Honda Civic 2015: Increased attraction

With a new grille, a new and more convenient central screen with only a slight increase in price, can Honda Civic 2015 convince Vietnamese consumers?

Honda Civic 2015 was one of the 2 products that were introduced by Honda Vietnam at Vietnam Motor Show 2014. At first glance, you may think that the new Civic has nothing changed. In fact, only its rear end receives no changes. We expect the presence of LED technology, but we guess we will have to wait for the next generation.

Honda’s focus is to bring a sporty theme for Civic 2015 through its front end – which every customer expressed concerns about when decide to buy the model. Specifically, Civic 2015 receives a totally new grille, from 3-spoke style to black honeycomb style highlighted with an elegant shiny U-shaped chrome-plated bar which is designed under the new design language ‘Exciting H Design’, similar to Accord’s new gen.

In addition, the grille under the front bumper is also added with a chrome-plated bar to enhance its elegance. Notably, the projector headlights not only employ HID lights but are also integrated with sensors that automatically adjust the illumination direction when cornering (only available on version 2.0) – a rare feature that can hardly be found on other vehicles in Civic’s segment.

Basically, Civic 2015’s size is no different compared to previous models, still 4.525 x 1.755 x 1.450mm as length x width x height with a wheelbase of 2.670mm. However, wheels and rims’ size have been modified a little, with its wheel being 16inch instead of the old 15 inch while its tires are 205/55 R16.

In term of interior, Honda does not focus on cockpit design but only slightly changes the color of the panels of the dashboard from a mix of black and silver (previous models) to only black. After all, to this point, we still consider Civic to be one of the few cars in its segment that has good and modern interior design. Therefore, Honda focused on upgrading the car’s utilities to bring more convenience to customers.

It can be easily seen that Honda has upgraded the Civic 2015 infotainment system based on the MirrorLink platform with a high-quality 7-inch touch screen Audio 2.0, similar to that of CR-V. With the MirrorLink platform, users will receive more connections to peripheral devices such as USB or cell phone through HDMI/USB/Bluetooth connection. The platform’s interface is user-friendly and easy to use.

An interesting point of the new Civic point is that it is integrated with Sygic GPS that supports Vietnam map when connected with iPhone 5 or higher. This feature is now quite limited with the iPhone being the exclusive device for it, we hope that in the future Honda will support other cell phone brands. In addition, Civic 2015 also features a rear view camera capable of displaying 3 different angles (similar to CR-V) and a hand-free button on the steering wheel.

Other useful functions include the fuel-saving driving mode ECON and safety features inherited from previous models such as the anti-lock brake system ABS, the vehicle stability assist VSA and the electronic brake force distribution EBD to help users drive more confidently and comfortably.

Civic 2015 employs the same engine options with previous models, with a 1.8L version and a 2.0L version, capable of producing 104 kW (139HP) and 114 kW (153HP) respectively. However, all manual transmission versions are dropped with the only choice remaining is the 5-speed automatic transmission.

As we test-run Civic 2015 on the Phap Van – Cau Gie route, it brought us not so much different experience compared with previous versions because of the same engine. Its noise insulation capability í still good on smooth and flat roads but remains a little bit noisy when running on rough roads. Most of the noise is created from around the A pillar.

With such big tires (205/55 R16), we initially thought that those will bring more noise, however that was not true as it yelled the same result compared to previous generations. The engine continues operating at 2.200rpm at 100km/h is another factor that makes the car become less noisy.

The McPherson suspension of the front wheels and the multi-link suspension of the rear ones are capable of providing driver and passengers with smoothness and silence during a long journey. For 3 days and 400km, we have tried to calculate the car’s fuel consumption, and the 2.0L was the version with the most accurate fuel consumption announced by the producer, with around 5.9L/100km when running constantly at 100km/h on highway.

However, for a better fuel consumption, a velocity of 80km/h at 1.800rpm in ECON mode is the answer. In urban areas where travelling at low speed is a normal condition, the car’s fuel consumption is around 10.5L/100km – a number worth mentioning with a 2.0L engine.

Currently, Civic is under huge pressure from vigorous rivals such as Toyota Altis, Mazda 3, Kia K3… The changes in the new Civic are not something too breakthrough-ish but it will somewhat bring a fresh air to customers who purchased Civic 2015.

At the same time, the 2015 version of Civic also shows that Honda is gradually more concern about customers as the producer has provided really useful features, not redundant ones. The model’s price is announced by Honda Vietnam to be at 780 million VND for the 1.8L version and 869 million VND for the 2.0L version.

 

Kỳ Long
Ảnh: Ngô Minh

Các bài đã đăng