New Civic marks Honda’s return to sporty roots

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Having dealt with major difficulties and adopting a more conservative approach to car making as a result, Honda is finally going back to its heritage of making sporty cars. Speaking to CarAdvice, Honda America’s senior vice president and general manager, Jeff Conrad, revealed that despite recent issues, the car maker is going back to its roots.

“When we came through the recession, we came through flooding in Thailand, the tsunami, we had a lot of challenges,” Conrad said. “When that happens, you have to retrench and you tend to get a little conservative, frankly. Well, now it’s a different market and we looked and we said we don’t like that retrenchment mode, we like fun, we like excitement, we like performance,” he exclaimed.

Unhappy with the brand’s recent conservative attitude, the VP explained that with the 10th-generation Honda Civic, going back to the model’s performance nature was key. He described it as a “concerted effort” by its engineers to reclaim the brand’s sporty heritage.

Honda Civic Type R-14

Conrad also highlighted Honda’s other attempts to get back into motorsports in general. “We have more involvement in racing than any other company out there, and each of those designs can reach out to a particular group of people that are interested in performance,” he said.

“We know that we love racing and we know that our cars perform, and we put them in a race environment so people can see what the cars can do. It pays dividends with our brand,” the Honda VP added.

Needless to say, Honda has been pushing forward with the cause, introducing several key performance models in recent times. With the new NSX and the Civic Type R already at its front lines, the Japanese car maker is said to be working on several other sports models for the future.

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Chris Aaron

With an equal passion for fast cars and everyday workhorses, Chris Aaron maintains a passion for European makes, Formula 1, playing the electric guitar and spending endless hours on the PlayStation - first-person shooters and the Gran Turismo franchise are his favourites. He also finds it strange to have written this in the third person.

 

Comments

  • knobs on Mar 23, 2016 at 1:05 pm

    Sporty driving with old design aircond swithes
    LMAO

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 8
    • HAMEED KOYAKUTTY on Mar 23, 2016 at 6:03 pm

      ??? Sporty ??? which part???
      Suits an old lady for sunday market ride….

      Agak2 la sporty…..

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 11
      • WT Fuchh on Mar 23, 2016 at 11:53 pm

        Wat..lah!!! Every country get Civic R, why only M’sia get only 4 door sedan. Why the bias, Rm now 3.99 to Usd, you know! Still money, you know! Wakalimasta!!!

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Honda follows p1 for being sporty, enough is enough, go and find your own identity

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 7
    • “Enough is enough” Are you that super pissed women from the red t-shirt ??

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Hazmin Hamudin on Mar 23, 2016 at 1:14 pm

    Signal on bumper? The ugly signal ever.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 6
    • camtakpro on Mar 23, 2016 at 4:34 pm

      Waja also same. I lost count how many time those low hanging signal lights so easy to get blocked easily.

      Put it on the side mirror, el cheapo Honda!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 5
  • Albert on Mar 23, 2016 at 1:35 pm

    DRB,please open your eyes BIG.
    Why dont you hive off ailing Protong,and concentrate on money spinner Honda cars,lower the prices so that even the most loyal protong fanboys jump ship and could afford Honda?
    You are putting money into a pocket full of holes(…Protong’s losses).
    Please terminate national service with poor Protong.YAB is busy giving ceramah belakang lori,he got no time for Prontong.
    Perhaps give it to another GLC…perhaps Sime Darby to try its luck to manage Protong.The Ford lady boss could manage better,I reckon.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 2
    • furois on Mar 23, 2016 at 4:36 pm

      Funny, Honda cars have no lotus handling (unless rebadged). Extremely boring.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 7
      • namanama on Mar 28, 2016 at 9:45 am

        lotus handling konon,after 3 years sini bunyi sana bunyi…sana koyak sini koyak..puii

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
    • Najib supports public transport, not car. Thats what makes Tun M hopping mad

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
      • Sam VHL Loo on Mar 24, 2016 at 12:46 pm

        Cause if public transport are good, who wants to buy Protaik which makes most of their car owners, worse it’s strong startled feeling CVT gearbox (like it will condemn anytime) that makes the car owners even poorer with awesome quality plus ‘hailat’ RV (same with Toyotaik owners)

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • If so why use CVT?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
    • ridzwan bin baharuddin on Mar 23, 2016 at 3:58 pm

      Efficiency
      This CVT beat the 6 speed manual 200hp k24 Civic Si.
      0-100kmh faster.

      Well, this car can get 0-100 faster while maintaining low FC. Reliability of CVT vs DSG/Dual cluth Gearbox.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 0
  • bring back s2000

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0
    • camtakpro on Mar 23, 2016 at 4:36 pm

      Bring back NSX – raw hi-rev VTEC N/A, short ratio manual, full aluminium body.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 2
  • Thaiboy on Mar 23, 2016 at 3:47 pm

    Let’s try the cvt out before saying so

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0
  • Josh Ling on Mar 23, 2016 at 6:37 pm

    Finally Honda realized the mistake it has made few years back. if you have sporty root in you, just stick to it. don’t bother too much about coming up with some safe but boring cars.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
  • Will mac on Mar 23, 2016 at 8:34 pm

    The cabin looks a bit plasticky close up. Especially the controls on the s/wheel. Still, the 1.5 turbo models look excellent value. I’d wait for the hatch version tho..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 2
  • Megane on Mar 23, 2016 at 11:03 pm

    The more i look at it … the uglier it is becoming . This car will not age wel

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 2
 

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