07Civic200K
New Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Ok, so I finally got around to taking a test drive last Saturday, and I wanted to share some of my impressions. Maybe someone out there will find some of my observations helpful, or maybe it will start a discussion.
First, I have a couple minor complaints. Believe it or not, the interior is one of my biggest hang-ups. There's nothing wrong with the quality, per se, but lets just say Honda made some confusing choices in the interior design. The touring coupe gets a two tone leather interior (or rather, 3 tone), similar to the Mazda 3. The reason I said "3-tone" is the vinyl "carbon fiber" looking strip they put down the middle of the seats. What's the point of this? When I mentioned it, everyone at the dealership just repeated the same phrase. "It makes it look sporty." I pointed out that there is no carbon fiber anywhere else in the interior, or on the entire car for that matter, so this smattering of faux carbon vinyl really doesn't make any sense with the rest of the design. I was met with a deer in the headlights look and the same repeated mantra of "sportiness". I could understand if this was the Type R, but it's an econo-sedan with dark faux wood trim on the dash (or metallic trim in the coupe).
On my way home, I was still trying to figure out why they would break up the neat look of otherwise nicely trimmed perforated leather seats with a strip of tacky carbon fiber vinyl. And then it hit me. I figured Honda had to cut costs in a few places so they could offer so much value in the new, larger, more gadget loaded Civic. Even the cloth on the lower trims is rough and feels cheaper compared to past models. So I think it was done for cost savings. Why? Because for one, a 2 inch strip of vinyl means less leather in every seat. That adds up over hundreds of thousands of vehicles. And for two, it means smaller pieces of leather that are cut and sewn together to make the seat. Why is that important? Because larger pieces of whole leather are more expensive, and because it means less waste. This is my hypothesis for now. But it really has me leaning towards the sedan with a black interior. At least then I won't notice the vinyl strip as much.
And did I mention the cup holders are total weaksauce?! I know it's a tiny detail in a car that delivers great value in other areas, but it's a downright chintzy piece of plastic that slides around inside the arm rest like an after thought. Yeah, it's just a hole to sit your cup in, but the older models had little spring loaded grips that securely hold your cup in place. Why should a 2016 car have less functional cup holders than a 2007?
Other things that I noticed about the drive is that it does not feel like a turbo car at all. There's no surge at a certain RPM like you'd get with the 1.6 liter turbo in the Fiesta ST. Acceleration is smooth and uneventful. Maybe that's because of the CVT, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's almost deceptive, because although it lacks the punch of a traditional automatic when it downshifts to pass at highway speeds, it actually accelerates pretty quickly. I still want to test drive a couple other models, but I could live with the new Civic, especially in Aegean blue or Lunar Silver.
First, I have a couple minor complaints. Believe it or not, the interior is one of my biggest hang-ups. There's nothing wrong with the quality, per se, but lets just say Honda made some confusing choices in the interior design. The touring coupe gets a two tone leather interior (or rather, 3 tone), similar to the Mazda 3. The reason I said "3-tone" is the vinyl "carbon fiber" looking strip they put down the middle of the seats. What's the point of this? When I mentioned it, everyone at the dealership just repeated the same phrase. "It makes it look sporty." I pointed out that there is no carbon fiber anywhere else in the interior, or on the entire car for that matter, so this smattering of faux carbon vinyl really doesn't make any sense with the rest of the design. I was met with a deer in the headlights look and the same repeated mantra of "sportiness". I could understand if this was the Type R, but it's an econo-sedan with dark faux wood trim on the dash (or metallic trim in the coupe).
On my way home, I was still trying to figure out why they would break up the neat look of otherwise nicely trimmed perforated leather seats with a strip of tacky carbon fiber vinyl. And then it hit me. I figured Honda had to cut costs in a few places so they could offer so much value in the new, larger, more gadget loaded Civic. Even the cloth on the lower trims is rough and feels cheaper compared to past models. So I think it was done for cost savings. Why? Because for one, a 2 inch strip of vinyl means less leather in every seat. That adds up over hundreds of thousands of vehicles. And for two, it means smaller pieces of leather that are cut and sewn together to make the seat. Why is that important? Because larger pieces of whole leather are more expensive, and because it means less waste. This is my hypothesis for now. But it really has me leaning towards the sedan with a black interior. At least then I won't notice the vinyl strip as much.
And did I mention the cup holders are total weaksauce?! I know it's a tiny detail in a car that delivers great value in other areas, but it's a downright chintzy piece of plastic that slides around inside the arm rest like an after thought. Yeah, it's just a hole to sit your cup in, but the older models had little spring loaded grips that securely hold your cup in place. Why should a 2016 car have less functional cup holders than a 2007?
Other things that I noticed about the drive is that it does not feel like a turbo car at all. There's no surge at a certain RPM like you'd get with the 1.6 liter turbo in the Fiesta ST. Acceleration is smooth and uneventful. Maybe that's because of the CVT, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's almost deceptive, because although it lacks the punch of a traditional automatic when it downshifts to pass at highway speeds, it actually accelerates pretty quickly. I still want to test drive a couple other models, but I could live with the new Civic, especially in Aegean blue or Lunar Silver.
Sponsored
