VIDEOS: Honda says tenth-gen Civic is the best, ever

Honda released a couple of videos and ads starring the new 2016 Honda Civic over the weekend. For the US market, the ads are titled The Most Powerful Civic Ever, The Greatest Civic Ever, The Most Stunning Civic Ever and The Most Impressive Civic Ever.

There’s also a longer clip where a husband shows off the new Civic to his wife. Incorporating fuel economy, power and space comparisons with compact rivals from Toyota (Corolla), Nissan (Sentra) and Ford (Focus) respectively, that one is called The All-New Civic Has Never Looked Better. We trust you get the point by now. Best Civic, ever.

Plenty of new and segment first features for Honda to boast about, and the ads highlight the 2016 Civic’s available first in class LED headlamps (Touring spec), new 1.5 litre turbocharged engine, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity (first in segment), all new styling, 42 mpg highway mileage and SMS text message function.

There are also two, more serious product videos detailing the new features and improvements over the previous Civic. New features include remote engine start that allows for cabin pre-heating or pre-cooling, smart entry with walk-away auto lock, electric parking brake with brake hold, auto air con (standard, dual-zone from EX-T onwards) and sat nav co-developed by Garmin.

The range topping Touring also gets things like auto wipers and heated outboard rear seats.

The new Civic, which boasts the most spacious cabin in its class, has a boot that’s 21% bigger than before. Two engines are available in the US – a 2.0 litre naturally aspirated engine with 158 hp (15 horses more than the old 1.8) and a new 1.5 litre turbo engine with 174 hp.

The base LX trim with the 2.0 NA engine can be had with a six-speed manual; all other variants come with a CVT. Sorry folks, no turbo-manual combo, for now at least.

Lastly, Honda’s Sensing suite of safety systems is either standard or optional for all 2016 Civics. This includes Collision Mitigation Braking System (incorporating Forward Collision Warning), Lane Keeping Assist System (with auto steer), Road Departure Mitigation System (steers and brakes to keep you on the road) and Adaptive Cruise Control with low speed follow. Not bad at all for a mass market compact.

We’ve already detailed the 2016 Civic, and you can dive deep into the new model’s dimensions, construction, chassis, powertrains, safety and even accessories. More recently, the production Civic Coupe surfaced and a test mule with this sedan body was spotted in Thailand, confirming that our region will once again share Civic bodies with North America.

By the way, Honda didn’t just benchmark the new Civic against traditional rivals (mass market cars like the Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra/Sylphy, Mazda 3, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Cerato, Ford Focus, Volkswagen Jetta) but set out to target “luxury compact class vehicles” like the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4. The Europeans were used as benchmarks for ride, handling, steering and NVH, as well as interior quality and refinement.

So far so impressive. Do you like what you see so far?