Honda Civic EX
There was a time when sports cars and coupes were decidedly different.
But autos such as Honda’s new Civic EX two-door coupe, which I recently tested, are blurring the line between sports cars and coupes.
Think of the sleek Honda Civic EX coupe as a sports car with a back seat and a hard top. In fact, it looks much like a two-seater with a removable hard top that many sports car owners put on their cars for winter.
The Honda Civic EX coupe is as much fun to drive as most sports cars, although its five-speed manual transmission sometimes gets notchy when shifted fast. Its potent, four-cylinder engine provides swift acceleration, and Honda’s race-style, double-wishbone suspension provides sparkling road manners.
Most sports cars wouldn’t satisfy frugal motorists, but the Civic coupe has a miserly side: It delivers 29 m.p.g. in the city and 35 on the highway with its five-speed manual transmission (27 and 34 with a four-speed automatic.)
Moreover, the coupe is spacious – especially in the rear where you don’t really expect it to be – because it shares the Civic sedan’s longish 103.2-inch wheelbase. It’s a bit of a hassle to climb past the front seatbacks and safety belts into the rear, but four tall adults easily fit in the car, with reasonable room for a fifth on short trips.
Honda has introduced the Civic coupe to join its range of Civic two-door hatchbacks and four-door sedans.
While hatchbacks remain hot in Europe, an increasing number of Americans want the more upscale look of a car with a regular trunk. And a conventional trunk has a practical side in that it removes cargo from the sight of thieves.
The new Civic coupe comes in base DX form for $10,350 with the manual transmission and for $11,330 with the automatic. The more-powerful, equipment-loaded EX coupe costs $12,400 with manual, $13,150 with automatic.
Both models have a standard driver’s air bag. But the EX can be had with an option package that also includes a front-passenger air bag and a killer six-speaker AM/FM stereo cassette designed to match the coupe’s interior acoustic characteristics. The EX with this package costs $13,200 with manual transmission, $13,950 with the automatic.
The DX coupe has a fairly sophisticated 1.5-liter, 102-horsepower engine with an overhead camshshaft, four valves per cylinder and precise fuel injection. The 1.5 four-cylinder is a real fuel-miser, delivering 34 m.p.g. in the city and 40 on the highway with the manual and 27 and 34 with automatic.
The DX is decently equipped, with items including power steering (with automatic transmission only), power brakes, adjustable steering column, driver’s remote-operated mirror, tinted glass and rear-window defroster.
However, the DX is sorely missing a tachometer, which is needed to keep tabs on the high-revving 1.5-liter engine when you’re shifting.
The Honda Civic EX coupe, which has a “tach,” is the best of the two coupe models. It doesn’t cost all that much more than the DX, and comes with an 1.6-liter, 125-horsepower engine. The smooth, fairly quiet motor uses Honda’s innovative variable valve timing to achieve its high output.
With most engines, there’s always been a trade-off between strong performance at lower and higher speeds. For instance, most cars that are fast off the line, with good punch at 55 m.p.h., usually begin running out of breath at 65-70 m.p.h.
Honda’s variable valve timing eliminates the trade-off because, at low engine speeds, timing and lift of the valves that let power-producing fuel into cylinders are optimized for good low- and mid-range acceleration. At high engine r.p.m., a mechanism directs the intake valves to lift sooner, higher and for a longer duration to let more fuel and air into cylinders for strong high-r.p.m. performance on the open road.
In short, the engine is allowed to breathe more efficiently over a wide r.p.m. range.
You zoom from 0-60 m.p.h. in a quick 8.4 seconds, and easily scoot around those trucks that are blocking your progress on the highway.
Besides the “smarter” engine, the DX has many standard items, including power steering for both manual- and automatic-transmission models, cruise control and power sunroof, brakes, windows and door locks.
Honda says the dealer-installed air conditioning, which practically everyone will want, will set buyers back about $900.
My test car’s brakes were easily modulated with the pedal, and they stopped the coupe quickly and surely. But it’s unfortunate that anti-lock brakes can’t be ordered because the Honda Civic EX coupe encourages the lively driving that can get drivers into situations that call for hard, no-lock braking.
It’s comforting to know Honda has given its new, 2,390-pound coupe small but important safety touches, such as variable-diameter, tubular door-reinforcing beams that add to the body’s integrity.
The comfortable seats have good lateral support, the sports-car instrumentation is easily read and intelligently placed controls work with Honda’s typical nice smooth feel. Visibility is good, thanks to the car’s low hood and cowl and generous glass area.
There’s a fair amount of tire noise at highway speeds. But, mostly, the nice-riding Civic coupe is carefully built and nicely painted, with a very rigid, rattle-free body that makes the car feel as if it’ll last into the next century, with reasonable care.
Who needs a sports car?
