http://wot.motortrend.com/we-hear-ho...ic-130717.html

Call it either a commitment to quality or an acknowledgement of a mistake: Honda has reportedly fast-tracked a mid-cycle refresh of the 2012 Honda Civic coupe and sedan after the current model was criticized for trailing several key competitors. The Honda Civic received a much-hyped refresh for the 2012 model year, but was largely panned in the automotive press. The car tumbled off of the top of the Consumer Reports list of recommended small cars for the first time in ages after the publication’s editors called it “insubstantial.” Wall Street Journal automotive writer and Car Show host Dan Neil called it a “massive fail.”
Most complaints about the Civic are hinged on the hard plastics within its interior, which early reviews from Automobile Magazine staffers called “average at best,” although it should also be said that much of its other content also lags behind the newly minted competitors from Ford, Hyundai, Mazda, and Chevrolet. The Civic has one fewer gear than most of its competitors, and has only one non-hybrid model — the HF — that achieves 40 mpg on the highway, despite producing less power than the Mazda 3i Touring, the Ford Focus, and Hyundai Elantra. Early reviews for Motor Trend called it a “superior effort,” but criticized it for blandness, saying that unlike its predecessor, “we cannot give it a standing ovation.”
Normally, Honda’s mid-cycle refreshes occur after the product is nearly two or three years old, but an exception may be made for the Civic. Automotive News reports that Honda will significantly expedite that timetable. As a result, a refreshed Civic should hit Honda showrooms sometime in 2013, earlier than the original date of spring 2014.
If this all sounds like instituting a no-huddle offense late in the third quarter, it may well be, but American Honda President John Mendel told Automotive News his company is prepared to go the distance. “The comments…have not gone unnoticed,” he said. “We are appropriately energized.”

 

Hey. that's a really g-Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

good!
this car is the blandest one in its segment.

 

I think Corolla is still the winner.

 

Honda has been resting on their laurels for a long time now. Wish they'd bring the **** S2000 and NSX back.

 

Step in the wrong direction IMO. Looks better now.

 

I never thought I'd say this, but in this segment I think I have to give it the Kia.

 

Honda has really screwed themselves by focusing on cheap over sportiness. They've put all of their performance apples into the Acura line and even then, I can think of many other vehicles I'd rather own in that segment than the Acura TL.

Honda has so thoroughly alienated their loyal customer base by going "green" that they have really put themselves in a bad place to be for a vehicle manufacturer. Depending on their past accomplishments to sell their current lineup.

 

wow... that car is so boring, i even forgot it existed!

 

do you mean the winner of the blandest... or the winner of the coolest?!

 

Yup, we're almost in 2012 and they're still using a 4 speed auto transmission.

 

Speaking of Kia ...

I took a Rio LX for a test drive last week. Man it's a nice car for only $14,500.

 

I mean the best looking in this segment. Thought it was pretty obvious what my comment meant.

 

i knew what you meant

 

I'm glad someone at Honda is listening.

 

Yeah, the wife and I are looking for another car for the daily grind (basically, my everyday driver this go 'round) and I keep finding myself drawn back to the C segment offerings. The Kia Forte and the Hyundai Accent both look great and are surprisingly affordable relative to the competition....until you actually spend some time in them. Magazines burned this phrase up decades ago but it really does fit here, cheap touches abound in both cars.

I can say from personal experience that the Focus really is the class of this field and by some margin IMO. The biggest problem I have with the current generation Focus is that the base cars look 100% the base models that they are. To be blunt even the mid level models look none to upmarket. It is very obvious that Ford has taken the stance that, if you want a great looking car, you are going to have to pay for it. Perfect example, the wife and I saw a candy red metallic Focus Titanium the other day and it looked spectacular. The problem? While we could spend 24k on this car we aren't going to spend 24k on this car, 20k and change being our absolute max that we are willing to shell out.

Hyundai and Kia will happily let you buy a more basic model while adding the goodies that make it looks more substantial. Ford? Nope. I can't even get most of the things that make the Titanium model look so great at 21k, and in a C segment car 21k should by you a lot of leeway. In this one respect I think Ford has yet to realize that it isn't the late 90's anymore, and you can no longer expect to talk people into a more expensive car just because they can afford it as reliably as you once could. On the contrary, all this has done has taken a situation where the Focus would be a literal open and shut case for our next daily fuel miser, only to leave us looking at alternatives.

Sorry to veer off topic, please continue with your regularly scheduled programming.

 

Focus just got really expensive overnight.

$18,000 for a base Focus hatchback is just too much ... especially since I paid only $15,500 for a brand new Fusion 3 years ago.

 

Are you looking at sedan or 5-door hatches? A nice SE Focus sedan with 17" wheels/sport package and 201a package is ~21K (hatch being a bit more.) And I think one can get a Focus with 0% APR at present time.

But I do understand your position on cost. I might have thought harder about getting my Titanium if I didn't have the A/Z-Plan option. That being stated I really wanted the Titanium (with Handling Package) and love it!! I'm glad I didn't get a Fusion or Taurus (as both were options).

 

Ford's B/C offerings are intended to overlap, they're trying a new strategy down there with some overlap. The idea is that at a set dollar amount, instead of being "stuck" with whatever Ford vehicle fits that amount you can decide between a smaller car with more amenities or a larger car with a more basic load. In other words, they're hoping people cross-shop Fords with other Fords as well as Fords against the competition.

Guess we'll see how that strategy works.

 

We're looking at a sedan. Yeah, the SE Sport fits our price range perfectly and, on paper, specs out perfectly as well. The problem here is that the SE Sport very much has a 'tuner' vibe going on that I am not at all interested in. If you get leather on the SE Sport it only comes in a two tone, red and black leather that is surprisingly loud in person. And that very tuner-esque vibe applies to the exterior too; the wheels for example look almost like the adapted a torq thrust for fwd. Sounds kinda cool in type, but doesn't work so well out here in the real world. The optional wheels are arguably better, but they still aren't ideal and I'm still stuck with a red and black interior scheme that, honestly, I don't think I can live with.

If I want a more 'grown up' look I have to spend more money for options I don't really want and am forced to abandon the manual transmission that I actually do want. I understand that no car is every going to hit every sweet spot, but the fact that this car cannot be had without the very polarizing red and black interior at this trim level leaves me scratching my head a bit. IMO this is more than a minor oversight, and honestly may unfortunately be the reason that I don't buy a Focus.

Yeah, I get that. Ironically a loaded Fiesta SEL sedan has a more grown up look about it than a Focus SE Sport sedan does, due almost entirely to the interior, so I don't doubt the strategy. The problem is I would prefer a bit more room than the Fiesta offers, which points directly to the Focus SE Sport, but I don't want a car that looks like it was built for a kid who subscribes to Import Tuner magazine when you open the door. I just think that Ford has somehow gambled upon the notion that the only people spending 21-22k on a car in this segment with a stick shift are all wearing baggy pants and trading in a clapped out Civic Si hatch with a APC wing on the roof. To me that just seems like a silly way to ostracize every market segment but that one on what is otherwise a great deal for the money. Just my two cents on the issues.

If I could just select a black leather interior rather than red and black I would be willing to compromise on the rest. At the moment, we aren't sure what we are going to go with.