The Honda Civic is one of the most strikingly styled cars on the market at the moment, so it should therefore be a tough act to follow. The new car has emerged, and it looks like Honda has done it again.
The chaps at Auto Express claim to have uncovered shots of the 2010 model – if these pictures are indeed accurate, the Civic looks set further distance itself from the ‘choice of the elderly’ label it has worn for so long.
The pictures show a rakish, edgy looking set of lines that borrow a number of influences from the company’s OSM concept, which wowed the crowds at this year’s British Motor Show. These touches are most evident in the long nose, sweeping headlamps with LED daytime running lights and the brake light ‘strip’ at the rear. Thanks to narrow glass areas, deep flanks and the merest hint of haunches at the rear, the new Civic sports a very purposeful appearance. The pictured three-door hatch also throws in lowered suspension, a contrasting black bodykit and a set of big alloys to further augment the car’s sporty lines.
As before, Honda will style the three door to be distinct from the more family-orientated five door model. The set up of both cars will also digress from one another, with the three-door offering a tauter ride and in a more compact package, and the five-door majoring on boot/interior space and a more comfortable ride.
The engine line up has not yet been announced, but powerplants will be shared between the two styles. It has been strongly suggested that a 1,5-litre IMA hybrid engine developing more than 112 kW and sub-120g/km carbon-dioxide emissions will appear as a curtain-raiser to Honda’s plan to apply hybrid power to all of its four-cylinder engines within the next few years. The wider application of turbodiesels and new technology, such as cylinder deactivation on V6 and V10 models, is also part of the company’s drive towards lower emissions and greater fuel efficiency.
This thinking could eventually spill over to Honda’s Type R models, with talk of a modified IMA hybrid system being applied to its 2,0-litre iVTEC engine. We’re not sure how the idea of a hybrid hot hatch would go down, but if means we’ll be spared the whir of an electric motor in favour of a screaming iVTEC, we’re not complaining.
source:cartoday
