Honda will replace its best-selling Civic model this fall, and it is going to sacrifice some ride and handling quality for more interior room in a vehicle that is no bigger on the outside.
The key to this change in the seventh generation of the Alliston, Ontario-built model, involves the sub-compact car's suspension. The 2001 Civic will get a new 4-wheel independent set-up with MacPherson struts up front and double-wishbones in the back. Creating space was the primary motivator here as part of Honda's "Man Maximum/Machine Minimum" philosophy, and people who have driven the new Civic say it caused easily noticeable changes to the car's handling. It has been described as less fun to drive than the current Civic and a lot less responsive than the Ford Focus, which is quickly catching Civic on Canadian sales lists.
Exact details on the Canadian models will not be available for a couple of months, but we can expect to get two body styles (4-door sedan and 2-door coupe), three trim levels (DX, LX and EX), a 1.7-litre inline-4 (with two power setups), and two transmissions (a 5-speed manual and a Continuously Variable Transmission).
Honda Canada had previously taken a pass on the CVT as an option on the current Civic, but this second-generation effort is believed to be good enough to replace the traditional automatic shifter.
Essentially, a CVT is one long gear that uses the amount of engine speed as required, so it does not have the shift points of an automatic that cause gear changes you can hear and feel.