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| The 2016 Honda Civic 1.5T 2-Door Touring. |
Most of this decade has been spent by professional TireKickers like myself lamenting how Honda in general and the Civic in particular had lost its mojo. Once the hippest of the hip, the car company that could do no wrong in the eighties and nineties---the company that, I maintain, WAS Apple in that it produced beautiful, simple things that worked and that people were willing to line up and pay more for.
The turnaround began in earnest a couple of years ago. And we're seeing the fruits of it in the 2016 Honda Civic 1.5T 2-door Touring.
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| 2016 Honda Civic 1.5T 2-Door Touring. |
This is really a factory version of what the street kids were trying to do 10 and 15 years ago with the tuner Civics. But Honda does it all for you. Slick lines, blackout trim, 17-inch alloy wheels, and a 174-horsepower turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine that's not only quick (174 horsepower is plenty in a car this light), but delivers some killer gas mileage (the EPA says 31 city/41 highway).
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| 2016 Honda Civic 1.5T 2-Door Touring interior. |
Pop for the top-of-the-line Touring model ($26,125) and you get leather-trimmed seats, steering wheel and shift knob, a 450-watt 10-speaker plus subwoofer premium audio system, voice recognition, rear-view camera, Apple CarPlay, pushbutton start and keyless entry, a dual-zone automatic climate control system with air filtration, heated front seats, power windows and door locks, a tilting and telescoping steering column, illuminated visor vanity mirrors, a one-touch power moonroof, automatic headlights, fog lamps, rain-sensing wipers, heated power door mirrors, adaptive cruise cotrol, collision mitigating braking, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and road departure mitigation.
Downside? It's only available with the Continuously Variable Transmission. It's not a bad CVT, but a six-speed manual in this car would be tremendous.
Still.
$26,125 as mentioned before, and since it's all standard, the bottom line ended up being $26,960 with destination and handling. It's quick, it's fun...it's what a Civic Coupe should be.
