Honda says that nothing was sacrosanct when it set about developing the new Civic that was finally revealed in full at Frankfurt after a seemingly interminable teaser campaign of photos of ‘disguised’ prototypes, corporate propaganda videos and a photo of the newly aerodynamic tail light cluster.
The ‘magic’ rear seat, said to give the car unparalleled space and practicality in the small hatch class and to be one of the favourite features of buyers, came in for scrutiny.
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“We considered every aspect as a candidate to be modified,” said Mitsura Kariya, the development chief. “The magic seat is practical but it is heavy and weight reduction is a priority with every new car.”
In the end the seat stayed because it is such a valued feature among customers but Kariya said little else was carried over from the current model. “About 80% of the parts have been newly designed even if the systems – such as the rear axle – follow a similar format. But the specification and dimensions and co-ordinates have been modified.
“The frame of the engine block is the same, but everything else has been modified to reduce friction and work with stop-start.”
What current owners will be glad to see the back of is the current rear window arrangement. On the new car the glass is still split by a spoiler, but the upper part now has a wiper and the lower portion has heater elements, both of which were missing from the outgoing model.
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By GlobalDataThe new Civic will go on sale at the start of next year with 1.4- and 1.8-litre petrol engines and a 2.2-litre diesel. Prices will be similar to today’s, starting at around GBP16,000. The 2.2-litre diesel will bring CO2 emissions down to 110g/km but a brand-new 1.6-litre diesel will be added later and Kariya believes it could offer class-leading efficiency and performance.
“We are already testing a prototype and from the result of that test we can be quite confident,’ he said. Kariya would not be drawn on the possibility of a hybrid version, but said becuase the engine bay can easily accommodate a 2.2-litre diesel engine with a six-speed gearbox there would be no packaging issues in fitting in a petrol-electric powertrain.
The new Civic was displayed only with five doors car and a replacement for the current three-door is not currently in the plan. Other markets get a sedan and a coupe. The three-door axe does not mean there will be no performance Type-R version, however.
“A sporty car does not have to be a three-door,” said Kariya. “We believe we have managed to create a five-door that is sufficuently sporting.”
“It is more likely there will be a Type-R than a three-door.” A new Type-R would almost certainly have more power than the 200bhp of the current model, too.
“If you look at the European B-segment (superminis) there are already some with 200bhp, and in the C-segment some go almost as high as 300bhp. So if we seriously think about a sports derivative, 200bhp will not be enough,” he said.
