How turbo came early to the 2016 Civic

[G26okie]

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151011/OEM03/310129999/how-the-civic-got-its-turbo

We almost didn't get it.

Also, sounds like the next Accord redesign is getting a turbo as well.

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[NIN]

Good read! Shows Honda really went all-in on the 2016 model, from styling to performance. Good decision IMO to start off with turbo from the beginning rather than waiting until the refresh model. If they had come out with NA engines only to start with and it fell short of competitors, the 10th gen could suffer from a bad public perception from the beginning, which may not necessarily have been saved by the new turbo engines introduced with the refresh.

 

[G26okie]

Good read! Shows Honda really went all-in on the 2016 model, from styling to performance. Good decision IMO to start off with turbo from the beginning rather than waiting until the refresh model. If they had come out with NA engines only to start with and it fell short of competitors, the 10th gen could suffer from a bad public perception from the beginning, which may not necessarily have been saved by the new turbo engines introduced with the refresh.

It really shows that they took the bomb that was the 2012 seriously and have been planning for years to go all out. I am also glad they pushed the 1.5t into this as while I mainly interested in the Si, if it doesn't have an auto option I am most likely to go with the Touring. If the Civic just had the 150hp 2.0 n/a available, I would not even be considering it.

 

[s2ker]

I'm always surprised to hear how far out manufacturers have their products planned. Must be hard for them to sit on exciting future changes when the current car doesn't get much good press while competitors get it instead.

I think this new Civic is going to be competing at the top of the segment against the Mazda 3.

 

[G26okie]

I'm always surprised to hear how far out manufacturers have their products planned. Must be hard for them to sit on exciting future changes when the current car doesn't get much good press while competitors get it instead.

I think this new Civic is going to be competing at the top of the segment against the Mazda 3.

I know the mazda 3 gets quite a bit of praise for its design, I just don't see it. it looks great in some of the pics I've seen online, but in person it doesn't do anything for me.

 

[10thG]

I know the mazda 3 gets quite a bit of praise for its design, I just don't see it. it looks great in some of the pics I've seen online, but in person it doesn't do anything for me.

I think he's talking more about the performance of the Mazda 3 being segment topping.

 

[G26okie]

I think he's talking more about the performance of the Mazda 3 being segment topping.

Oh I agree, and while I like the idea of the 184hp 2.5L, I just don't like the design, so its off the table for me.

As far as performance, the current CRV with the cvt does 0-60 in 7.5 seconds according to C&D. The mazda 3 2.5L manual does it in 7.3 seconds. With the new civic weighing possibly 300-400lbs less than the crv, plus more low end torque and maybe slightly less hp, we might see it best the mazda 3 in acceleration.

 

[takemorepills]

What I got from the article is that the 1.5T hasn't received as much development as Honda would like. I trust Honda with their engines, but likely the CVT is premature also. Honda hasn't had much luck at all with CVT even though they have been making them since the late 90's

 

[C Note]

"The thinking was that the new Civic needs this engine to go where we want it to go, to make this model such a leapfrog event, such a strong competitor, not just in North America but around the world," Gary Evert, the Civic's chief engineer and North American development leader, said in an interview.

Strong words. Hope the upcoming reviews back up this model being a "leapfrog event."

 

[NIN]

What I got from the article is that the 1.5T hasn't received as much development as Honda would like. I trust Honda with their engines, but likely the CVT is premature also. Honda hasn't had much luck at all with CVT even though they have been making them since the late 90's

That might be assuming too much - that the 1.5T will likely have teething problems. Sure if it was put into the Accord first, by the time it got to the Civic any initial issues would have been hashed out but this kinda makes the 10th gen Civic launch more exciting since it's the first model to get Honda's first modern turbo engines.

Honda stakes its reputation on being an engine company so I give them the benefit of the doubt that they wouldn't launch a generation of turbo engines without being sure that they got it all buttoned up... because if they didn't, it could be a marketing (and sales) nightmare.

 

[takemorepills]

That might be assuming too much - that the 1.5T will likely have teething problems. Sure if it was put into the Accord first, by the time it got to the Civic any initial issues would have been hashed out but this kinda makes the 10th gen Civic launch more exciting since it's the first model to get Honda's first modern turbo engines.

Honda stakes its reputation on being an engine company so I give them the benefit of the doubt that they wouldn't launch a generation of turbo engines without being sure that they got it all buttoned up... because if they didn't, it could be a marketing (and sales) nightmare.

My money is on the CVT being defective. As I said, I trust Honda with their engines. Aside from some bunk Prelude engines, Honda makes a damn reliable engine. And they've been making turbo engines since the 80's.
The CVT's on the other hand have been more problematic, and this supposedly "new" CVT has just been pushed to market 2 years early.

 

[Tuttle]

Interesting article so we know no new powertrains are planned for a while, at least until the second refresh or maybe next generation. Sounds like they have the refresh planned for 2018. Now that they came out swinging with the new turbo, I wonder if the mid model refresh gets just a slight power bump and that's it. What else could they do?

 

[cae]

I know the mazda 3 gets quite a bit of praise for its design, I just don't see it. it looks great in some of the pics I've seen online, but in person it doesn't do anything for me.

I completely agree. I'm just hoping the Civic doesn't disappoint in the same fashion.

From a prospective consumer's perspective, I think it was the correct decision to completely revamp the powertrain selection for the 10th gen model. I definitely would have thought they were half-assing it with carryover powertrains. With Honda manuals being so good, I especially don't want a CVT, so I'll be waiting to see how they decide to power/spec the Si before zeroing in on a particular trim.

 

[G26okie]

My money is on the CVT being defective. As I said, I trust Honda with their engines. Aside from some bunk Prelude engines, Honda makes a damn reliable engine. And they've been making turbo engines since the 80's.
The CVT's on the other hand have been more problematic, and this supposedly "new" CVT has just been pushed to market 2 years early.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about a completely new drive train, hopefully they learned something from the previous civic cvt, accord cvt and crv cvt when making this one.

 

[PirelliPZero]

Interesting article so we know no new powertrains are planned for a while, at least until the second refresh or maybe next generation. Sounds like they have the refresh planned for 2018. Now that they came out swinging with the new turbo, I wonder if the mid model refresh gets just a slight power bump and that's it. What else could they do?

I don't foresee them bumping power for quite some time, certainly not at the MMC. The 8th gen ran 6 years at 140hp, the 9th gen ran 4 years to 143hp. That's 3hp over 10 years.

Now they'll have a 158hp version, 174hp version, 200hp+ version... they won't be touching that dial for a long while. Particularly while the Accord is making do with 185hp.

In fact, something considered even more than horsepower is torque. The Accord actually dropped horsepower from the prior generation because with the addition of direct injection (and with help from the CVT), the powertrain is more potent overall. Consider that all 2016 Civic engines will have significantly greater torque as well.

The MMC will likely consist of minimal style changes and little else. This is a serious enough offering to carry the generation essentially untouched, like the 8th gen.

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