Review of the 2011 Honda Civic Coupe

Honda has long impressed car buyers with the Civic Coupe due to the stellar mileage numbers, the sporty styling, and the reputation for quality. However, the 2011 Honda Civic is now five years into the current design without a lot of significant changes. Have other automakers caught up to this popular model, or does the Civic coupe still dominate the compact coupe segment?

To answer this question, a quick examination of the technical particulars is in order. The Civic coupe comes in four basic option packages: The DX, which is the base model, the LX, which is the "mid luxury" model, the EX, which is the top of the line coupe, and the Si, which is a sportscar version of the Civic. Each package comes with the availability of either an automatic or manual transmission, but all versions of the Civic Coupe use the same 140 horsepower, 4-cylinder engine. The exception to this is the Si coupe, which uses a 197 horsepower, 4-cylinder engine.

The 140 horsepower engine gets an impressive 36 miles per gallon highway and 25 city, while the sport-tuned engine of the Si gets 29 highway and 21 city. All versions of the car come with standard front and side airbags, anti-lock brakes, and tire pressure monitoring to ensure safe travel.

While these features are all very good, they are not significantly better than competitors like the Hyundai Elantra, the Toyota Corolla, the Ford Focus, or the Chevy Cruze. Where the Civic stands out is in the fit and finish, particularly in the $25,000 EX model. The EX feels like a luxury car that just happens to be small. The ride is smooth and refined, and the accoutrements, like an available navigation system and available heated leather front seats make this seem like a top car in the compact segment.

While the ride is still much the same, the DX represents an entirely different experience, and not really one that is to be bragged about. The $16,000 base model DX has no audio system, power locks, or air conditioner and feels very much like an econo-box despite sharing the basic components of the more full-featured LX and EX models.

For those looking for something between $15,000 and $20,000 that has a lot of personal comfort options and a rich, sumptuous feel, the Civic coupe is probably not the best option. Kia, Hyundai, and even Ford offer cars in this segment that, while not matching in things like reputation for quality or resale value, are still quite competitive. For those looking to spend $20,000-$26,000 on a car of this size that expect some real posh, sensual features, the EX is still king.

Sources:
http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-coupe/specifications.aspxhttp://www.kbb.com/new-cars/honda/civic/2011/review-pricing-notes?filter=hasereviewhttp://www.kbb.com/new-cars/honda/civic/2011/review?filter=hasereview