Honda stays ahead of compact pack with 2012 Civic

Detroit, heed this warning.

Do not underestimate the 2012 Honda Civic.

It was the single most important vehicle shown at the New York International Auto Show this week.

The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze and 2012 Ford Focus are spectacular compact cars partly because Chevy and Ford engineers benchmarked the Civic. For a decade, the Civic has been the best compact car around, and while others have gained ground, this Honda remains near the head of the class.

It is a nameplate that has been around a lot longer than any American compact car, and don't let anyone fool you: Honda Motor Co. has a lot riding on this little car.

Honda has not raised any eyebrows with many of its recently launched vehicles. The new Accord is dull. The Crosstour is confusing, and the current face of Honda's luxury brand Acura continues to bring the brand ridicule. If Honda had messed up the Civic, it would be time to get out a fork and turn the brand over.

But there was no mistake made with this new vehicle.

Now, as the new Civic arrives, it faces a much tougher climate. The Cruze, the Focus and the Hyundai Elantra have garnered well-earned praise from consumers and the automotive press, including myself.

Although the Civic is no longer alone, underestimating it would be a serious mistake.

Here's why:
Variety: The 2012 Civic offers almost every model variation. There are sedans, coupes, gas-electric hybrids (with lithium-ion batteries), a compressed natural gas model and even a performance Si model. New to this lineup is the Civic HF, which focuses on higher gas mileage.

This follows on the heels of other carmakers such as Chevrolet, Ford and Hyundai, which offer similarly branded vehicles. No other compact, however, comes in as many different variations as the Civic (the only model missing is a hatchback, which is a mistake).

Pricing: With so many different models, the Civic offers a price for just about anyone:
Civic DX sedan (5-speed manual): $15,805
Civic LX coupe (5-speed manual): $17,655
Civic LX sedan (5-speed auto): $18,655
Civic EX sedan with navigation (5-speed auto): $22,005
Civic Si coupe (6-speed manual): $22,205
Civic Si sedan (6-speed manual): $22,405
Civic Hybrid: $24,050
Civic natural gas: Price not released

All of this pricing is on par with much of the competition, which means Honda is certainly in the hunt for compact consumers.

Performance: While I have not driven the new Civic, I expect it to provide performance on par with all of the serious competition. The previous-generation Civic has a quiet, well-tuned ride, with enough power to speed along the highway and enough handling chops to zip through city traffic. This model introduces a new electric power-assist steering system (EPAS), the next-generation vehicle-stability control, improved aerodynamics and a stiffer body for improved handling. Tuning on the steering will be important as EPAS can sometimes create a numb feeling that leaves a driver disconnected from the road.

Additionally, the performance-oriented Si model features a new 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine that generates 201 horsepower. It's only four more ponies than the 2-liter engine, but tuners around the world can rejoice that their beloved Si now has peak horsepower over 200. (The Si also features a lower height, a limited-slip front, and 17-inch aluminum wheels that all could add to the driving experience.)

It's Honda's 1.8-liter, four-cylinder engine that will do most of the heavy-duty work for the brand, and even this engine has undergone a number of improvements to make it more efficient.
It produces 140 horsepower and provides gas mileage from 28 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway for a DX sedan with a five-speed manual transmission to 41 mpg on the highway for the HF model.

One disappointment with the new Civic comes with the lack of a six-speed automatic transmission, though Honda says this five-speed is more refined and updated. Nearly every competitor has one now, as six-speeds have become the industry norm. It will be interesting to see whether that missing gear hinders its performance in any way.

Exterior styling: While many new compact cars offer extravagant styling, the new Civic does not look dramatically different than the previous generation. But don't mistake this car as simply a refreshed vehicle; it has been redesigned throughout. At first glance, there doesn't seem as dramatic a difference between generations.

Many of the exterior changes were devised to improve the Civic's aerodynamics. They include new mirrors, wipers pushed below the hood line and other changes you can't see at first glance, such as underbody aero panels.

This seems to be a closely followed plan by Honda, which only dramatically changes the Civic's styling every other generation. How much that will affect the Civic will be told over the next year.

Honda's conservative approach to styling follows the lines of the Cruze, whereas the Elantra and Focus are more dynamic.

The winner here is the consumer, who now has a clear choice between dramatic good compacts and more familiar small cars.

Interior styling: The Civic evolves its interior design from the previous generation, with a new two-tiered instrument panel and entertainment system, known as i-MID. Honda has nailed one of the most important parts of any new system by giving it a nonsensical name that starts with a standalone lowercase vowel — i or e — and a full-color screen to display all of the information.

More importantly, the Civic adds more volume inside, increased by 3.7 cubic feet. The previous-generation Civic was comfortable; this one should be even a little more so.

Civic's biggest selling point still reliability

So from the sounds of it, the new Civic is improved inside and out. Whether that adds up to this vehicle becoming the next benchmark will be decided by consumers.

The compact car segment has drastically changed the past 12 months, and everyone wants an edge over everyone else. The real edge for the Civic coming out of the gate is that it's a Honda, which to many consumers means it's as reliable as a late spring in Michigan.

That wasn't always the case for the Civic. Thirty-nine years ago, when the little Civic arrived, Honda had to issue a recall because rusting was so bad the cars were considered unsafe in accidents. Now, Civics are among the safest choices of any car picked.

The competition certainly has gotten stiffer, but to sneer at this Civic too early would be a serious miscalculation. No one should do that.

Source;
http://detnews.com/article/20110423/OPINION03/104230361/Honda-stays-ahead-of-compact-pack-with-2012-Civic#ixzz1KpJ7Sjxy

Consumer Reports: Honda, Toyota vehicles most trouble-free

Sorry about the small pic, it's as big as I could find....
DETROIT — The most problem-free cars and trucks are made by Honda and Toyota, but U.S. automakers Ford and General Motors are closing the gap in quality, according to an annual survey by Consumer Reports magazine.

Ford and GM continue to narrow the disparity that once separated Asia-based automakers from their Detroit rivals. Large overhauls of American car companies in the last few years have resulted in fewer brands and better vehicles from Detroit.

For the third year in a row, Toyota's Scion had the fewest problems of any brand in the survey.

It was followed by Porsche, Acura, Honda, and Nissan's Infiniti luxury brand. The Toyota brand ranked sixth, down from third last year. It was followed by Subaru and Volvo. Lexus, which had been a top finisher in past years, fell to ninth. Ford was 10th, but rose from 16th the previous year.

Consumer Reports rankings, released Tuesday, are widely used by buyers shopping for cars and trucks. The magazine ranks No. 3 on the list of information sources used by Americans to pick vehicles, topped only by brand loyalty and recommendations from friends and family.

Scion, Toyota's youth brand, was tops because it sells just three models, the xD hatchback, xB wagon and tC coupe. Those models haven't been revamped recently. As a result, they have fewer reliability problems, said David Champion, senior director of auto testing for Consumer Reports.

Toyota generally fared well in the survey despite recalling more than 10 million vehicles worldwide for safety problems including sticky gas pedals, floor mats that can trap accelerators and brake fluid leaks.

"Toyota's taken a slight knock from the issues with their recalls," Champion said.

He said the magazine's survey asks owners to ignore recalls unless they have experienced a problem, easing the impact. Toyota's luxury brand, Lexus, has expanded its model lineup and the quality has slipped, he said.

The survey of about 960,000 of the magazine's subscribers also restored recommended ratings for eight recalled Toyota brand models.

Toyota in January recalled 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. due to sticky gas pedals, including the 2009-10 RAV4 crossover, 2009-10 Corolla, the 2009-10 Matrix hatchback, the 2005-10 Avalon, the 2007-10 Camry, the 2010 Highlander crossover, the 2007-10 Tundra pickup and the 2008-10 Sequoia SUV models.

It stopped selling the models until the vehicles on dealer lots were fixed. When sales were halted, Consumer Reports yanked the recommended ratings.

Champion said Honda is the top manufacturer for reliability, with the Honda and Acura brands consistently at the top of the survey due to a continued emphasis on quality.

Champion said the Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford has several individual models that have better quality than Toyotas. Ford's quality resurgence was led by the Fusion midsize sedan, which outranked Honda's Accord and Toyota's Camry, two of the most reliable cars on the road.

Ford's improvements began five years ago and have continued, Champion said.

General Motors showed the most improvement. GM had 69 models with average or better reliability, up from only 21 last year. GM's top-ranked brand was Chevrolet at 17, up from 25 last year.

GM shed some poor-quality models when it got rid of Saturn, Hummer and Pontiac, Champion said, and its new models like the Chevrolet Equinox crossover and Buick LaCrosse sedan are performing well.

The Chrysler brand was ranked last of 27 brands shown in the survey, the magazine said, while Jeep ranked 20th and Dodge was 24th. No Chrysler vehicles scored above average in reliability.

Champion said the company under its previous owners cut costs, and it is showing in the quality rankings. The company's in the process of updating its entire model lineup. New models like the Jeep Grand Cherokee are showing promise.

The most reliable vehicle in the survey was the Porsche Boxster sports car, while the least reliable was the Jaguar XF luxury car.

Complete rankings and recommendations will be revealed in the magazine's December issue.

Source;
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g99bly-plBKdOzx9dmhnZMP3rGZQ?docId=4947998