Refreshed Honda Civic Coming in 2013

Restyle this ugly car and retool the factory.

Those comments sound like some of the old GM bluster.

You could say this car looks as interesting as a Chevy Cavalier.

I have not driven new civic nor corolla but even this one is far more compelling than the new corolla. Now Honda is upgrading the current one so it should be a fun match.

As a past owner of multiple Honda's, the recent ones seem to lost there soul. My Honda's from the 90's drove a lot better than the new ones I have driven.

"I have not driven new civic nor corolla but even this one is far more compelling than the new corolla."

Self administered brain surgery with a spork is more interesting than a Corolla.

Double wishbones and a hatchback, Honda.

You used to have them and people loved you for it.

The underpinnings of the 9th generation Civic are okay. Seriously. The chassis is stiff and the entire structure is very light.

But... it needs better suspension tuning, a MUCH BETTER interior (maybe even a new design), and the Sedan is in serious need of a restyling. Get rid of the black plastic surrounding the windows while you're at it, and maybe it'll look a whole lot less cheap.

Also, something needs to be done about the Si in the drivetrain department. The K24 is more of a step down from the K20 (a reduction from 8400 rpm really has made the Civic lose much of its fun to drive nature). If Honda is not going to give consumers a naturally aspirated, high revving small displacement that gave the Si much of its character; they might as well put in a more powerful engine to compete against its turbo competitors- maybe call it the Civic SiR. The K24 doesn't really cut it.

@duck87: Agreed.

@duck87: Disagree.

I don't want a tiny engine that has most of its power at over 7K. If the new Civic SI had a better interior, I would give it a look. The Scion TC has a better interior and a much, much lower price.

And then there are cars like the Fusion SE. Yes, it wouldn't be as fast as the TC or SI, but it has a neat Sport package, lots of style inside and out, and again, a lower price than the SI. the Focus is about the same price as the TC, if you consider that you can only buy a Scion at the MSRP price, while all Foci are discounted.

"Despite the Consumer Reports rating and the overall response to the car, it is still selling well"

Much like the previous Camry, there is a large segment of the market that will buy this nameplate no matter what because it is just the default choice. Habits like that take a while to break, but even longer to rebuild.

So what.

Double wishbones aren't coming back as the price and packaging aren't feasable. The double wishbones are nice but the current McPherson struts aren't bad at all. BMW and Porsche use them.

Honda needs to do the following:
- Better materials and design elements forthe interior.
- Keep the currently level of refinement yet bring back the fun to drive character and tactile performance.
- Give the Si some balls. A 225hp K20 or K22(?) tuned similar to the former JDM Civic Type R would be fantastic. It had great low end power yet still had that signature mid range and top end VTEC pull.

Hopefully, they will lose the 2002-2006 Camry taillights on the sedan.