Honda's retooled Civic coupe: What people think

One of the biggest reveals at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show was the Honda Civic Coupe. The Civic is one of Honda’s best-selling models, and the coupe version is especially popular. The redesigned coupe will hit dealer lots in March, but in the meantime, here’s what some journalists, analysts and others think about the model.

“The Civic Coupe’s best angle is undoubtedly its rear quarter, where the boomerang-effect tail has its tallest stance. Honda is proud to boast about the Civic Coupe’s ‘wheels out’ stance, but a Mini Cooper this is not. A shorter rear deck and front overhang round out a compelling design.” -- Jeff Jablansky, New York Daily News

“Honda is serious about revamping its core, with the Civic being one of the biggest launches in recent memory. Honda needs the Civic and its lineup to be viewed as exciting, and showing off the Civic coupe as sporty alongside the upcoming Type R should help fill the ‘emotional’ side of the vehicle’s image. The concept was one of the most buzzy debuts in recent memory, and no doubt the Civic will be a huge key in Honda’s success over the next few years.” -- Akshay Anand, Kelley Blue Book

“While the Civic has been the perennial compact car retail sales leader, critics panned the car’s tired styling and couch potato handling as a detour from Civic’s sporty past. With the new chassis, Honda aims to win back its athletic reputation with a wave of more performance-oriented vehicles. The effort comes at a time when customers are trading in their small cars for small crossovers like Honda’s HR-V and CR-V. Together with a publicity campaign aimed at Millennials, Honda hopes the Coupe will help draw younger buyers into the showroom.” -- Henry Payne, The Detroit News

“First, kudos to Honda for still making a coupe in the first place. And a double shot of kudos for making it look this good. Up front, little is changed compared with the sedan, but from the A-pillar back, it’s a whole different animal. The roof peaks just above the front seats, and the rear side glass tapers inward to give the rear fenders a beefier section. Some 5.5 inches have been lopped off the rear overhang compared with the sedan, and what’s left has been more finely sculpted and is highlighted by an arcing graphic of taillamps. The result is a car that looks muscular and planted, and fresh and futuristic, in person. Its look is more effortless and far sportier than the more design-intensive sedan. …

“Inside, the Civic shares its dashboard, seating position, and infotainment choices with the sedan. While the rear seat is smaller than the four-door’s, it is more spacious than expected -- this five-foot, ten-inch writer sat in back and fit just fine, although the rear-window glass did come quite close to his noggin. Furthermore, the seat cushion and seatback angle can both be characterized as quite natural and comfortable. Honda did not release full specs on the car but did say that interior space is up considerably from the previous Civic coupe to the tune of 8.4 cubic feet, with rear legroom up by more than five inches.” -- Steve Siler, Car and Driver

“With the Civic Coupe, Honda could have easily left very little unchanged when it removed the back doors. It would have been a coupe, sure, but what it would have really been would be a less convenient version of the Civic sedan. Hyundai took that approach to the Elantra Coupe, and we all saw how well that went over.

“Refreshingly, Honda didn’t do that. It didn’t produce a carbon copy of the original coupe concept, but if you put the two cars next to each other, you can see that the production version is very faithful. Even the concept’s angular lights made it to production on higher-end models.” -- Collin Woodard, Road & Track

“The Civic, which has vied with the Prius as top-selling car in California, has been bread and butter for Honda for decades. Currently eclipsed by the sportier CR-V, the refreshed Civic is expected to breathe new sales life into this key vehicle line.” -- Charles Fleming, Los Angeles Times

“Inside, cabin space grows by 8.4 cubic feet while rear seat legroom is up by more than 5 inches over the last Civic Coupe. In response to media complaints about interior quality in the last Civic, Honda promises this one gets ‘… a more premium tone with high-quality materials.’ Expect a suite of connectivity and infotainment features, too.” -- Mark Vaughn, Autoweek

“While the Civic Coupe is exciting, it hints at even more sporty models coming down the pipe from Honda, including the new Si and the first-ever Type-R to be offered in America. Clearly, good things are coming our way from Honda.” -- Nick Jaynes, Mashable

“The new Honda Civic appears to be the vehicle for the brand to show it indeed has its mojo back, and the coupe is the version to put some pizazz back into the line.” -- Michelle Krebs, Autotrader

“The basic design carries over from the wild (and bright green) Civic Coupe concept shown at the 2015 New York auto show. It’s an aggressive, angular shape, with a stubby nose that features Honda’s new chrome grille treatment and narrow headlights. Prominent fender flares lead toward the greenhouse, which has a more dramatic arched silhouette than any Civic Coupe before. The roof slopes sharply behind the driver and passenger’s heads, producing a large rear window at a very shallow angle.” -- Jake Holmes, Automobile

“The coupe is aimed at generating renewed enthusiasm among the Honda Civic faithful, a sportier version than the sedan that will make up a small, but important, part of overall demand.” -- Chris Woodyard, USA Today