Starting next Monday, North American shoppers will be able to stroll into Honda dealers across the nation and take delivery of a Civic Hatchback. Mercifully, it looks a lot better than the pug-nosed, bent-nail-shifter Si oddity of the early 2000s.
Joining the sedan and coupe models to round out Honda’s 10th-generation US Civic lineup, the 2017 Civic Hatch will be available in a myriad of trims, continuing Honda’s curious recent obsession of offering their products with more lines than the surface of a record producer’s mirror.
All models are equipped with a 1.5-liter DOHC direct-injected and turbocharged four-cylinder engine, but LX, EX, and EX-L Navi trims will see 174 stock horsepower while the Sport and high-zoot Sport Touring models are deemed worthy of an extra six horses. A six-speed manual transmission is standard on the LX and Sport models, while the other trims are serviced by Honda’s CVT. The CVT is an $800 option on the LX and Sport.
This means that Honda sees fit to offer the higher horsepower option with a manual, and for this we applaud them. The CVT limits torque to 162 lb-ft in all trims, while manual transmission equipped LX and Sport models are rated at 167 lb-ft and 177 lb-ft respectively. Reading the press release closely, Honda says the higher output models are “designed to benefit from premium unleaded fuel”, so be aware that the extra horses will probably only awaken when fed Sunoco’s finest.
‘Murican MSRP start three c-notes under $20,000 for a stick shift LX and nets buyers the standard fare of cruise control, power accessories, and a steering wheel that adjusts for reach and rake. The higher powered Sport trim is priced at $21,300, plus $800 if you want the CVT, which you don’t. The CVT-only EX will sticker at $22,800, bringing heated seats and a few more trinkets to the party. The Navi suffix and its attendant leather seats add $2,500.
Customers seeking heated rear seats and a 540-watt 12-speaker premium audio system will have to wait for the Sport Touring trim, available later this year. The sensing technologies found on other Civic bodystyles will appear towards the end of 2016 as well.
Interior measurements are interesting, as Honda claims a 97.2 cubic feet of interior volume. That’s more than the HR-V and only 4.3 cubes less than a CR-V. With the rear seats up, a claimed 25.7 cu. ft. is apparently on tap. Compare that to 37.2 cu. ft. in the CR-V and 23.2 in the HR-V. Honda says the Civic Hatch enjoys the largest available cargo carrying capacity in its competitive set. We’ll wait until we try one in person to see how much actual usable space exists. If you’re wondering, the Mazda 3 5-Door is rated by the EPA as having 20.2 cu. ft. of cargo space.
Honda anticipates the pedestrian CVT-equipped LX and EX models to receive the magical 40 mile per gallon rating for highway measures. Both manual transmission models will be close to that mark as well. Strangely, Honda says its slushbox Sport and Sport Touring models will achieve closer to mid-30s on the highway, presumably the result of drag from a MASSIVE WING not shown in the press photos. Maybe — this is a Civic hatch, after all. Some VTEC must kick in, yo.
The 2017 Civic Hatchback was developed jointly by Honda R&D teams in Europe and Japan and will be manufactured for the North American market at Honda’s plant in Swindon, UK.
[Images: Honda North America]
While a YUGE fan of hatchbacks in general, I’m still struggling with the hind-end design of this thing. While never offered here in the US, I always kind of liked the 8th gen hatch (my mom’s neighbor had one across the street in Germany), as well as the 4th and 3rd gen (but those two are going back many, many years). I guess I’d have to see one in person, but the new one just seems…overdone…somehow.
It’s not a hatchback it’s a saloon! Therefore what you see here is an upscale offering by Honda and you should be amazed and grateful and purchase one immediately! :)
I’m actually of the opposite persuasion. Not a fan of conventional hatchbacks, but I like the look of this thing even if I’m just about as far from the target demographic as it gets.
The problem with conventional hatchbacks is you can either have people in the back seat and a trunk the size of a matchbox or fold the seat down and have a lot of space but no back seat. This solves that issue.
I have been waiting for this car. Love everything except those big black honeycomb faux intake/exhaust abominations at the front/rear. I can deal with them on the front, but I don’t know if I could live with looking at them on the rear on a daily basis. I remain hopeful not all trims will be plagued by this look. We’ll find out on Monday.
Is the rear profile any different than the standard notchback “sedan”?
This looks like a really lazy effort. Fastback for style; little substance.
If by ‘little substance’ you mean ‘less cargo capacity than a traditional upright hatch’ i’ve got news for you.
I drive a 15′ golf, which is rated at 22.8 cu feet of cargo room with the rear seats up. The civic handedly beats it. Even interior volume is up on the golf (93.5 vs 97.2 for the civic).
Those aren’t insignificant numbers. The styling isnt to everyone’s taste, but honda gets interior dimensions.
So I can’t get a nice trim with the stick? Come on, Honda!
Other articles I’ve read say the manual six speed comes standard on the LX , Sport , and EX – but not on the EX-L and Sport Touring . So it appears this article is omitting the EX with a six speed manual . At least I hope it’s just a mistake and there will be a six speed manual Honda available with variable intermittent wipers that’s not an Accord V6 coupe .
I would be fine with an EX stick. I hate leather. Fingers crossed.
I don’t need leather, but I do like heat in my seats. With a 6-speed. Is that asking too much Honda? IS IT???
It appears, at launch anyway, only the LX and Sport trims will be available with the 6MT. Here’s a screencap from details sent by Honda: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Screen-Shot-2016-09-23-at-8.55.01-PM.png
Thanks, Matt,
I SUPPOSE I could be persuaded to test drive a 6MT Sport…
I think you mean come on Acura!
I fondly remember my ’86 Integra with that wonderful 5MT. So of course you’re right, Fred. I guess I had given up hope on Acura.
I fondly remember my ’87 Integra with 5 doors and 5 speeds.
I suppose the TSX Wagon my wife drives kinda’, sorta’ could be a successor…. no stick, but 5 doors… but the wagon is gone too.
The ILX is due for a update (please) Audi changed their mind about a manual for the A4 and maybe 5 doors for the A3. And as long as I have a TSX wagon I’ll always have hope for Acura.
I wonder how much it really matters that the ILX is based on the previous Civic. The new 2.4-liter inline four and 8-speed DCT seem to be well regarded by reviewers. With how most people drive most cars most of the time, the ILX seems to hit the sweet spot with a lot of features for the money. Audi, BMW, and Merc prices are extreme and their “entry” level cars all suck anyway.
I’ve read a couple articles and it’s sort of unclear whether the Sport Touring is a manual or if it’s also a CVT. I’m hoping it’s the high end version of the Sport and not CVT only, although at that point you might just be better off waiting for the Si version of the hatch.
What kills me is it seems you can’t get the Sport with the big stereo. Seems to me the kind of buyer who buys a sporty Civic with a 6 speed is the kind of buyer who wants the big stereo above pretty much any other option not related to speed/handling/rims.
Buy one in Canada. All trims an Canada will come with a 6MT standard (Yes, even the Sport Tpuring)
I loved the early 2k si design! Much better than this thing.
+1. A very subjective (and poor) taste in car design written as objective fact. No! Bad Matt!
I am going to objectively speak an objectively subjective statement about your objectively subjective opinion!
Same here. I had a black ’04 and lived driving that thing; it was kind of like a go cart. Lots of fun and very nice looking in my opinion.
PITA to get a car seat in the back, though.
Even considering the disappointing 160hp engine?
For Petes Sake Honda… put a real bumper on this thing!
I’m kind of hoping that the rear bumper design shown in all the press pics is only the “Sport” trims, and maybe the LX and EX variants won’t be so fugly.
” Strangely, Honda says its slushbox Sport and Sport Touring models will achieve closer to mid-30s on the highway”
Shorter gearing?
This thing is as ugly as sin, looks like something Hyundai or Kia would have come up with 20 years ago.
And, strangely enough, Google is popping up Kia ads over each of the photos as I write this…
About 10 years ago Hyundai did offer an Elantra GT hatchback that looks a bit like this new Civic, though the Hyundai was slightly less tacky.
The good engine standard in the basic LX trim with a manual, a starting price under 20, and 26 cubic feet of storage space? Everything looks awesome on paper. Then I see the pictures and all joy evaporates.
My 4-year old has Hotwheel cars of made-up make/model with better exterior design than this.
Go see it in person before passing judgment. Ever since Bangle “changed car designed 4evvva” to rely on more 3d surfaces, cars have looked prettier in person than in pictures. And the Japanese have now taken over the mantra of what Bangle started.
I agree, but that doesn’t work for every car. I’ve seen the sedan in person and that’s already pushing it. The hatch is worse.
It is not the sheet metal surfacing or overall geometry that turns me off, it’s the trapezoidal mesh black plastic bumper panels that turn the front fascia into a sneer and otherwise do nothing but lower the perceived age and maturity level of the driver.
The rear/side view is just full of competing colors, angles and plastic bits that just scream “Hot Mess”.
But, if Honda is finally bringing a Civic hatch back to the U.S. —
As per usual, dealers will not order or stock LX models so you can buy the pricier EX.
Their loss. I’ll buy manual Mazda3
Per wikipedia:
“Production of US model of Mazda3 sedan at Mazda de Mexico Vehicle Operation (MMVO) in Salamanca, Guanajuato began in 2014-01-07 as the factory’s first production vehicle model.”
Nice.
You get me.
warm fuzzies
Sweet.
+1 The Mazda3 hatch has better styling… more sophisticated if you will. This Civic is just too busy.
Would be curious to see it in person to see just how well packaged it is, those numbers sure sound good. A stick shift LX would make a nice long term commuter for me. Boy do I hate the styling though. Honda, study a picture of a late 80s Accord Aerodeck and make something like that!
The new Civic Sedan looked good on paper… and it is mostly good. But Edmunds’ long term test is struggling to get the rated 35 mpg. So far, it is averaging 32.8.
http://www.edmunds.com/honda/civic/2016/long-term-road-test/2016-honda-civic-august-fuel-economy-update-daily-grind-takes-a-toll.html
I would give one a try (manual LX), but I think I’d still prefer an Accord Sport manual coupe.
Gojira!
Stoppu steppingu ahn ah kahs!
Now we got to try serr them riku that!
This is going to flop hard because it is a stupid design and they will use that as justification to never bring in the wagon which is actually more of a hatchback…
“Mercifully, it looks a lot better than the pug-nosed, bent-nail-shifter Si oddity of the early 2000s.”
Are you freaking blind?
Seriously. Ass in estrus and crinkled sides or it’s an ugly car?
Gimme that powerplant in the HRV and I’m happy.
I wouldn’t count on that wing adding drag – the 2006 Civic Si’s wing actually reduced drag by 3%. Wings designed with the rest of the car, with CFD or a wind tunnel, often improve the aerodynamics in every way. I’m guessing that the non-Sport models were tuned to game the EPA test (you’ll be able to stay out of boost if you drive as gingerly as the testers do) while the Sport models are tuned to keep up with slightly aggressive drivers’ throttle habits.
As for looks, I like it – I prefer the sloping rear (if you can’t have a full-length wagon). Busy in the details, but it has better stance than my current-gen Mazda3 hatch. Bigger back seats, too. Our rear-facing child seat really pushes the Mazda3 to its limits. I probably wouldn’t trade, though; I was able to get mine with leather AND a stick, and Mazda’s infotainment doesn’t have 1990s graphics like Honda’s. Nor is it touch-based. Steering feel’s better, too. Tight inside and noisy, though.
My Honda-loyalist wife wanted to get a fully loaded Civic hatch, but her car was totaled by a new driver while it was parked in front of our house. The hatchbacks hadn’t arrived yet, and we couldn’t wait. She bought a 2014 X1. The firm ride and steering are common complaints, but she’s coming out of an RSX so it’s the closest thing she could find in how it feels to drive. (The RSX’s liftback is the reason she was drawn to the Civic hatch).
200hp should be a few hundred bucks and a tuned chip away. This car should be feel almost as fast as an Si or GTi I would think. Really liking it. A good deal for the money. I am ok with the styling.
Looks kinda like a junior Crosstour (which is not a good thing).
Previously I was hoping that Honda would revive the Civic hatchback, instead they seem to have dug up a Chevy Citation with a weird bodykit.
Will the radio have dials?
I think the color choice for this car might be black. That would hide the busy-ness a bit.
“Some vtech must kick in, yo”
I doubt that anyone who bought a brand new Honda product ever said that.
That’s what people would say after getting their parents hand-me-down Honda and being legitimately blown away that their parents car possessed this feature so high in the rev band.
The sedan really stands out on the street as a premium looking vehicle in the compact/mid-size segment.
Ford Focus has all the cool stuff to read about in articles but the vehicles are extremely disappointing on the street, unreliable, poorly designed with fit/finish levels that are embarrassing.
ST yo! Umm… actually ST sounds way too much like slang from the Quebec side
So, if you want a stick shift, you’re stuck with the ridiculous 80’s style fixed-interval intermittent wipers Honda insists on using on low trim cars?
Seems like a small thing, but lack of variable delay is kind of an annoying PITA in the real world.
From what I can tell, neither the LX or Sport trims have variable speed wipers. Hopefully, I’m wrong. I think those are the only trims where a manual trans is available, so it’s not like you can just step up to an EX.
If there were a way I could own and drive this car without having to look at it I would be all over it. I can’t recall a car I have loved spec wise and hated equally visually as much. This thing is a complete abomination. Makes my 09 Civic sedan look like an Alfa Romeo 156.
I find it funny you say that because imho, the 2006+ cars were some of the ugliest Civics ever. I absolutely loathe than A pillar which makes the car look like a darn minivan. The rear was ok but the front spoiled it completely.
The new car looks quite sporty in sedan form and I like it. Would consider a hatch!
Can someone remind me what a “c-note” is? Who uses these phrases any more?
c-note = $100 bill.
c-note = one Benjamin
Automotive journalism and blogging is filled with these kinds of turn of phrases. Some are jarring, such as V-TEC kicks in at 5 grand. When I hear grand, I think of money, not rpm. Some are lazy, such as controls fall neatly to hand. Some are wrong, such as calling it power to weight ratio when it’s really weight to power, or when they misuse foot-pound and pound-feet. Some are clever, and you’ll find examples from some writers on TTAC (JB for example).
c-note is ok with me. It was popular in the 1920s and 1930s gangster films.
This thing is a train wreck. It is right up there with the Pontiac Aztek for heinous style. I can’t believe Honda has fallen this hard.
Meh.. it’s not so much worse than the rest of the C-segment. It’s the game, not any one particular player.
I like Pch’s explanation that this is just Honda throwing these at Americans to see if any stick and to keep their UK workers employed despite overcapacity for the Euro market.
Maybe they like this crumpled look over there.
“Maybe they like this crumpled look over there.”
Well, that has the added advantage of making it hard to tell if you’ve had a minor accident.
A lot of mature people do like and drive Civics. Perhaps Honda should have saved the boy racer flair for the Si, Type S, and Type R models.
Yeah, this thing is a travesty of what a clean & decent Honda hatch could be for regular folks.
Fortunately there’s still the Fit and if selling a few of these here keeps some Brits able to buy pints, bangers and tellys… what the hey?
While I think they beat the Civic sedan with an ugly stick when transforming it into the hatch, I think it’ll be fine in darker colors where the gigantic plastic inserts aren’t as obvious and thus offensive.
Those plastic inserts on the front and rear could make great advertising space, nice spot for your monster/ metal mulisha or tap out stickers?
The Civic became the official car of school librarians in 2012, but I think even they will be put off by this design.
One of the stroke-inducing hottest women I ever saw was a librarian at our state historical society in the ’90s. Very distracting from the Pacific War research I was conducting.
Speak not to me in derisive tones of librarians.
Hey, some people like GILFS…to each his own, but understand that you represent the minority.
Oh, hevens-to-Betsy, I’m crazy about GILFS!
But she was in her late 30s then and unencumbered by offspring so I doubt she ever became one.
Really not sure about this thing but it kind of makes my head hurt. I’ll have to reserve final judgment until I can critique one on a Sunday. It’s definitely not a conservatively styled current generation Golf, or a conservatively styled 1989 Civic hatchback.
Meanwhile, I’ll just leave this here.
http://www.honda.co.uk/cars/new/civic-tourer-2015/overview.html
As an owner of the Honda Tourer (Acura TSX Wagon), I get it! The Civic Tourer in the link looks good, but like its bigger brother, it won’t sell in the U.S.
The Civic Coupe and Sedan mostly looks good, but somehow, the design didn’t translate well over to the lift-back… and I generally like lift-backs!
I’d potentially buy a Civic Tourer, but they can’t make a business case for 1 potential sale. The Civic hatch is just so busy. I dunno…
Not thrilled by the exterior – but a manual transmission, usable haul space, and a small, Honda reliable (?) turbocharged engine. It’s like a Mini minus the premium pricing (and sometimes wonky engineering).
It is even more ugly than the conventional Son-of-Crosstour sedan and coupe, which is to say, plenty ugly, beyond even Mazda 3 hatch levels of mis-proportion thanks to the anime-themed front and rear ends. Somebody find an out-of-work GM or Ford stylist to let Honda hire, because the ones they have now are obviously staying out way too late at night in the party section of Tokyo.