Sporty and Sophisticated Visual Presence Portends What's Under the Skin of the Dramatically Redesigned 2016 Civic Sedan

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TORRANCE, Calif., Nov. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2016 Civic Sedan, a completely new-from-the-ground-up redesign of America's most popular compact car¹, launches Nov. 12 at Honda dealerships nationwide with a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP)² starting at $18,640 – an increase of just $150 from the outgoing model. The 2016 Civic Sedan benefits from the most extensive and ambitious redesign in the 43-year history of Civic, a global development effort led for the first time by Honda's U.S. R&D team, which set their sights on creating the world's best compact-class car with benchmark-setting levels of quality, fuel efficiency, interior spaciousness and fun-to-drive performance.

"The new Honda Civic offers incredible value and a fun-to-drive spirit that will take a lot of customers by surprise," said Jeff Conrad, senior vice president and general manager of the Honda Division. "This tenth generation Civic exemplifies the incredible engineering strength of Honda and our capacity to deliver something altogether new, unexpected and thrilling for our customers."

The 2016 Civic Sedan offers buyers more choices than ever before with two all-new powertrains and an expanded range of features and trims. Civic LX and EX trims feature a new 158-horsepower, 2.0-liter i-VTEC™ engine—the most powerful base engine ever offered on Civic, while Civic EX-T, EX-L and new line-topping Touring models are powered by a 174-horspower, 1.5-liter DOHC TURBO engine with unprecedented levels of power, refinement and class-leading fuel economy ratings.

EPA fuel economy ratings for the 2016 Civic Sedan are 31/41/35 mpg³ (city/highway/combined) for 2.0-liter models with continuously variable transmission (CVT) and 31/42/35 mpg³ for 1.5-liter TURBO models with CVT. 

Additional design and engineering highlights of the all-new 2016 Civic Sedan include:

• Dynamic new styling – with a bolder, more aggressive face; sharp and sophisticated body lines; a sporty fastback profile and premium features, including the expanded use of LED exterior lighting
• All-new Civic platform architecture – with a 1.2-inch-longer wheelbase, a nearly 2-inch wider body and wider track that gives Civic a more athletic and aggressive stance while contributing to its more refined ride quality and larger cabin, including 1.2 inches of added rear-seat legroom
• A more rigid, lightweight and tightly sealed body – featuring a new Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) body structure, supporting Civic's fun-to-drive performance, class-leading cabin quietness and targeted top-class crash safety ratings: NCAP 5-star Overall Vehicle Score and IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK+
• A more spacious and premium-quality cabin – with premium, soft-touch surfaces and refined detailing that exceeds the mainstream compact-car class, along with an expanded list of standard and available features, including heated front and rear seats, automatic climate control, remote engine start and eight-way power driver's seat
• Honda Sensing™ – available suite includes Collision Mitigation Braking System™, Lane Keeping Assist and Road Departure Warning, and adds, for the first time, Adaptive Cruise Control with Low-Speed Follow, setting a new bar for advanced safety and driver-assistive technology in the mainstream compact class
• Advanced connected-car capabilities – enabled by a new and more intuitive 7-inch Display Audio touchscreen interface with Android operating system, also featuring Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™ compatibility for seamless integration of smartphone features and functions

The 2016 Civic Sedan is the first in a series of new 10th-generation Civic variants that will include a sedan, coupe, sports-minded Si models, a five-door hatchback and the first-ever Civic Type-R model for the U.S. market, comprising the most diverse and innovative lineup in Civic's 43-year history. This 10th-generation Civic was benchmarked against the world's best C-segment vehicles, including luxury-class cars, as engineers sought to deliver a truly world-beating compact-class car – the most refined, sporty and sophisticated Civic platform ever made.

Sporty Civic Design
The dramatic and sporty new Civic design is grounded in its more athletic stance and low and wide proportions. Compared to the current model, the 2016 Civic Sedan is nearly 2 inches wider and 1 inch lower with a 1.2-inch longer wheelbase, featuring a more compact and sporty front overhang; a longer, more aggressively sculpted hood and fastback-style tail.

The taut and tidy proportions of the new Civic Sedan are complemented and accentuated by refined design details, including sleek and swept-back bodylines, a sharp and aggressive face and bulging wheel arches. The new Civic's more premium character is also highlighted by its available LED exterior lighting, including standard LED running lights, distinctive C-shaped LED taillights and featuring LED headlights on the Touring trim.

Two All-New Powertrains
The 2016 Civic Sedan features two all-new, more powerful and fuel-efficient engines: Civic Sedan LX and EX trims are powered by a 2.0-liter, port-injected DOHC   i-VTEC™ inline four-cylinder engine producing 158 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 138 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,200 rpm⁴ (+15 HP and +9 lb.-ft. vs. 2015 Civic 1.8L) and mated to either a six-speed manual (LX trim only) or continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). Civic Sedan EX-T, EX-L and Touring trims are powered by a 1.5-liter, direct-injected DOHC TURBO inline 4-cylinder engine producing 174 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 162 lb.-ft. of torque from 1,800 to 5,500 rpm⁵ (+31 HP and +33 lb.-ft. vs. 2015 Civic 1.8L) and mated to an all-new CVT with torque converter designed specifically to complement the turbocharged engine.

Both engines feature a wide array of friction-reducing design and engineering features that support both high performance and high fuel efficiency. These two ultra-efficient engines, married to the 2016 Civic Sedan's highly aerodynamic body, help to garner class-leading EPA fuel-economy ratings of 31/41/35 mpg (city/highway/combined) for models equipped with the 2.0-liter engine and CVT, 27/40/31 mpg for the 2.0L with manual transmission and 31/42/35 mpg for models equipped with the 1.5-liter TURBO.

Advanced and Sporty New Body and Chassis
The 2016 Civic sets a new standard for dynamic handling, steering, ride quality and cabin quietness in the compact class, courtesy of its all-new platform, featuring the most rigid and tightly sealed body and the most sophisticated chassis in Civic history.

Advancing the sporty character of this all-new Civic is its more sporty driving position, with a 1-inch lower hip point compared to the outgoing model. The Civic's all-new platform design and lower floor and engine enable the lower hip point. The new Civic chassis features a redesigned strut front suspension and a new multi-link rear suspension mounted to an ultra-rigid rear subframe.

Torsional rigidity of the new body is improved by 25 percent aided in part by more intensive use of ultra-high-strength steel. Fifty-nine percent of the unit body is composed of high-strength steel, including 14 percent hot-stamp steel, an increase of one percent ultra-high-strength steel use in the previous model. Aerodynamic efficiency is improved by 12 percent to class-leading levels through detailed CFD modeling, wind tunnel testing and tuning, and from the use full underbody covers (a Civic first).

Despite its larger size, the new Civic unit body is 68 pounds lighter than before, while new body-sealing techniques result in a 58 percent reduction in cabin air leaks. Class-leading cabin quietness is further improved by the use of premium noise-reducing features, including a flush-mounted acoustic glass windshield, a more tightly sealed engine compartment and triple-sealed doors.

To achieve the Civic development team's high targets for dynamic performance and refined ride quality, the new Civic Sedan utilizes hydraulic compliance bushings; a technology typically reserved for more expensive vehicles, aiding the isolation of road vibration. Additional new chassis technologies include variable gear-ratio steering, beefier front and rear stabilizer bars and standard four-wheel disc brakes, along with the application of new Agile Handling Assist brake-torque vectoring technology for more precise and agile cornering.

Spacious, Sophisticated and Advanced Cabin
The new Civic interior is designed to offer the most comfortable, sophisticated and premium-feeling cabin in the compact class. An additional 3.2 cubic feet of interior space translates into the largest cabin in the compact segment with 1.2 inches of added rear-seat legroom versus the outgoing model. In front, new ultra-thin front roof pillars enable class-leading forward visibility. At the rear, trunk space has been increased by 2.6 cubic feet a configuration with a lower lift-over height, larger opening and wider and taller cargo area. Civic Sedan EX and higher trims will feature a 60/40 split and folding rear seat. All Civic Sedan models also feature a larger, reconfigurable new center console with up to 7.2 liters of secure storage space; approaching SUV levels of console utility.

The new Civic interior strikes a more premium tone with high-quality materials and high-contrast finishes. These include a new one-piece, soft-touch instrumental panel with molded stitching; more premium seat fabrics; a new full-color TFT center meter (EX and above trims); a center console with piano black finish and high-contrast silver bezel; door inserts with real stitching; an LED shift indicator and LED overhead lighting; and for EX and higher trims, a leather shift boot.

The 2016 Civic Sedan offers customers more premium features than ever before. New standard equipment includes automatic climate control, auto-up/down front-power windows, an electronic parking brake with Brake Hold and Walk-Away auto door locks.  Additional available premium features, depending upon trim, include heated side mirrors and remote engine start rain-sensing wipers (Touring), heated front seats (EXT and above) and heated outboard rear seats (Touring), an eight-way power driver's seat (EX-L and Touring), a four-way power front passenger's seat (Touring) and an adjustable driver's seat thigh support with 14 degrees of tilt.

Civic Audio and Connectivity
Civic EX and higher trims come equipped with a new 7-inch Display Audio touchscreen with a higher resolution Android-based operating system. The Civic joins the 2016 Accord as two of the first high-volume models to incorporate both the Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™ platforms, providing seamless integration of smartphone features and functions. Smartphone connectivity for the Civic Sedan is now accomplished using a single USB cable connection.

The new Civic Sedan also delivers on the audio front with more powerful systems and expanded listening options, including SiriusXM® Radio, Pandora® compatibility and HD Radio™. Civic LX trims feature a 160-watt, four-speaker sound system and 5-inch LCD screen for control of audio functions, while EX and EX-L trims feature a 180-watt system, eight-speaker system and utilize the new 7-inch Display Audio touchscreen as the nerve center for audio and climate control. The new-line-topping Touring trim features a 450-watt, 10-speaker audio system—the most powerful in its competitive set—integrated with Display Audio.

Finally, while all Civic models with Display Audio provide for smartphone-powered GPS navigation via the Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™ platforms (with compatible smartphone and customer data plan), for customers who want an embedded navigation capability, the Civic EX-L Navi and Touring trims are equipped with an all-new Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System™ developed in cooperation with the experts at Garmin – offering more intuitive operation, improved graphics and enhanced mapping capabilities.

Civic Safety Performance
The 2016 Civic utilizes an advanced body structure – including a next generation Advanced Compatibility Body Structure™ (ACE™), a high-strength steel floor and tailor-tempered, ultra-high-strength B-pillars and rear frame rails – to provide a high degree of occupant protection while minimizing weight and aiding fuel efficiency. The new body structure works in concert with advanced front-side and side curtain airbag technology, including SmartVent® technology for the driver and front passenger side airbags.

Utilizing these systems in conjunction with the new Honda Sensing™ suite of advanced safety and driver-assistive technologies, the 2016 Civic Sedan targets the highest available U.S. safety ratings – an NCAP 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and a TOP SAFETY PICK+ rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

Civic Manufacturing
The 2016 Civic Sedan marks the first time Honda's North American manufacturing operations have served as the global lead plant for a model like Civic, sold worldwide. Further, all 2016 Civic Sedans for the North American market are manufactured at the company's Alliston, Ontario, and Greensburg, Indiana, auto plants⁶. The two new engines for the 2016 Civics are manufactured at Honda engine plants in Anna, Ohio, and Alliston, Ontario, with the new turbo engine produced exclusively at the Anna Engine Plant. The two continuously variable automatic transmissions are being produced by Honda plants in Russells Point, Ohio, and Celaya, Mexico.

About Civic
Civic is Honda's best-selling car globally, the best-selling compact car in America with individual retail car buyers for the past eight years⁷ and the most popular car with U.S. millennials⁸. The first-generation Civic debuted in America in 1972 and Civic has played a leading role in advancing fuel efficiency, small-car safety performance, design, technology and fun-to-drive performance for nine generations. American car buyers have purchased more than 10 million Civics throughout its 43 years in the U.S. market and Civic has been manufactured in North America since 1986, with cumulative Civic production in North America exceeding 9 million units.

About Honda
Honda offers a complete lineup of Honda cars, trucks and service with a network of more than 1,000 Honda dealerships within the United States. Eight Honda auto plants in North America, including four in the U.S., have the capacity to produce 1.92 million automobiles each year. In 2014, more than 97 percent of the Honda and Acura automobiles sold in the U.S. were produced in North America⁶.

¹ Based on IHS Automotive, Polk new retail vehicle registration data for CY2010-2014 in the non-luxury traditional compact segment.

² MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) excluding tax, license, registration, $880 destination charge and options. Dealer prices may vary.

³ Based on 2016 EPA mileage ratings. Use for comparison purposes only. Your mileage will vary depending on how you drive and maintain your vehicle, driving conditions and other factors,

⁴ Peak power: 158 HP  @ 6000 rpm (SAE net), peak torque: 138 ft-lb (XXX Nm) @ 4200 rpm (SAE net).

⁵ Peak power: 174 HP @ 5500 (SAE net); peak torque; 164 ft-lb (XXX Nm) from 1800 to 5500 rpm (SAE net).

⁶ Manufactured using domestic and globally sourced parts.

⁷ Based on IHS Automotive, Polk new retail vehicle registration data for CY2010-2014 in the non-luxury traditional compact segment.

⁸ Based on IHS Automotive, Polk new U.S. retail vehicle registration and age of head of household data for 2015CYTD June.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151106/284874 

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140415/73520LOGO

SOURCE American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

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