This preview of the 9th Generation Honda Civic very nearly did not happen. There were two possible endings – the car ending up in the river with its wheels rolling in the air, or the car ending inside the other FB Civic in front. Both of which would have had me flown home in a box or a very black bag. The Civic opened up a third possibility.
Let me set the scene. It was a long and straight road in Thailand that blurred into the horizon. The river, equally straight and long, was on the left of the two-lane, well-paved road. “You can go faster now,” said my Thai guide. I needed no encouragement.
I pushed the accelerator closer to the floor. The five-speed automatic kicked down a gear, smoothly I might add, and the 2.0 litre engine roared and picked up speed. At this point, I would have summoned all of the 153 hp and 190 Nm of torque available, and would have been well deep into the VTEC’s second stage. Speed was building up all too easy.
This engine has one cam less, making it an SOHC, to cut emissions and improve economy. In spite of this ‘handicap’, the new engine is still able to generate an equal amount of horses and torque – 160 km/h melted into 170 km/h and seconds later, I had reached the second century. The road continued to blur into the horizon.
Feedback from the steering told me the car was even footed and stable, as if it was a speed skater locked in her rhythm. Then, a bend in the road, a right-hander. Not a sharp one and it was a not long one either. I lifted my foot off the floor, slowly settling the car into a gentler speed. In retrospect, there was nothing gentle about going into a corner at 150 km/h.
Yet, I grabbed the corner by the collar. I had done the same with the corners that I had passed. Through it all, the Civic remained anchored to the tarmac, the car obediently pointing and going to where I wanted it to go. There were hints of understeer, but it quickly diminished. There were, too, telltale signs of yaw but even those were quickly brought under control. This car was surprisingly accomplished.
The Civic has Motion Adaptive EPS, which combines VSA with the electronic power steering. Essentially, the car will automatically apply brakes on the appropriate side and make the necessary adjustments to the steering wheel to keep its nose out of trouble. For example, in an oversteer, the car will brake on the outer wheels to point the nose into the corner; understeer and the car will brake on the inner wheels while suppressing torque.
In both cases, the steering will gently apply the appropriate counter-steer; you won’t notice it happening. It also works to help correct the car’s steering when the wheels on one side lose traction because the road is slippery on the other side. In a nutshell, the Motion Adaptive EPS will help keep the car honest.
It’s not just that; the chassis had plenty of involvement. First off, the car uses more high-tensile steel to keep the weight down. The beneficial side-effect increases the body’s static and dynamic rigidity by 10%.
Honda has also increased the suspension stroke and compliance bush capacity, and reduced damper sliding friction on the front MacPherson struts. In a time where torsion beam dominates the back, the Civic slips on multi-link rears. Honda has also meddled with the rear suspension to increase suspension stroke and rear bump rubber capacity, and reduced damper sliding friction.
SNAFU. I was halfway around the corner, foot already on the power when I saw a set of traffic lights, all coloured red. A line of cars was already forming up front.
Feet off the accelerator and on the middle pedal. Not hard, because that would have thrown the car off balance, but nevertheless urgent. The Civic slowed urgently, the wheels never locking up. The nose dipped, signifying that the weight balanced had transferred up front. In this particular right-hander, any car would have looked the other way and headed straight into the river.
The Civic, however, kept itself honest and obedient. No doubt there were billions of numbers being crunched to move into the direction I wanted it to at speeds that were quickly diminishing, but I stopped without drama.
Without a doubt, this Civic’s handling is leaps and bounds better than the Civics that had gone before; not counting the Type-R of course. So why does the Civic not look the part?
Honda has found itself in a peculiar position; it is of its own doing. You see, when it launched the 8th Generation Civic, its body shape was a galaxy away than the 7th Generation. It looked sportier, had a dashboard that was borrowed from science fiction and the interior oozed with quality. Even today, the 8th Generation is still considered to be one of the best-looking Civics.
Which leaves the 9th Generation Civic in a rut. To be completely honest, the new one is not photogenic. It does not invoke a desirable emotion, even when it wears the Modulo kit.
But it looks better in the metal; only just. I can see why – everything has been squared and angled off. Accidental? Honda wanted something more futuristic in style. It seems to be looking to embody the Civic’s unique mono-form framework with grace and style, and evoke energy in its streamlined silhouette. Improved aerodynamics is the goal. The front bumper, especially, is designed to guide air into the engine to increase the cooling effect. I am yet to warm up to the design though.
Impressions are better on the inside. The new Civic retains the two-tier dashboard that wraps around the driver, clearly delineating you from the passenger. I’m not too fond of the dark grey on beige colour scheme; should’ve stayed with FD’s colour palette.
In any case, you’ll have an RPM meter dominating the monocle and above it is a digital speedometer. The speedo has been slightly reworked to include the change of colour from green to blue. Yes, the new Civic gets an ECO button, which when pressed, will let you know how well you’re treating Mother Nature.
The speedo gets a new neighbor. At the centre of the dashboard now lives the i-MID, or intelligent Multi Information Display. The display is a five-inch colour LCD and it remains legible under the sun. It tells the fuel consumption, audio details and system menu that you can fiddle with via the buttons on the steering.
There will be three variants when the Civic arrives on our side of the fence – the 1.8L, 2.0L and the 2.0L Navi. The midrange 2.0L will get powered-seats for the driver, headlamp auto-off timer, smart entry, push-start button, cruise control and side SRS airbags. The top-of-the-range 2.0L Navi will get an extra touchscreen LCD, satellite navigation, reverse camera and the ability to pair with your phone. But since the car isn’t here yet, Honda is playing the specification cards close to its chest.
As for its total weight, Honda said that it has cut the fat off some parts. The EPS weighs 1.3 kg less, the thin-walled fuel tank is 0.7 kg lighter, the front sub-weight subtracts 1.7 kg and the silencer is reduced by 0.5 kg. Add that to the lightness of the high-tensile steel frame and you’ll have a vehicle that is 7% lighter than the one it replaces.
I ended my drive with the 1.8L. No two ways about it, this car was slower than the 2.0 litre variant. Don’t get me wrong; its power delivery was respectable. The 1.8 mill produces 130 hp at 6,500 rpm and 174 Nm at 4,300 rpm. And the engine is mated to the same five-speed automatic found in the other variants. Not that it mattered, because I found myself smacked dead centre in traffic.
When the road finally opened, the 1.8 litre Civic moved along nice and smooth. It retained all the handling characteristics of its older sibling, the exterior noises muted by sound absorption materials, and the seats had enough padding to be comfortable. It is clear that the 1.8 litre Honda Civic is good enough for everyday situations. If you can allow its shape to grow on you, this is a car that would be easy to live with. As for me, I’d go for the 2.0.
The Civic will be launched soon. Final details on the power and specifications will be made known then. I look forward to how Honda has packaged the Civic for Malaysia.
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Elantra is better maaaaa.
For some weird reason, I think this new Civic is a perfect match for makcik-makcik bertudung.
and..why must ‘bertudung’ being use in the statement?
WTF… wht has bertudung got to do wif this? And like bro ONESiX puts it…why need the “bertudung” word used here?
How about auntie china curly hair and apek seluar pendek? Not ugly enough for them ah this bloody car?
to Yellow Man: Brainless comment….
u may not realise it but tht came out racist.
care full of your statement. If someone from here report to POLICE they can trace where you live a**ho**… =D
don’t try to be funny abusing other race… this car nothing to do with “bertudung”…
Lets check the boot size (liter):
Honda City: 506
Kia Forte: 495
Ford Fiesta Sedan: 470
Peugeot 308: 430
Hyundai Elantra: 420
Is that how you judge a car by? Its boot size ??
Amazing! :)
You must be obsessed with the boot size.
u use wat car?? proton?? or motorbike? hahaha
You must be a hitman or something … Boot size is really important when you need to bag your body .. The more the better…
It matters when u have a baby stroller and a month’s worth of groceries for your family and you don’t want to drive a suv.
proton preve: 508
Hey dumbasses, just helping us state some facts. We should thank him that he has taken the effort to compare the trunk size.
Yes, some people do need the extra trunk size. What they do with it is none of your business!
Check out US news ranking based on lots of reviews. Elantra is joint 2nd and Civic is lowly 27th. Open you eyes people.
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/Affordable-Small-Cars/
That’s because in the USA, the Civic is very expensive. The base Civic doesnt even include Air Conditioning. So if you’re looking at rankings for Affordable Small Cars in the USA, the 2012 Honda Civic will rank very low because by the time you put all the options in there you can get a Mid Size car.
My recommendation is if you’re looking to buy a 2012 Civic is to stop looking around at rankings on the Internet and go TEST DRIVE ONE for yourself.
Oh and BTW, your post is misleading.
The Elantra is ranked #4 and the Civic is ranked #15.
Elantra Score = 8.4
Civic Score = 8.1
And if you look at the scores the major reason was the reason stated in this very article by the writer. That the Civic doesn’t look attractive so the exterior score was a bit low.
If you dig deeper at the scores the only negatives for the Civic was the “lackluster exterior and interior”, as was said in this article. Also as I mentioned, the high price.
But the Elantra’s negatives were the lack of power and that it had no guts going uphill.
That’s the 0.3 difference in score.
Add Ajinamoto he he he Peugeot 408: 562 liters
some dont ve money to buy,,,just shup up..hahaha
try compare with 408
Please la..what do the Korean know about handling, ride quality and overall driving experience? Will say it again, Korean cars are only look nice but with no substance. Its for ladies who only want the car to look nice but doesn’t care about how the car drives. Think I m wrong? Test the car yourself and tell us how far the Koreans are lack behind in term of overall driving experience. Having said that, I still think Mazda 3 has the best handling in its class. Looking forward to see how well this Civic come up against Mazda 3.
wei. have you driven elantra.come on la don’t stuck with past 10 years mind set, korean know nuts about hanling and driving experience?? how come elantra be among the best car in US??tell me mangkuk!
that is ’cause the 3 shares the same underpinnings as the Ford Focus. The best handling FF car bar none!
That’s the problem with some Malaysians here. Just because the American guai low like to buy the car means its very good. And did you know why Korean cars are sale-able now in the US? Same like in Malaysia, C-H-E-A-P plus every damn things are thrown in plus 10 years warranty. And did you know that the whole Korean industries are doing this just because they want to capture some market shares? Stuck to past 10 years mindset? Did you even read other news beside Paultan?
THEY R THROWING IN A 10 YEAR WARRANTY COZ THE CONFIDENCE AND QUALITY,THE BIGGEST MARKET EUROPE AND ASIA EMBRACES THE FACT,Y DO U LIVE IN A DENIAL,RANKED 25 PLACE AHEAD OF CIVIC AND U COMPLAINING ABT HANDLING,I OWN BOTH A CIVIC AND A HYUNDAI,CIVIC IS GOOD BUT HYUNDAI IS BETTER,GET A LIFE PAL….
Mazda 3, Ford Focus and Volvo S40 shared the same platform. Actually all 3 companies came together and developed this platform.
Seat, it’s a fact now that Japanese car maker starts to take Korean seriously. I know you are a Jap car lover. But why Honda start giving 5 years unlimited milleage warranty on their FL City? Look at the sales of Forte now. You are saying those Forte owners are plain stupid for buying a much inferior product? Maybe a portion of people buy a car due to price/ features, but I think at least majority of the guys will still go and test drive.
Japs car performance is good. (Cant denied)
Korean improving…. (Cant denied)
Korean car cheap in price with better spec (cant denied)
Japs car with good engine but less features (Cant denied)
When buying Japs car, love the brand, love the engine performance (Cant denied)
When buying Korean car, good look, good features, performance good (Self shock only) (Cant denied)
My view, hope Korean car getting stronger and stronger. Then threat Japs car to be more competitive and provide more features in their car. Then I will buy the improved Japs car instead of Korean made….. haha
Sir Seat. I beg to differ Elantra handling are lacking. I tested 1.6auto premium and all i can say it behaves well in corners same like gen2/neo but with feather-like feeling. Current Proton felt composed and planted, but Ms Elantra also did the job nicely. Surprises me too.
bongeks, handling is not just about how well planted the car going into corners. Of course for a car this size it should easily does the job of staying on the line at low speed. It’s at higher speed when going into corners that you will see all the erratic behaviors coming out. Poorly tuned cars especially front wheel drive will start to understeer heavily and when driver counter steer, oversteer will kicks in. That’s why when you talk about handling, it’s how forgiving the car behave when its pushed a bit further. The most important point of all is how responsive or how quick the car reacts to your command. If the car can do that easily then all those erratic behaviors will not happen.
My dear Phil. Yes, i understand d terms hi-speed stability and yes i dont have enough road to test that issues. But a Sec.4 Bdr Baru Bangi roundabout at certain “high” speed enough to demonstrate its initial potential and no preliminary erotic moments found as i may say. As a benchmark, if you drive a car from UIA Gombak toll to LPT Karak within 30 minutes then surely you need a really a good handling car (in standard form, of course).
but elantra cant handle corner like the latest Civic !!
byk butui….cruze elantra preve focus lg bgus dr ini ya…
New Ford focus offer the best package I thk. Now in Malaysia i thk jetta the best followed by preve
TAIL LAMP LOOK LIKE CHERY CAR, NEW MODEL COMING SOON..I FORGOT WHAT THE NAME FOR THAT CHERY NEW MODEL
preve is better ma
actually is not that ugly…
Btw Chris Ng, what does FB mean here?
FB is the prefix of the engine code for the 9th Gen Civic, which we normally used them to identify the generation of the Civic. Just as the 8th Gen was known as FD, as the previous generations will have code like EC, EG, EK, EP and etc.
5K SERVICE INTERVAL? Dont buy.
I can understand that beating the standard of the current 8th Gen Civic was not an easy task, but Honda you could have still came up with a better design than this.
Honda has said it will hasten the facelift cycle on this specific model. But even if they did, I doubt we will get it as we are treated like recycle garbage point. Only until all the old stocks are cleared (all the global RHD old stocks), then we will get it.
It looks like a bigger City. They went with the futuristic design but they should have used CRZ design instead of City… 8th gen still look better but if they improved the handling that much, I don’t mind the looks. I prefer better driving dynamics and performance actually. :)
still prefer current 8th generation of Civic, endless classic!! believe it will still be hot in used car market.
its life and death for Honda Malaysia since the all their models were not selling well, even after recovery of Thailand assembly plant.
if not mistaken, the power output for 1.8 model was dropped to 130hp, in favour of emission level. torque is as strong as a 2.0 NA though.
the design of new civic = city + accord (rear design)
We, 9th-generation Civic owners, thank Honda for making our cars last longer than one generation. We look forward to the 10th generation Civic. To those upgrading to the Civic from Honda City, we suggest that you simply buy used 9th-generation Civics since most of them are in fantastic enjoyable condition, not to mention that spare parts are reasonably-priced and plenty. To those with extra cash afterwards, keep it aside for the cost of running the car (tires, oil change, petrol). To those planning to take 9-year loan on the 10th-generation Civic, good news for you since you can cut down your loan to maybe 5 years if you buy the used 9th-generation Civic. We all win!
You must be referring to the 8th-gen & 9th-gen Civic respectively i believe.
oops… yes… we, the 8th-gen civic owner.
8th Gen Civic has a lot of quality and fitting issues. Check owners’ reviews.
yes, you’re right. very unexpected quality.
it’s a matter of major or minor problem.
Awesomely superb car again from Honda.after looking at this , it just makes the Elantra looks cheapo and crappy.
Expect a long waiting list again for this car!
superb car? the driving was not challenging enough to prove that it’s that quality of handling, try it on malaysian twisty road and you will know how ‘brilliant’ its handling is
Honda Civic has been well received by the American, currently best selling C segment (Compact) in US, overtake Corolla & way ahead of Elantra, Mile apart from Forte.
Anticipate to be another great hit for Malaysia market.
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/12/02/honda-ceo-takes-responsibility-for-poor-reception-of-redesigned/
R u sure?
haha good one bro. Some crazed Japs die hard fans simply refused to admit the truth that the Japs no longer knows how to built highly desirable cars like they were back in the early to late 2000s.
Outdated man look at this
http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2012/06/us-car-sales-rankings-june-2012.html#more
haha.. Masked Ryder kaaantooi… must be Honda SA… cheap Bastard… prove u car worthy to buy la, dont lie…
Idiot read my link, use ur brain inferior Korean car salesman.
yes the sales improved bcos honda is throwing prices of the civic to clear stocks in the us.
Really (Dream of maserati) ?
How come top spec Civic sold for $22,105, compare to Elantra 20,945, but still out sold the korean but huge margin ? care to explain your throwing prices theory ??
As if Korean cars never throw prices… We don’t have to look very far, just right here we can see how Hyundai and Naza threw prices as if there are no tomorrow. The moment you drive away your new Korean car and the following month you will see how they throw another 10% of your car price. Add that up to your 50% depreciation after 3 years, you will cry.
Masked Ryder:
FYI …. Americans generally have no taste in actually good cars. As their roads and wide and long there is no simply no challenge to be great. So the fact that a car is popular there really don’t mean shit …
Europeans (esp British) reviews are the ones you should take seriously!
Good, not a single korean car make it to top ten seller in UK, anymore example ? Oh wait you should say South Korea is the best example, then for sure korean car is the top seller there. (More Idiot).
enuf say, ford rule!
Agreed. Somehow, UK roads are similar with Malaysia… pot holes and what not so they really show which car is better. US only have smooth roads.
And even with the poorly received design, the car still tops the sales charts in the US in its category…
Honda Civic has been well received by the American, currently best selling C segment (Compact) in US, overtake Corolla & way ahead of Elantra, Mile apart from Forte.
Anticipate to be another great hit for Malaysia market.
Ok….lets move on….
Not pretty? Design wise not bad wut, i feel its better looking compared to our current model… imho.
I think I am one of the few who thinks the new Civic looks good…anyway good for Honda to add more features…love the Motion Adaptive EPS. Hope the price stays the same!
If this car comes with 5 year warranty and a bump to 10,000km service intervals then its a good buy.
It is really surprise if Honda Malaysia move to 10,000 km interval. The same engine….. in Singapore and Thailand go for 10,000km interval BUT in Malaysia is 5000km interval…on what ever oil you used.
Is that true spore 10,000KM services interval?
Agreed. Actually it looks quite good. Hopefully it will be cheaper so that I can afford.
looking solely at gen-9 civic (w/o comparing with gen-8) actually the car is quite nice aesthetically…
Agreed. I thought I was the only one feeling this way. When you first look at it, your brain still vividly remembers the 8th-gen one, so it looks disappointing. But the more you look at just this one, the more it grows on you.
My disappointment with this one is that I always see the City-Civic-Accord trinity as budget, performance, and luxury, respectively. The Accord still okay, but the City no longer looks budget, and the Civic no longer looks performance.
the rear end has resemblance of lancer evo IV with camry and accord taillights.
8th gen still the best in design.
though the looks is on the down side, the improvements that Honda make is much better than Toyota.
The touchscreen GPS unit does not recess enough into the dash. It will suffer undue glare from reflection on bright sunny days.
Not only that, in SG, the locally installed map for the Sat Nav is slow to respond and would often loose location lock if you drive among lots of tall buildings such as those in Shenton Way and Robinson Road.
I don’t know such things will happen to your version when the POS Civic goes sale in Malaysia.
I’d imagine it would too for our local dealer uploaded the SG and Malaysia maps into the system only. The actual GPS nav should be from the factory system.
is the map update free or do you have to pay for it?
the front is nice. but the back not as nice as previous gen. but still acceptable. less aggressive i guess. still a nice car anyway.
buy it..n then in 3 years a new model will come out…first time your second hand value will be hit badly :)
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/12/02/honda-ceo-takes-responsibility-for-poor-reception-of-redesigned/
u may tell me all the good facts of a modern SOHC engine – but i personally NOT gonna spend sub-rm130k for a car with a SOHC engine
then dont..no one ask u too..go buy ur proton then…oh wait u already did cz u cant afford a honda
benedict… waaah, iu think owning a Honda is like owning a BENTLEY!! honda is a great Company.. i love their design, but this civic.. its only a gimmick to fool people like u!! haha
u must be a fresh school leaver-honda-saleskid. :P
No, you won’t spend sub 130k, but 140k , 10 k extra to buy the new SOHC 2.0
Actually the R20A is NOT new… Its the same engine as found in the base Accord 2.0 and CRV 2.0.
I don think there’s a problem with SOHC engine what !!! DOHC engine doesnt mean better too, it all depends how the engineers crack it and design it. This SOHC engine offer almost similar power while more eco friendly + better FC. why not ??
most people wouldn’t mind, but pure car lovers would favour DOHC over SOHC anyday.
I’ve one question for Chris Ng….
I’m sorry bro but were you doing a factual automotive test drive report on the new POS Civic or were you just writing propaganda materials for Honda just like most auto journalists do in Singapore? :(
Did you manage to do a side by side test drive comparo between our current superb FD2 and this POS 2L Civic? Did you park the 2 cars side by side and REALLY compare the built quality, design and level of equipment found in both gen of Civics?
Why didn’t you report that this POS Civic no longer have 60:40 split fold rear seatbacks? And the factory HU (with Sat Nav or otherwise) accepts just ONE CD as compared to our current 6? Why didn’t you mention the slow and lifeless EPS that requires the driver to turn the wheel like mad just to make any meaningful turns?… A Honda Avanza anyone? LOL :D
Why didn’t you report that the interior built quality looks more like a Vios than the near Honda Legend kind of quality that our current FD offers?
And more importantly why didn’t you report the reduced cabin sound insulation as compared to our FDs? And did you notice the lack of boolid carpet and support strut covers in the new FB Civic? These items were standard in our FDs. And the softer suspsension setup that unfortunately induce unwanted amount of body roll at sharp turns?
Your report on the VSA is nice and informative, but VSA is already a standard equipment in our current FD2, be it 5MT or 5AT version. In the FD2, the VSA has less chance of intervening even in spirited driving for our FDs is already one solid, stable platform. In this FB Civic, I’d imagine the VSA will be called up more often since the car is no longer as stable as it was before.
haha.. good one.. Honda Malaysia pay kot.. suruh tutup sini sana!! nanti malu.. haha
Can I know how is it that u know that the steering for new civic needs so much more input despite it being more sensitive than the current one?
And how is it that u could know that build quality is like a vios when there is no way u could have seen the car in malaysia?if u say u have seen it in thailand then fine but i dun think u wud have been able to test drive it
And how do u know that the cabin sound insulation is worse than the current civic?
Bro, since when did I say I’m from Bolehland? :)
Me from Sillypore la, and the FB Civic was available here since Dec last year.
It’s so ‘good’ that I’ve yet to see one in SG roads till date LOL
Just make a trip to any of our 2 Honda showrooms to see this POS Civic yourself the next time you visit Sillypore.
And if you do visit the Ubi showroom, they still have 1 unit of FD2 parked next to the POS Civic in the showroom. No thanks to the crazy COE prices these days, even the famed FDs can’t sell in SG. We still have quite a few FD1 and FD2 stocks left in the warehouse… and they’re going for big discounts. :)
I heard that Singaporean who own a civic is consider low income group. Malaysia still consider lower medium.. If you own one or dont even have a car…. Pity you….
i give you thumbs up coz u ask nicely ;)
your one question can branch out to 100 questions!
That was not just one question! =D
i hope there will be another review again after it reaches our shore. this time can review more detail
Only one question? Hmm… anyway, here are your answers numbered by paragraphs.
1. No.
2. No. The FD Civic was not provided for a side-by-side comparison during the media drive.
3. In almost every media trip overseas, there is very little time given to writers to do a full review of the car. Most of the time is given to driving only before the seat has to be given up for the next in line. Of course we will be doing a full review once the car is available, this is after all a preview, as stated in the headline. As for the EPS, I thought that it had enough feedback and i did not have to ‘turn the wheel like mad’ to make meaningful turns.
4. Again, a Toyota Vios, Honda Legend and the FD Civic was not available for side-by-side comparisons. I only have the FB during the event.
5. Please refer to Number 3. The Thai Civics’ suspension was firm and the body roll was well restraint. Certainly did not feel what you described.
Now I’m curious if Honda had set the Civics up differently for each country. You described a totally different car.
maybe proton test car is pre-production car so lesser quality, when buyer gets real car, it’s much much better
honda test car – highly tuned with extreme modificationa, real car sucks, buyer will get fooled lol
Ok, I can buy that.
SG market FBs are from Japan and they’re supposed to be the ‘best’ of the lot… yet it has degenerated so much as listed above that it is total turn off locally… and not to mention few if any current FD owners will want to trade up their FDs for this POS FB… :)
Its a downgrade move… and one have to pay ALOT Of money here for such downgrade move…
I agree.
I test drove both cars here in Thailand. I test drove last year’s Civic and my wife and I were very disappointed. It was loud and the ride quality was bad. Not much better than the Honda City we had. And we test drove a pretty high end Civic 2011. It’s was almost 1 million baht. The quality of the interior was very plastic.
We went and bought a Chevy Cruze. We just sold the Cruze because it was a terrible car with terrible service.
We then went back to Honda and yesterday test drive the new 2012 Civic. It is a totally different car. The quality of the interior is much better. Granted the looks of the car are boring compared to the old one – on the outside – but as soon as you start DRIVING the 2012 Civic you can tell is a totally different car.
I was amazed at how unbeliably QUIET it was. Very nice refined driving. It didn’t feel sporty. Feels like a solid, very well build and put together ECONOMICAL and fuel efficient car. Maybe the 2.0 will feel sportier but that isn’t what I was looking for.
The real leather on the steering wheel feels very premium. The navigation works perfectly and all te buttons and everything feels very good quality.
I reserved one right away. Should get mine in the next couple of weeks.
not too bad wat the design,i think it looks better than the current civic
aiya, why honda civic facebook (FB) going back ward in design?
did you even notice that the naming is going backwards for this generation?
look at the history, and the codenames are traditionally progressing : AK/EF/EG/EK/ES/FD, and now, FB..
Elantra is away2 to canggih and beautifull, owesome from this ketam :D
This ketam still look like japanese face, so boring.
yeap Elantra looks way better,but the drive totally sucks
Well as I’ve said before, Paul Tan and gang should org a REAL test drive comparo between this POS Civic, G10 Altis, Elantra 1.8 Limited, Forte 2L SX in Malaysia soon. Then you guys will know which car really sucked… :D
Oh ok, for sake of ermm.. ‘fairness’, we can throw in the Preve into the mix too.. although I’ve no idea why anyone would do that. :)
Err, Why not? Preve’s ride and handling is better than the cars you mentioned above..
aiyooo why not? its the pride of the nation(well some ppl didin’t think of it as something to be proud of)
Agree Preve should put in this category.. Ride and Handling surely will be Preve assets.. hey, why not!! come on guys give Preve a hope… its our national Pride..
come a time, hyundai will face a problem to design the replacement of current sonata and elantra as both are very advanced in design. honda has learnt its lessons.
this is one reason VW Golf design between each generations are not far off each other.
believe me… in 3 yrs time Hyundai will start to scratch their heads on how to design a better looking car
totally agree!! their (Hyundai and KIA) engineers worst nightmares begins!!
just another touch up design from the current civic..still no one complained about that..no idea to design..no need to produced…after this 10th gen of civic..maybe the small touch up of the front grill only..do not complained because this is japanese car..
“TOUCH UP”? “10TH GEN”? “NOBODY COMPLAINTS”? Are you sure you are referring to the same post?
I have a lot to say but I’ll let the thumbs downs on you do the talking. OH MY ENGLISH.
What touch up? Do you think this new Civic is produced in workshop?
Hmmm… I wonder why no one commented on the new climate control panel design? I mean, OMG, the those cheap looking vertical toggle switches for the temp and fan looks more at home in a late 90s Accord than a 2013 Honda la… Compare to our current FD’s large and steady knobs…sigh.. I don’t know what to say
And Chris, why didn’t you take a pic of the new gas pedal? LOL :) Did you notice this FB Civic no longer have the organ type gas pedal? Its too expensive to include such things in the new Civic these days… but to the Koreans, they’re able to do so while still offering their cars at a lower price :)
Why didn’t I take a pic of the gas pedal? Gee, why would anyone take a picture of the gas pedal? No matter what gas pedal it is, once you step on it, all you see is your shoe.
Well far from it Chris. The organ type gas pedal has a more natural feel to the driver for it is hinged at the floorboard. When you floor the pedal now, your whole feet won’t need to compress itself to follow the pedal movement arc. A more sporty and driver oriented feel FYI.
Incidentally organ type gas pedal design is not now. You can find such setup as early as 1957 Chevy Bel Air and various Fords at that time(just to name a few)
It is rather big deal now becos it cost more to make as compared to conventional top hinged design. And manufacturers will drop this whenever they can if they want to cut cost
ooooo, it’s right hand traffic in Thailand…
Chris was breaking all traffic laws in Thailand.. Oooorrrr…. LOL :D
Or perhaps the new Civic was such a handful to handle that he has trouble keeping it in lane at high speed? LOL :D
no no no…the new civic has very bad toe. The car tends to swerve to the right. So it’s not Chris’ fault lolxxxxx
Dissapointed with the design, only change 30% from the old civic design…
I feel the same way. I guess the 8th gen still looks futuristic so they were always going to have a problem with the next gen.
if proton coming up with a rm120k car with SOHC engine. everybody will bash like no tomorrow. but this car is honda,so all the honda fanboy wet their panties when they read this review…
and they say preve lcd is small ;)
LCD bro, they planned it to be big, but cost wise ended up smaller? correct? who wont bash…shows product planning is still out.
But how come so ugly?
Ugly by Japanese standard. But way ahead by Proton standard. If that 1.6 underpower turbo is considered nice, this Civic is superb.
single underpowered turbo but century sprint less than 10secs? even twin turbo pug 408 does around 9 secs
funniest joke of the year
Using 0-100 to indicate the power? A Kelisa must the more powerful than M1A2 with 1500hp because it can sprint faster than the tank.
you eat your own words estupido
Got owned and start calling other stupid?
@amoi
you deserve it lol
compare a tank with kelisa, really i’m amazed on how you understood simple english lol
even 10 years old can do better
ugly for you?? but not for everyone.. and why waste money on LCD, and they (PROTON) choose to focus on safety.. 4 air-bags, REMEMBER??
Not everyone, but most people. Safety? with that lousy welding job and broken lower arm because of divider and no damage to the body part?
since when most people said it’s ugly? any stats?
welding job and broken lower arm are lame old stories
u just hope everyone forget about the welding and broken arm isn’t it? Too bad, that’s what Proton are known for.
“Too bad, that’s what Proton are known for.”
since when, are you dreaming?
about broken arms and welding, maybe you still leave behind, nothing big actually, please read more, nothing big actually
other brands had massive recalls all over the world, and that’s ultimately to be remembered all the time
Nothing big? you wish. To the point the management have to come out to do damage control with cheesy excuses and you said it’s nothing big? With people like you, no wonder Proton is at this sick condition. hahaha
wow you can be the best trolloller in paultan lol
too much dreaming i guess, wake up and get a life dude
Dissapointed with the design, the front design look like the current Toyota Altis.
Looks wise, it’s more of a facelift but the Motion Adaptive EPS is interesting.
Chris, is this the 9th gen that was so poorly received in the States or the facelift that they brought out after a year?
I honestly can’t say for sure. While it looks the same, different countries get different specification according to their customers wants and needs.
” is this the 9th gen that was so poorly received in the States or the facelift that they brought out after a year?”
Chris, could you help find out? This is a very interesting point to many, since we are always making references/comparisons with that respect.
No point. Each region get their cars specced differently. So a US-bound car will have a different setup – engine, suspension, equipment – than the Malaysian versions. Plus, most car companies always introduces updates to their cars. Dealers in countries that have received their cars earlier would have sent feedback to the manufacturer, who will then develop proper updates for the cars.
Example, the Europe Ford Fiestas are different than Thai-made Fiestas. The Thai-made Fiestas have all of the updates that Europe will only get with their next facelift.
While it is nice to see what the Americans are getting, trying to compare spec for spec is pretty much pointless.
Hi Chris,
Need some info, how do compare the driving experience btw this new civic wt the VW Golf TSI? in Europe its in the same class (albeit it will be the Euro Civic hatch instead). In term of handling/NVH/interior material (i believe Japs mostly use hard plastic)
Need the info for purchase consideration..thanks
I tested the VW Golf TSI so long ago that I don’t remember. Why not trying both of them out yourself?
PT i think you got your pics wrong. IMG_8544 and 8545 .. thats from Honda Insight if im not mistaken.
Oh you’re right! Sorry. I got the pictures messed up.
Why are there 2 pics of the Insight interior in the gallery?
Thanks for the spot. I messed up the pictures.
Guys most of us felt that the civic is expensive so we demanding this & that as we paid for RM120k for the FD & this new FB might cost the same…but if you think back where you can get the car cheaper will you demand for this & that? Why I said so Bcs I stayed at Thailand & I drove a FD1 for the price of RM77k (new) so I think everything is okay as Malaysia selling it at higher price…I bought at around RM40k cheaper so everything for me is okay..soon I will be driving this FB if everything going right as I been informed that I need wait for 2month & I will be getting the 1.8l as I currently driving the FD1. The best part is the new FB is selling at RM70k+ & my old FD can be trade in for almost RM58k after 3years old…for me it’s a win win situation for Thailand ppl but it’s a lost lost situation for Malaysian because our stupid tax…before I forgotten Hyundai cost more in Thailand as like Hyundai Sonata at Thailand is selling for more then RM118k+ which is almost the same price with the current selling in Malaysia…so we should not demand from Honda but should be demand more things from Honda Malaysia or the tax should be reduce then we can enjoy more…I also would like to see what Malaysia Honda would be offering…check the Thailand website to know more how much there are selling for the new FB..cheers
jesus christ.
have u ever heard about dealers profit?
if u really know what u are talking then u should notice the extremely IMPORTANT about the above matter
think about it
I’m a newbie in this website, what are the acronym FD and FB stands for ?
FD and FB codenames. They denote which generation the Civic belongs to.
Chris i think you are losing your credibility, so are u saying, other cars with VSA will not do what the new civic did? sudden high speed brake will cause other cars lose control?
there is no perfect cars, god its good n bad, the only bad in this car is its looks? something sounds very fishy here.
so the Americans are stupid to say the quality has dropped?
I suppose he’s also saying that a current Ford Focus TDCI with ESP will also not make it around the corner like this new Civic ;)
I am truly sold!
No. I did not mention any other car nor compare it with any other car with VSA. Plus, it is not just the VSA that was at work. It was the entire system, which is called Motion Adaptive EPS. It uses VSA and EPS to keep the car in control.
Yes, no car is perfect but then again no car is totally rubbish. This is just a preview of the Civic. We will do a full review of the car when it is available here.
It is not I who said it but you. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
But you said “In this particular right-hander, any car would have looked the other way and headed straight into the river.”
I find that over-generalising but then again, I wasn’t in the driver’s seat that day so I’ll just take your words at face value.
Waiting for the full test drive then. Cheers.
IMO this new Civic is just a good looking as the current one. I’m sold by the looks. Making the car lighter is a brilliant move by Honda, giving better response and handling.
We have another best seller from Honda in the horizon. No doubt Civic is one of Honda’s best cars and they did an equally job well done with this new one.
u sound like a Honda SA to me.
Honda already out of good shape and briliant model. If u take out the honda name and logo nobody wanna to by this ‘sampan terbalik’ car and the rest of all honda modely. Yaaa korean. . . .
Look almost same like the old one. At closer look it looks like Proton Preve = eqaully ugly.
What happen to Japanese?
Continental cars using turbo technoligy to bring down the engine size and improve the emission. How about Japs?
Bro, things changed not only Jap know how to make a nice car. Others also can make better car than Japs. One day, China & India cars will flood our market. And the day is not very far from now.
Try to accept change or you will be changed.
the koreans may come with pretty face and low price, but thats all the koreans have actually. i mean its like prostitution. u still cum but no love.
the fact that matter is civic has history of about 30-40 years and for that reason only people are guaranteed of the brand honda and the model civic. of course a hyundai..ops i mean an inokom elantra cost less but down the years both in maintenance, durability and price, civic wins everytime.
the only criticism is the not so revolutionary design. i hope honda malaysia doesnt go overboard about the pricing. of course the material is lighter, more efficient bla bla bla but given nothing change for 1.8L and an engine downgrade for 2.0 not matter for whatever reason (with the DOHC 2.0 also i can save fuel – i just drive more gentle so say anything about saving fuel/money) i am looking at similar pricing OR 2,000RM less for all variants i.e 113k OTR for 1.8 and 122k for 2.0. anything more it will be a total waste.
i can tell u by selling at 122k for top spec 2.0 civic Honda Malaysia can still make money. they may argue it is less money considering the improvement – petty at best – but again considering everything is taken straight from FD i guess the cost of building one is less or similar but not more than the outgoing model.
let us hope honda malaysia price it WISELY i.e 120k for top spec 2.0.
the problem if sell at same price,
the value of previous model will be badly affected. between direct sellers maybe it wont, but the used cars normally stick to these rules
My mum will get one. I dont really like the new design, prefer the last gen.
oops i thought this is the old camry with that big uncle rear lamps. haha.
front reminds me of preve!! old civic is still classy!!
you ppl tak open doh, ni la design orng kata FUTURISTIC.. old fesyen btl la korang..I oredi buat booking! if no launch bising, when Honda launch bising lg. Ni la design cun for youngster. nak gi clubbing , tgk movie this car is paling awesome and terkini. dulu orang pakai seluar jeans baggy orng cun now style has change to pakai ketat ketat..same for Civic la..civic is trend setter go with the flow brudda!
OH MY ENGLISH..and BM..
How old are these people to be this messed up at spelling. Do you really talk like that? How futuristic of you.
“tgk movie this car is paling awesome and terkini”. What so you bring the car into the movie with you too now? Or will the ticket man be asking what car do you drive before letting you in?
Don’t get me wrong guys. To each their own. But I really hate this sort of writing. You can guess what I do for a living.
Pick either one, full english or full malay, do not mix the language please, unless you’re Ah Beng.
By the way you write it seems that u have just place a booking for an EX5 rather than a Civic mate..
hahaha i truly agreed with you!!!
You sounds like a Mat Rempit to me.
i dun understand what u trying to say, can’t get ur “english”, too deep for me…..
Roger may be you should be named LOJEH..
good strategy fr honda.. all they need to do is design d next 10 generation slightly betta fr 8th gen.. then people will compare to 9th gen n tat will make 10 gen be totally awesome!!!
hmm exterior looks like an overgrown city, especially the headlights…
tiru preve
Yeah, right!!!
Oh BTW, Audi and BMW pun tiru Preve.
No matter what gen or until which gen, H still a loser to Toyota. Come join our dugong team and together eliminate the junky honda.
HONDA CIVICITY
This car is getting very “uncle” now, time to move on to other brand.
still a fan of civic!
Guy FYI, i have owning 8th Gen Civic last batch …but i had experienced lot of quality issue on it. First my bonnet lock malfunction where the car key stuck. Further the rubber fitting on door tears up in just 6 month…then rattling sound when accelerating which the source cant be trace….the worse the NHV worsening as the tire is starting to exhausted after 6 month using….worse of all a FLY found in number plate light …so i hope new civic dont have this…please improve ur quality la HONDA…fed up with slogan Power of Dream…Power of Fly kot..
Somehow the way the way it is written is a little too far fetch as though this is the mother of all cars in its class.
Why the dashboard bengkok similar to bus ekspress dashboard? This new Civic was designed by bus ekpress driver?
Honda should retain the previous model design but with this new model’s improvements.
So how to sell an ugly product then? Give free items and 1 Million KM warrany?
Look at Australia Proton Arena buyers get free one ATV unit
http://www.caradvice.com.au/9028/free-atv-with-proton-jumbuck/
Also Waja Australia got warranty 1 Million km
http://news.drive.com.au/drive/new-car-reviews/missing-true-value-20100824-13n1r.html
1 Million KM Warranty for Proton Waja Australia…hmmm…Honda should try it too….
i know right? what’s with the dashboard omg. i was expecting the worst for the exterior but now, looks so so lah. but inside, pengsan oh!
1 Million km warranty… and yet they sell less than 3 THOUSAND cars in a year??? Something is not right… when more than 12 Million passenger cars are being registered each year.
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/9309.0/
Is there gonna be FB2R?
Or Type-R is truly dead now, replaced by Honda Type-H (Hybrid)?
New type-R Hatchback for European market is in development process. There are some spyshots of the car during testing at Nurburgring.
It’s said that they’re targeting 2.0 liter engine, 240PS that can clock 6.5 sec. Will be launched next year.
first at foremost Ill have to say that this was a really interesting article that was very well written. A couple of months back I was in the states and was fortunate enough to test drive the 9th gen civic. I fell in love immediately with the car. The responsiveness and handling has definitely improved (currently driving 07 civic). The design with no doubt is different from the current generation but it is also encouraging to see that Honda is moving forward towards a new look.It never crossed my mind of replacing my current car with another Civic, but with this now I think its quite possible!! I think people will grow to like this car. Looking forward to seeing the cars in our local showrooms! Daniel Ho Jin Ru(Mentakab)
Middle Pedal, this only got two ^^
its not really pretty :(
Fhe first paragraph does not make sense. The English I meant. “..preview almost didn’t happen…2 possible scenarios..” both scenario ended up crashing the car. Then enter civic(????)
Then “I needed no encouragement”. There’s a word missing there. In an effort to spice up the writing or maybe you wanted to differentiate yourself from others, I find it very confusing to follow. Creative writing? How about be creative where it’s called for, and give us the specs in a more straightforward manner.
We want to know the differences between this and current civic, not this driven in isolation. I want a review of this car before I test drive it myself, but this article helped little in giving me the info I need.
Oh well, to each his own?
I completely agree with you. I find this post ridiculously long winded.
Go straight to the point, then elaborate concisely. No need for flowery descriptions and explanations.
Please, we like it simple and straightforward.
I’m targetted to own Civic last year but change my mind after saw this model expected to be out this year.
I’m expected Civic will come out with better design!!!
orangbumi, so what car have you settled for now? mind to share? =)
Aiyo, why so drama one the story, like driving F1 car on public road?? You mean Honda endorses this kind of behaviour on a public road? If yes, then it is most irresponsible for a car company.
Bland looking car but honda always makes good car, i think the new 5 sili is bland to compared to e60 nevertheless is still a better car underneath..just like this civic
I think before anyone decides to make a booking, please go to Volkswagen & test drive a similar budget car…
I was deciding between the Insight & Prius, but when i tried the VW Polo… those 2 cars can go sit in a corner :)
Is this better or 408 1.6 turbo ?
Toyota more better…this civic spare part very expensive…..after warranty must sell. like what happen today. many civic at used car dealer. everybody know.
wow! the front looks like insight and the rear looks like Persona and 2004 Camry!! Congratz Honda for the mix! LOL
What if they tack on a boot on the 2012 Euro Civic and sell it here instead.. that’d be cool.
pls pls pls the price would remain the same if can!
front is quite descent. only rear need more styling. the headlight needs more contemp look. im okey with the rear curves. jus a wee bit more styling.
I’m applaud on the improvement but don’t like the design (both exterior and interior) at all..previous design looks better..
Whats wrong with you guys?? Proton Preve come out , you all complain this and that !!! Now new Honda Civic, you all also complain. =.=”””” why we Malaysians so love to complain ??
Do it come with paddle switch ??!! Do the 2.0 pedal alike de older generation de ??
JeremyNg,
What u just typed also complain, u complain other Malaysian who complain on Preve & Civic. U loved that do u??.. Hahahaaa..
I thought there is nothing wrong with complaining, especially we Malaysians have to pay extra2 for cars and we should get the best out of it la..
WE DESERVE BETTER!
I hv a fd1 ’06. just to share my ride prob:
1. power steering hydaulic pump burst @ 100k km. jam the steering, luckily happen at parking
2. a/cond compressor jam @ 110 km
3. rear tyre bearing left kaput @ 120k km
4. gear position sensor kaput @ 150k km..
5. rattle sound fr dashboard every morning.. pich it a bit, then sound dissapear..
sigh…
r these probs happen to all civic above 100k km??
You are quite lucky as my 06 city rear bearing gone @ 80k km! It cost me RM400+ to replace it.
so sorry for your problem but I am sure not many have the same experience. Cannot generalise la…
If Preve and Civic are in the same price level, i will choose this car. Maybe the design is not that great, but the quality i believe is superb.
U cant compared Honda to P1…P1 should compared to Chery or P2 !
how to compare P1 and P2?? they don’t have a same segment car??
the dashboard looks kosong. doesn’t look like a dashboard with a price tag of 100k or above…
I agree with Paul; designers of the FD(8th Gen) Civic came up with a gem of a car…and it is still one of the best-looking Honda of all time.
The FD’s fluid and revolutionary monocoque shape will become a future classic in my book. Which comes as no surprise when the brief was sent by Honda HQ to pen its inevitable successor, the designers were staring at mission impossible…
So what Honda designers did was quite ingenious; they penned the new FB while retaining as much as they could of the FD’s familiar fluid shape.
Of course, obvious design cues such as front and rear lamp clusters, grill, etc on any new car would be the first to form one’s initial impression. So, the FB will not be everyone’s cup of tea…designers can’t please everyone. But hey, they did stuck to a winning design which is the key factor…any sensible person with an aorta of design DNA would have done no different…
English bro,
Iota.
live it, learn it.
Surely prices will 130 to 140k…and it will make a Korean car more affordable. 2nd value already offsetted since you paying more for this crap.
Honda Johor already make this car open for booking since April/May.. I was there and check the spec with the Honda salesman.. Can’t tell you everything, u must go and check by yourself.. Yes, it will have 3 spec, 1.8, 2.0 mid, 2.0 full spec. the price start around 110+k and the full spec maybe around 125k..
This car will be launch on July.
thank you
Keep dreaming, 110 to 125k? Zero inflation on ringgit? I doubt it, even Camry 10k up for all models. Take the existing Civic prices and add 10k each la more logical. Salesman are bullshitters LOL
ayoo design is so lame n boring!! but for me the japs r still better than the koreans..
quality japs r better, design koreans r better.
just laughed with this review, just a bit better handling but telling like it’s godlike. it’s still far than conti cars handling quality, including ford and protons
good move anyway, keep it up
To those who said this car is nice, may i know what drugs are you guys on?
I love honda civic 1.8cc 8 gen because great handling and very responsive engineer but the quality of the car just disappointed me. I sold the 8 Gen civic at less than 80000km because steering got sound when doing slow turn and sometime the steering just too loose suspected might be sensor problem. Secondly breaking system problem the whole car will shaking when break but after replace break pad it become normal but than less than 20000KM it happen again. The only thing piss me off about the steering claiming from Honda SC always said pending stock? I believe many honda civic 8 gen owner might be agreed with me the HONDA MALAYSIA QUALITY issue.
Lastly, i would like to test drive the new Honda civic because many people in this forum saying that it has great handling. Thanks for hearing my experiencing with Honda.
tq for sharing…
elantra beat this civic hands down on outlook.
and elantra will be beat by Preve, easily!! haha
and guess what, Elantra or Preve, the money is going to the same source… DRB HICOM!! Welcome to Malaysia!! :P
Once again, blind Proton supporters are making a fools outta themselves in this board LOL :D
Preve beating the shit outta Elantra?! What pot were you smoking this morning bro?
The Preve can’t compete with the famed North American Car of the Year 2012 in ANY catergory, be it styling, build quality, engineering quality, drivetrain refinement etc..
The only thing you Preve lovers can brag about is the lower price tag your Preve commands.. But that’s becos of your gov unfair and skewed bias towards crappy national cars like Proton.
Step out of Malaysia and come to SG and see if the Preve is cheaper than the Elantra or not….oh wait, Proton don’t even have the means, or guts to sell the Preve here. :)
Their Exora (both reg and CFE) are so damn ‘good’ that ZERO has been sold since 2011! Dont’ believe? Go check with Proton Singapore and see for yourself.
These preverted preve supporters are just making more people HATE that abomination of a car and they still don’t know it. And who the heck came up with a name called Preve? I know what Saga, Wira or Waja means. What the heck is Preve? Nuf said.
preve vs elantra again? i’d choose preve anytime, some features yes preve is better, preve’s 205nm torque between 2000-4000rpm is much better than elantra nu n/a engine. seven speeder to save fuel more, better handling, led light, etc
oh saw elantra on road already, the front parts seems to be much bigger than mid and back, it’s quite ugly i can say, but still it’s subjective
Both Elantra and Preve yacks for me… sorry to all supporters..
Usually honda make good front and bad back design..but for this model,looks like bad front good at the back…abt performance..honda,among the best…even 1.3 insight,can play with 1.6cc car..or sometime,1.8cc…
Usually they make good front and bad back design..but for this model,looks like bad front good at the back…about performance..they are among the best…even 1.3 insight,can play with 1.6cc car..or sometime,1.8cc…
This is the worst Civic i have ever seen.
I loved the ferio ek9, the 7th and 8th gens were respectable.
People who buys the civic do it mostly for its looks. the majority in the current civic clientele would not have spared two f*cks for the civic if it looks like a freakin corolla altis. the ass looks staggeringly disappointing.
I really want to buy the damn thing but how can I if it looks like its made for my 50 yr old dad?
Honda needs to realise that the civic was meant for people like me, people who cannot look past an ugly body no matter how good your ride is.
Sorry if you digress at my extreme view, but hey, its a free net as far as commenting on cars is concerned. before you hobos get your flame on, i am perfectly willing to agree to disagree.
hi paul,
is the mid range & the NAVI version comes with the Paddle Shift Techology??
rgds.
goh
8th Gen had the best design hands down..does anybody know, is the designer for the new gen the same or different from the 8th gen?
Probably if Honda had the same guy to design the 9th gen then it wouldve been better.
The battle between Kimchi vs Wasabe continues…
at the 1st glance its really annoy my sight…but now i start to love the design of headlamp n the tail lamp of this new hondaCivic.. but to buy it..i will reserved it to preve..more value for money i think.
It is already selling in China. Not many on the road though.
this new civic is just like samsung galaxy S3..
the first time you see it, you don’t like it…
but as time pass by, you find it looks just nice…
Yes , this civic really has substance. Unlike korean cars, look pretty from outside, but interior ugly as hell and drives worst than a Proton.
Just admit it lah koreanfags, korean cars hv a long long way to go,
Korean already ahead of Japanese la bro.. u have to admit that Japanese is only good in cheating people like u…stupid Japanese Wannabe!! haha
Korean better than Japanese? in what sense? Or you have eaten too much kimchi?
To lokpi: Yes, in terms of outlook and interior design. 9th gen civic with standard multimedia (non Navi), the multimedia control is just plain boring and not well thought. Comparing this to Elantra, the interior blends well with the outlook. However, still have to admit that Honda and Toyota engine is still better in terms of smoothness, quietness and refinement.
erm….. just base on these models to decide Korean car better than Japs??? try take one korean Car to Compare to Nissan GTR..
Conclusion, the old Civic is too good looking to be surpassed.
Vios j is waaaayyyyyyyyy….batter than honda…errr EX5…..hihihi
Different people different taste. Each car has its own characteristics. If you like it, just buy it. If not, just buy other car.
6th or 7th Gen Civic owners may upgrade this,
for sure not for 8th owner.
Honda City longer version? kekeke…
Hahahaha, korean ahead of Jap? In ur dreams lah “mad aly” .
Korean cars are just pretty but drive like a cow. Sucks big time.
Basher is always very obvious to spot. Most of the korean car comes with EPS nowadays, please elaborate your comment LOL! Have to admit, jap car still has superior handling (Honda and Mazda), but Korean definitely not very far behind.
Mistaken Identity…
Japanese car designers are starting to lose it 1st the Camry & now this? D:
i was more prefer the 8th GEN styling look…
Love to own one. But need to pay RM1500 monthly installment for the next 7 years. Annual insurance costs about RM3400. I need to earn more to own it.
Honda Johor already make this car open for booking since April/May.. I was there and check the spec with the Honda salesman.. Can’t tell you everything, u must go and check by yourself.. Yes, it will have 3 spec, 1.8, 2.0 mid, 2.0 full spec. the price start around 110+k and the full spec maybe around 125k..
This car will be launch on July. :)
thank you
Looks like you are the damn Honda salesmen, with the repeated advertising, again keep mimpi mimpi…
1.8L w/o push start, navi: RM123~125K
2.0L with push start, w/o navi: RM133~135K
2.0L with push start & navi: RM135~138K
above is wad i got from H salesman.
wad u think it’s value for money???
yes because i-vtec is the most powerful engine in the world, even can beat prince turbo engine
at that price can get Sonata or sportage already..
At that price, way overpriced.
The car looks good in black. Though, I think Honda could do better with the interior. The interior is okay but I have a feeling that it lacks flair. Maybe the colour styling. Im not sure. It just doesnt feel right. The Insight and CRZ looks better with that colour styling. Overall , I think the new Civic looks more matured. Cant wait for it to be here.
The design is not ugly, just outdated.
I don’t get why all of you must fight on which car is better than others…..? People can like whatever car they like . Even though I like the Elantra a lot but I admit it….its competitors including this Civic are just as good if not better than it in some categories . Example , I wished the Elantra came with at least 2 more airbags . Each car has their own pro’s and con’s . You don’t have to condemn another car just because you don’t like it……..
It has already been confirmed that there will be a fast FL for 9th gen Civic at 2013 to improve exterior and interior critism. Sad to see it takes so long for 9th gen to finally reach Malaysia but the early birds will get a soon to be outdated product due to the fast FL.
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2012/07/honda-confirms-2013-civic-updates-mum-on-specifics.html
Honda Malaysia website announced 11th july (as per the countdown)
http://www.allnewcivic.com.my/
just wait n c…
That’s honda strategy dude…you can see how 6th gen (EG, EK)dominate the market and come out with type R edition
Then they come out with failure 7th gen (ES) and no special edition is built up in this gen.
2006 Honda came out with brilliant design 8th gen. beside that type R and RR is produced.
2012 – 9th gen..its suck….
wait till 10th gen (probably in 2018/2019)….and it will give a good design.
looks like the new civic will be launched on July 12th, 2012. was surfing at HM website when I found this:- www.allnewcivic.com.my
Check out Bangkok Posts’ review in English of both 1.8 and 2.0 Thai spec cars – looks like it’s gonna be tough for Honda Malaysia as well, but fans will still get it I guess…
http://www.bangkokpost.com/auto/autoreview/294364/safe-evolution
I am sure this Civic will outsell Elantra within 1 week of launch.
Malaysians do not believe that Korean Cars are good, and neither should they. I am a victim of Korean Car myself.
So, never ever buy Korean
waited patiently for this new model.. gosh thats one hideous looking car… interior n exterior.. but i guess it will look good in black.. anyone news about the hybrid version..
Whether you like or don’t, this new civic is still the top seller in US.
Top 20 seller in US June/12: trucks & other exclude
civic 27,500
corolla 26,647
focus 21,186
cruze 18,983
elantra 17,655
(lancer,mazda3,forte is not inside the top 20 list)
Is it really true that Honda will have a face-lift 1 year after this 2012 model? If it is, then it’s not very ethical that Honda still pushes this ‘old’ model out this year just to clear stock… I mean, come on, if I were to buy this car and to realize that a face-lift is coming next week, I’ll be damned. And as a CSR initiative, Honda should inform the new buyers of this. Paul & Chris, can you help confirm… I thnk it’s only fair, don’t you think?
http://www.autocarlover.com/honda-civic-type-r-in-2013-the-turbo/
I don’t think so. This facelift issue occurs after the US consumer review critized the car & does not recommended it. But this car is the top seller in US for the last 6 months. Do you think they will change so fast? Anyway this 9th generation honda civic has already been delay for one year. It suppose to be launched early last year. Theoritical the facelift should be mid 2013.
Price- a bit over for Navi
Handling- very good
Outlook- depends, bear in mind previous generation got a bit ah beng look, current one more executive style, so call uncle face
Interior- just done some plastic surgery, so don’t blame Honda LoL
I don’t think now is the correct time to buy car… Already end of the year when you got your new civic. Wait and see first….
I have a Honda Civic and while I won’t argue with the engine, accelration and brakes, but the bodyworks, eek! there were noises from day 1. The review did not mention anything about the bodywork, or did I miss it?
Basically, I can tell you from my own experience test driving the 2011 “old look” Civic and this 2012 Civic here in Thailand is the everything in the new one is much better.
The 2011 was loud and drove like a small eco car.
The 2012 was super quiet, you feel almost no bumps when going down the road and the fit and finish of everything inside looks wonderful.
This is the THAI built Civic we are talking about.
Japs car performance is good. (Cant denied)
Korean improving…. (Cant denied)
Korean car cheap in price with better spec (cant denied)
Japs car with good engine but less features (Cant denied)
When buying Japs car, love the brand, love the engine performance (Cant denied)
When buying Korean car, good look, good features, performance good (Self shock only) (Cant denied)
My view, hope Korean car getting stronger and stronger. Then threat Japs car to be more competitive and provide more features in their car. Then I will buy the improved Japs car instead of Korean made….. haha
I had 2 2nd hand cars to let-go recently which is the Kia Optima Novus 2.0 Yr 2008 and a Honda accord 2.0 Yr 1996 . In just a month of advertising I manage to sell of the honda accord for RM20,000 even its much older compared to Kia , but it has been 4 months and I could not get a buyer for this KIA Optiam Novus. I’m selling the KIA only 40% of the brand new car price.
Japs car are good,NO DOUBT. But korean cars are keep improving. Wait another 5-10 years and i believe the pattern of buying and mindset will be a lot different.
I just got RID of a Korean car. Chevrolet Cruze, which in the end it’s really a Daewoo.
Looks great and wonderful for the first 6 or 7 months. Then everything starts falling apart. Never again.
I’ve always been under the impression that Honda is an over-rated brand in Malaysia. My trust on durability has been on Nissan and styling on Mazda. But now I’m making a decision to get my hands on the Civic 1.8S, after eliminating Elantra, for worries of bad 2nd hand value and Mazda 3 for it’s ho-hum and plain Jane looks… any comments?
Have you test driven it yet?
Where is the Civic in Malaysia made?
If you look at the reviews posted here from comments you’ll see they are opposite to the article. You may wonder how come Consumer Reports says it’s loud, cheap and not competitive but then the guy here drove one and loved it.
I think the answer is that the Civic built in the USA is cheap crap and the one made in Thailand (which is also sent to Japan) is great. I test drove it a couple of days ago and what the guy who wrote the article said is all true. The car may be boring to look at inside and out, but I’m telling you, when you sit and DRIVE it you can feel that the money on this car was spent in technology and quality. That’s the quietest and nicest ride I’ve had in any car that size. But, the people in the USA say the opposite.
So, my suggestion is to go check one out yourself, but you MUST test drive this car. Don’t just look at it and sit inside at the showroom. You have to take it down the road.
If it’s the same quality build as here in Thailand, you will buy one.
and I should add that the one I test drove was the 1.8L NAVI. It is the second from the top one (2.0) so it had almost very single option possible. Lots of soft touch leather surfaces, etc. Navigation, DVD, premium sound, everything.
I can’t wait. I should get it in the next week or 2.
why there are just some people who judge a car by looking at US market? US is different with Bolehlandddd laa haiyoo…just go test drive and feel ur self la..
The new Honda Civic is going backwards in design. The old design is better and if they are going for a futuristic design they should have moulded it around the CRZ concept and now it looks like an enlarged City. Why would i pay RM20000 more for a larger City? I am having the 2009 Civic and don’t feel like changing to the new model. Looking for other makes …
Why Honda Civic w/o EBD & BA which are available in Honda City? Seems like safety not a concern by car buyer in Msia as nobody notice or discuss this.