2016 Honda Civic Coupe: First Impressions

Honda took the wraps off the coupe version of the next-generation Civic at the 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show, and it looks just as good as the Civic Concept that the automaker first showed off at the 2015 New York International Auto Show. We should have expected something wild after seeing the Civic Concept, but nobody figured so much of that concept’s styling would make it over to production intact.

More 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show Coverage

The 2016 Civic coupe is just as low as the sedan, but looks even more dramatic thanks to a roofline that’s been lowered about an inch and a rear end that’s been truncated by 5.5 inches versus the four-door. The rear glass has been brought in a little as well to give the coupe a racier feel, but Honda maintains that there’s considerably more room inside for backseat passengers than in the last model.

The same front-end styling that’s on the sedan has made it to the coupe, and the same engines reside under the hood. The overall shape evokes the image of the Hyundai Veloster, albeit slightly larger than that subcompact’s even tidier dimensions.

Inside, the dash, console and seats carry over from the sedan, but they’re given a black-out color treatment exclusive to the coupe. The backseat is roomier than in the last model with more than 5 inches of extra legroom than the car it replaces, but it’s still a tight fit for most full-sized adults. But the Civic coupe always has been about style over function, and this latest generation is no different.

Cargo room is surprisingly plentiful, but the trunk’s opening is a bit confined, thanks to fixed rear glass instead of a traditional hatchback like one might expect to find. You can fit plenty into the trunk, but it’ll be plenty of relatively small things.

The new Civic coupe is going to be a dominating presence in a field of dwindling participants (compact coupes aren’t terribly plentiful anymore), but for fans of the genre, it should prove to be popular.