I had time to drive a new Civic a few days ago, and I have to say that I was pretty let down by the car.

negatives:
Poor throttle response (I hated the DBW in this car, could not heel-toe for the life of me, at least not smoothly).
Very little headroom. I adjusted the seat as best as I could, but this thing has less headroom than the S2000 does (with the hardtop on).
Felt very clausterphobic. The way that the B-pillars are shaped, made me feel like I was trapped in some sort of box on wheels. It was a very weird feeling. I know, again sounds strange coming from an S2000 owner.
Two-tier gauge cluster. Not a big fan of this. If the tach area also had a small km/h display I would be fine with this, but I found it hard to pay attention to tach and speedo at the same time.
Power. This car feels anemic. I drove my brothers mazda3 as soon as I got home to make sure I wasn't on crack. Noticeable difference in "punch" between the two cars. Both cars feel "unwilling" to rev to redline, though.
no navi for Canada. I understand their reasoning (no market for it), but I'd be one of the few people that would actually pay to have this in the car. Maybe they'll offer it in the Si?

positives:
Seats. The seats were more comfortable and supportive than those in the S2000. This was the best positive to the new Civic.
Gear shift. very reasonable throws, and precise. Best stock gear shift of any Civic thus far. I'm sure the Civic Si 6 speed will feel even better, probably more like a TSX or Accord.
Exterior looks. Subjective for sure, but Honda got the exterior look of this car right (finally). You know its an economy car by looking at it, but you know they at least tried to make it attractive.
Stereo. Finally a decent factory audio system in a Civic. Still not great by any means, but a step in the right direction. MP3 capabilities built in.


Overall I was pretty disappointed. I'll reserve my judgement for the Si, and I'm also going to have to sit in the Sedan. I have a feeling the sedan wont feel nearly as closed in as the coupe does.

The Mazda3 still gets my vote as best economy car. If mazda just offered some seats that were as supportive as those in the Civic coupe, I'd be really impressed.

 

I think you must have driven a Friday made Civic

I drove the 2-door LX model and I was quite impressed.
If I had to get a new car today, the Civic would be the car.

Powertrain:

Decent enough, thought it was quiet punchy.
Rev matched downshifts were pretty good so DBW throttle response wasn't a problem.
The 200hp Si should be way better.
Smooth all the way to redline, no problem getting the revs up.

Interior:

Thought that there were lots of space
Loved the two tier instruments, but still prefer the S tach/speedo more
Seats were great
Stereo was excellent
Steering Wheel, nice diameter
Only thing I didn't like was the blind spot when making left shoulder checks. Solution duck your head out of the driver window like you would in the S


Exterior:

Love both the two and 4 door version.
Prefer the two door and personally, the coupe looks like a smaller version of the Acura RL. The best thing is it is only 35% of the RL cost


Overall:

Great car, it will put the Mazda 3 to shame in all areas, looks, reliability, resale, etc...

 

I drove the coupe and thought it was great. I felt it pulled nearly as strong as the B16 A2 I had in my 00' SiR. I had no issues nailing redline and the gearbox is a gem. Headroom is a little tight on the coupe if equipped with the sunroof. I really hope Honda offers the Si in a 4 door format as rumour has it, would make a great daily driver and there is certainly a market for it.

 

Yeah the Si 4 door would be great. I'd probably take a serious look at that over a TSX if I were in the market for such a car.

 

i definitly enjoyed it!

 

I agree that a 4 door Si would be awesome, but personally, I don't think I'd be looking at it if I were able to purchase the TSX. I had a TSX before the S2k and I absolutely loved it. Power-wise, I'm sure the 4dr Si would be more than able to compete, but in other categories, I think the TSX would win hands-down.

 

If it were my only car there is no question I'd take the TSX over the Si 4 door (or the new Acura CSX for that matter), but as a second vehicle I might opt to save the $7,000+

 

The Civic is the perfect urban car, not an econo box like the Toyota Yaris. So far I know 3 people already who bought it within a couple weeks of each other and there seems to be a shortage of Civics already.

However, to get a new Si, after tax and everthing, it will be the same cost as say a used 2002 S2000. Hmm, tough choice, not!

 

The Honda Fit will be here next spring to compete with the Yaris. The Fit apparently has more room inside than the Civic. Honda has stated that they are doing numerous changes to the Fit in order to satisfy North American enthusiast driver's, it will not be your typical econobox. Honda should clean house in this segment dominated by the Korean's. The Fit should make for the perfect city slicker/winter transport.

 

Just got the MSRP from Honda on the SI. If I remember correctly it will be approx $25,880.00 plus freight and PDI. What a deal! The bad news is dealership allocation will run around one per month.