This weekend I drove to a dealer in Carson, CA (next to Torrance, where Toyota and Honda U.S. headquarters are) since they had apparently about ten 2006 Civics in stock. These are the regular ones, not the hybrids of course -- those won't come out until October.

Anyway I took one for a test drive since everything not under the hood is almost identical to that of the hybrid, and my impressions of the car were very positive. So I thought I'd just talk about what I found good about it.

The windshield was originally a concern of mine, but while it's at first a bit jarring how far forward it is, you still get a pretty good view. I didn't find the highly-slanted corner bars as obtrusive as I had feared.

The Prius-style dashboard is done well and the speedometer is easy to see. My only objection is to the placement of the engine temperature gauge, prominently placed next to the speedometer. The hybrid will have mileage and charge/assist indicators here instead, but the regular Civic should have also had a mileage indicator here.

The rest of the interior is done very well. Even the automatic shifter is fun to use... it has a much shorter travel distance and tighter feel than normal. Below it is the emergency brake, which is easy to depress and release, and next to it are the drink-holders. I really like how they did this... there are two cup-holders which can be covered up by a sliding cover when not in use. The cup-holders are very deep and large, and each one has four spring-loaded retractable clips to hold cups in place. These clips seemed surprisingly sturdy when pushing them in and out. I'm mentioning this because I've seen many cars with small and/or flimsy cup-holders. Also, drinks put in these cup-holders won't get in the way of anything else.

There's also a generously-sized space just in front of the shifter for storing miscellaneous things like change, though it has no cover.

Basically the car just has a comfortable feel and a very well-done interior space. I'll almost definitely buy the hybrid version when it comes out, and write an actually useful review of it when it does, with handling and mileage reports.

 

CGameProgrammer,

Thanks for the first impressions. I haven't seen any 2006 Civics on the lots here yet - though they still have plenty of 2005's.

 

I saw one on the road on my way home from work yesterday. When it was pulling up to the intersection, I thought it was a Saturn! Keep an eye out for it. I swear, looks like a Saturn.

 

I stopped and looked in a Ex Civic myself and I agree with what your observations were. Very nice inside and I like the way the rear end looks. Do you think that it looks like a 3 series BMW rear end?

BTW; I did purchase the 06 HCH.

Regards

Terry

BTW; I really like the Two-Tone Ivory and Blue interior. Very nice

 

I have seen your posts that you have committed, but you never say how much! Are you paying msrp?

 

Advance The Man;

Hi; The reason I did not say how much is because I don't know and you will have to take my word for this but the Honda dealers don't know either because the HCH for 2006 has not been released yet (Oct. 5TH) so they (Honda-Dealers) don't have prices yet.

I wanted the HCH really bad so I went ahead and placed the deposit and bought the HCH because I still am of the opinion that if you want a certain color combination and also one with nav. it is going to be really hard if not impossibe to do a locate once this gas situation keeps on going the way it is. Suppose to go to $4.00 Per-Gallon. I was and still am not willing to take a chance on the Honda Dealers adding to the MSRP when demand is high and availability low.

I no more than you asked for but thought you might like the complete story.

If I were to guess I say my next door Honda dealer will charge me MSRP or a small discount because I have purchased many-many Hondas from them over the yrs. I have a 05 Limited Edition Civic from them now with only 6K miles on it.

I will tell everyone as soon as I find out.

HTH

Terry

 

Good luck Terry, I'm getting one at msrp come January.

 

Very-Good; I guess we will both find out how nice they are.

I'm looking forward to it and I bet you are.

Terry