2021 Honda Civic Sport Sedan on 2040-cars

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2013 Honda Accord Coupe V6 6MT

One of the first cars I reviewed for Autoblog was - say it with me now - a 2010 Honda Accord Coupe EX-L V6 w/Navi 6MT, perhaps the rarest of all modern Accord models. I mean, think about it: Of all the different Accord variants on the road, how many are coupes? And how many of those have the larger V6 engine? And how many of those are fully loaded with leather, navigation and all the trimmings? And finally, how many of those have option sheets where the only box that isn't checked is the automatic transmission?
That has to be something like one percent of one percent, right?
So when Honda started rolling its all-new 2013 Accord into the test fleet, I was happy to hear that yet another Coupe EX-L V6 w/Navi 6MT model was available out of the Detroit pool. And while this really isn't the car that serves as the control for judging the entire Accord line, it's still one heck of a sweetheart.

Honda Ridgeline to take two-year dirt nap before resurrection

Three years ago, Honda said there would be no new-generation Honda Ridgeline coming in 2011. In late 2011, when there was still no word on a replacement for the little truck that's been carrying on pretty much the same since 2006, within the space of a month both Honda's US truck planner and the CEO of American Honda said the Ridgeline would continue and that it was an integral part of the lineup.
But that doesn't mean it can't take a two-year timeout. A report in Ward's Auto says that the Lincoln, AL plant that builds the Ridgeline will cease its production in September, 2014 and a new one won't arrive until 2016. That's a walk-back from when the plan was to have the current truck run until a week before the next-generation truck went into production. Even so, Honda still says the Ridgeline isn't going away forever, a company spokesman telling Ward's, "Ridgeline continues to be an important part of our lineup."
2016 is a long way away, though, and we all know how quickly a product line put into a coma can end up suffering fatal consequences. Even though we keep talking about the Ridgeline, perhaps what Honda is actually saying is that the small pickup market is important to them, and they're working on a way to take better advantage of it than the Ridgeline was doing. We'll find out one way or the other in three years.

The 2016 Honda Civic desperately needs the cool kids

"... I am contagious, I am breaking down ..." Oh, that's the song. The 2016 Honda Civic's launch party was just so achingly cool. Honda showed off its 10th-generation Civic Sedan Wednesday at YouTube Space LA, and livestreamed it for the world to see. I was standing across from a band whose song I knew but name I didn't (turns out it was Night Riots), and near people in knit caps and tattoos cheering them on. Honda is stoked on this epic new Civic, guys. This all sounds like another cynical marketing attempt to capture the attention of people my age. The ones studies suggest hate driving and have no interest in cars, according to old people and their old muscle cars. Last year, Audi released a whole guide on how to sell the A3 to Millennials. We do love our aggressively targeted campaigns. It's like the Civic became what your Aunt Hattie replaced her '93 Achieva with. In fairness, the 2016 Civic has a hell of a lot riding on its more chiseled shoulders. The Civic long had a following among new, young buyers looking for their first new car, who then just kept buying them because they loved them so much. That sort of fell apart with the ninth-generation Civic, a car so removed from its ancestry in terms of feel, looks, and overall spirit. It's like the Honda Civic became what your Aunt Hattie replaced her '93 Achieva with. It's shown in the sales figures. In 2014, the Accord became Honda's car with the most buyers under the age of 35. The HR-V and CR-V SUVs also represent more of what buyers want these days, with rugged looks and available all-wheel drive. It's no cakewalk for the Civic anymore. Clear past the clutter of the band and the fog of the reveal, and the 2016 Civic already looks like it has the things young new-car buyers look for when they go shopping. Show-car styling, the promise of good fuel economy, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and lots and lots of features. The first of the new Civics Honda showed touts technology, refinement, and content more than the fun-to-drive characteristics. Enthusiasts may not find much comfort in the fact you can only get Honda's new 1.5-liter turbo on models equipped with a CVT, now that the six-speed manual has really been relegated to the base LX. But then you were probably waiting for the forthcoming Si, or next year's hatchback model, or probably the new Type-R. The Civic sedan targets the mainstream, and this time, the mainstream is the under-35 crowd.