2012 Honda Civic EX Review-The eight-generation Civic was the most stylish to date. While not everyone was a fan, I personally liked the car’s tight proportions and smooth flowing curves. At the time I thought the 2006 Civic signaled a new emphasis on innovative yet tasteful design by Honda. For the 2012 Civic, Honda has retained similar dimensions (though, reversing a decades-long trend, its wheelbase is 1.2 inches shorter). Honda claims that the revised interior “delivers more style and convenience than any other vehicle in [the] segment.” Yes, style is highly subjective. Other car manufacturers used to copy Honda’s innovations. The door panels include four different hard plastics. Even in the up level Honda Civic EX the fabric appears chintzy. Once upon a time the instrument panels in Hondas were compact and shockingly low. There’s a little more rear legroom than before, but the seat’s width remains that of a compact sedan.
Even in Honda Civic EX trim the Civic tips the scales at 2,765 pounds, light for a compact sedan these days. In another fuel economy-oriented tweak, the steering is now electric assist on all Civics rather than just the Si and Hybrid. The new Civic’s handling is predictable, stable, and safe. The new Civic usually rides smoothly, but feels a little unsettled over some surfaces and never feels precisely damped the way a Ford Focus or Mazda3 does. (To out-eco the Elentra, a Civic HF with 29/41 ratings is also offered.) There’s also a prominently placed instantaneous mpg display. The average fuel economy readout within the new information display is a bit of a bother, though.
The 2012 Honda Civic EX lists for $21,255, up $100 from the 2011 despite the addition of a few features, including stability control. The most aggressively priced: a Hyundai Elentra Limited, with heated leather seats (in both rows!), lists for $20,700. A 2012 Ford Focus SE lists for about the same as the Honda when equipped with sunroof and alloy wheels, but is more fun to drive and feels like a much more expensive car. The 1984 car was a design landmark whose influence continues 28 years later.
The 2012 Honda Civic sedan's new duds are kind of like that.
Honda The digital Speedo is flanked on the right by a crisp new five-inch Multi-Information Display (I-MID) that displays everything from stereo information to Bluetooth status and trip computer functions with pleasingly high-resolution graphics. (Side note: Although our Honda Civic EX test subject didn't arrive with GPS, we've driven other models so equipped and the new i-MID's resolution makes the aging main navigation screen look decidedly yestertech).
The Civic's center stack is canted dramatically toward the driver and dominated by the audio controls with an easy layout and Playskool-sized buttons. Despite having a shorter wheelbase (all other major exterior measurements are identical to last year's model), the Civic still feels quite roomy on the inside. In fact, Honda says that interior space is up by 3.7 cubic feet, primarily in the form of added shoulder room up front along with increased hip room front and rear. Interestingly, Honda has chosen to eschew the latest round of multispeed gearboxes and engine tricks like direct-injection or forced induction in favor of preserving the Civic's lighter-than-average weight and less-costly measures like aero refinements (smooth underbelly, aero fences ahead of the wheels, low drag mirrors, etc.) to deliver class-competitive performance numbers. Use of high-strength steel in the ninth-generation Civic's chassis has increased to 55 percent (up five percent). That change at once improves rigidity by 10 percent and lowers body weight by seven percent (Honda Civic EX models like ours check in at 2,765 pounds). Thanks in part to the Civic's light weight, EPA fuel economy estimates check in at 28 miles per gallon in the city, 39 on the highway. In predominantly highway driving, our still-green Honda Civic EX (just over 2,700 clicks on the odometer) returned a respectable 32.9 mpg.
It's certainly a refined drive, but one would think that a shorter wheelbase and modestly lower weight (between 20 and 58 pounds lighter depending on model) would lead to a friskier-handling car – indeed, Honda claims it to be so – but we found this 2012 Civic to be a humdrum performer that neither encourages or rewards enthusiastic driving.
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