually perfect. The hump touched my head but didn't push against it at all, not to mention the hump is actually kind of a soft material with some squish to it. I fear that anyone above 5 foot 8 inches will feel clausterphobic AF in this car though....that really impacts the road trip value of this car for me (which was a major perk of the Hatchback over the Sedan for me).

There are other things I guess but not as big as those two things I suppose (for me).
 

chuck_d

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I first thought it lacked visibility, but I now believe it was because I was so used to the wide open space of the Golf. Now it feels quite normal. If anything I'm simply more cognizant of where cars are in proximity to me...
 

techbrute

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If you're looking at leather, then you have the side camera.

I'm going to say this as someone that is over twice your age, but I don't want it to come off as condescending in any way.

If you adjust your side mirrors properly, and very few people do, A) your car will not have a blind spot, and B) you only need to glance to the side, not see that far back.
 


NeedThatHatch

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If you're looking at leather, then you have the side camera.

I'm going to say this as someone that is over twice your age, but I don't want it to come off as condescending in any way.

If you adjust your side mirrors properly, and very few people do, A) your car will not have a blind spot, and B) you only need to glance to the side, not see that far back.
Yeah I fully understand and appreciate that! A few comments here, internet and now your comment have enlightened me that a crapload of people don't even use their mirrors right. Hell my current car has like half of the side view mirrors covered with the side of my car! I've definitely been doing it wrong all my life. It's great to know that now all I have to worry about before getting this Hatch in a year is about the rear-passenger headroom and also learning to rate this cars' handling with my very little experience. I'll be sure to test drive the hatch multiple times this year. Oh and also somehow glancing over my shoulder without turning it completely and hurting my neck all the time (probably just because I use my mirrors totally wrong in the first place).
 

veritas

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I'm 5'1" and I use the back up camera far less than I thought I would. My hatch is my daily driver and I have no issues whatsoever so I don't think it's a height issue. :dunno:
 

EMPhoto

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The window itself isn't nearly enough for me to see around it either. Completely obstructed. I'll have to rely on the mirror 100% and it'll still scare me.

My other check up on this car was the head room for the passengers in the back. Both the Sedan and Hatchback have this hump right above the headrests that 8 out of 10 youtube reviewers never mention. They always say how there's amazing headroom and overall space for passengers over 6 feet, but if you actually decide to sit back and rest your body and head into the seats you'll find that this roof hump bumps the upper-rear of your skull. I'm 5'8" and it was actually perfect. The hump touched my head but didn't push against it at all, not to mention the hump is actually kind of a soft material with some squish to it. I fear that anyone above 5 foot 8 inches will feel clausterphobic AF in this car though....that really impacts the road trip value of this car for me (which was a major perk of the Hatchback over the Sedan for me).

There are other things I guess but not as big as those two things I suppose (for me).
I'm 6'3 and roughly the size of a football lineman.. Not even close to feeling claustrophobic even on a 10hr road trip. However this is the non moon roof version of the car, I will agree that there is a pretty bad blind spot on the left side of the car which can be solved by a bubble mirror attached to the mirror itself.
 

NeedThatHatch

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I'm 6'3 and roughly the size of a football lineman.. Not even close to feeling claustrophobic even on a 10hr road trip. However this is the non moon roof version of the car, I will agree that there is a pretty bad blind spot on the left side of the car which can be solved by a bubble mirror attached to the mirror itself.

You're talking about the rear passenger seats right? The civic is marvelous with it's spacing in 99% of the cabin, i'm just talking about the roof-hump above the headrests of the rear seats. If you can rest your head comfortably and fully against the rear seat headrests without having to slouch, then that's some black magic right der. Thanks for the input of course though.
 

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After several weeks of ownership, no issues for me.
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