Honda News: SEMA Show: Honda Shows Off The Refreshed Civic and Civic Si Coupes

[William Maley]

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William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

November 6, 2013

The SEMA Show isn't known for the introduction of new models, but Honda decided to change that by introducing the refreshed 2014 Civic Coupe and Civic Si Coupe yesterday.

The 2014 Civic Coupe gets a more aggressive front end treatment that features a new grille treatment, revised bumper, a new hood, and new fenders. Around back are a new bumper and set of taillights. No mention if the interior of the 2014 model is the same or has been changed.

For the 2014 Si Coupe, Honda fits a unique bumper to make it stand out and a set of eighteen-inch wheels. Around back is a larger decklid spoiler and new bumper with rear diffuser. The 2.4L i-VTEC engine has been given a bit of massage to eek out another four horsepower and four pound-feet of torque to 205 horsepower and 174 pound-feet of torque.

Honda says more details will be revealed at the L.A. Auto Show.

Source: Honda

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected]or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

Press Release is on Page 2

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2014 Honda Civic Coupe Ignites Opening Day of 2013 SEMA Show

- 2014 Civic Coupe features sportier exterior styling

- 2014 Civic Si boosts fun-to-drive performance with more horsepower

- Launch of Honda Performance Development Street Performance Accessory lineup beginning with CR-Z

- 133-mph Honda "Mean Mower" joins stock and modified cars and motorcycles on display

A significantly updated 2014 Honda Civic Coupe made its world debut today at the 2013 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show, offering a first look at new exterior styling updates to America's best-selling1 compact car. Honda also announced that the performance-oriented Civic Si will benefit from increased power and larger wheels and tires, making both the two- and four-door varieties even more fun to drive.

Honda also surprised performance enthusiasts by announcing plans to begin sales of street-oriented performance parts developed by Honda Performance Development, Inc. (HPD), Honda's U.S.-based race engineering company, starting with a full range of performance accessories for the CR-Z sport hybrid coupe that go on-sale at Honda dealerships today. A power-boosting CR-Z supercharger package will follow in the spring of 2014. In the longer term, HPD engineers are also investigating other models and platforms in order to expand Honda's street performance product line.

"With the further advancement of the 2014 Civic Coupe and Si models and an exciting path forward for performance parts drawing on our racing experience we are making a statement about our commitment to the fun to drive character of the Honda brand", said John Mendel, executive vice president auto sales for American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

The 2014 Civic Coupe and Coupe Si

Following a major refresh of Civic Sedan styling for 2013, Honda turns its attention to the Civic Coupe and Coupe Si, implementing a host of exterior design changes that include a more aggressive grille, hood, front fenders and headlight design. Additional Coupe exterior changes include new taillight lenses, sportier front and rear bumpers, new side mirrors and new wheel designs.

The Civic Si Coupe benefits from the same styling enhancements as the standard Civic Coupe but adds Si-exclusive design cues, including a unique lower front bumper garnish, larger rear decklid spoiler, a distinctive front spoiler and sporty rear air diffuser. The Civic Si Sedan picks up on these same cues, and both the Si Coupe and Si Sedan get larger, 18-inch (+1 inch) wheels and tires with new wheel designs.

The performance-tuned Civic Si Coupe and Si Sedan also get a retuned exhaust system that helps boost peak output to 205 horsepower2 (+4 horsepower) and 174 lb-ft of torque3 (+4 ft-lb).

More details about the full 2014 Civic lineup will be made available at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show.

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[frogger]

I think last year's sedan tweaks were better. This front end is way overdone.

[Drew Dowdell]

Honda has completely lost their way on design... but they'll still sell them, so what does it matter?

[dwightlooi]

Back in the late 80s and early 90s, Hondas were at the pinnacle of their game in design. Honda's look distinctively Honda. And, it's not because of an aggressive grille, tail light or badge. The design language is holistically unique... Honda's had a very low belt-line, lots of green house and a hood that's impossibly low profile. These were markedly different from Toyotas, Nissans, Mazdas or US domestics of the day. The 3rd, 4th, 5th Gen Civics, the 3rd, 4th and 5th gen Preludes exemplified this. Honda also had double wishbones on all four corners right down to the lowly $9,999 Civic DX. And, Honda motors were smaller displacement, free revving machinery that sounded like a turbine if one punctuated by a VTEC "bbbbvvvvrrrrrrttttt" on the switch over cam on those cars that had them.

That all went away with the 2001 Civic. Gone were the double wishbones, in were the struts. The motor took on a long stroke profile and a blah blah tone. Belt lines went up, seat cushions moved away from the floor boards and seating positions got vertical like everyone else's. The is perhaps a brief revival or uniqueness in the 2006 model with its extreme windshield rake and super wedge profile with a very short hood. Clean, purposeful if a little diversive.

Then with the face lifts, Honda decided to simply add clutter, slats additioal trim bits that weren't cohesive and doesn't seem to work together.

[David]

WOW, they actually managed to make this even uglier. Now it looks like it got punched in the nose and is stubby due to the collision with a fist. They clearly have lost their design mojo and only their die hard lemming customers seem to continue to buy this garbage.

[bobo]

Kinda fussy styling. The design isn't botched like the MCE of the last generation Accord Coupe, but still a slight improvement over last year's model. Honda's slogan 25 years ago was "We keep it simple", and Honda would be wise to revisit that era when Hondas were known as jewel-like vehicles that were innovative and fun to drive.

[Cory Wolfe]

Honda did such a great job on the Accord. It's hard to imagine how they are unable to class up the Civic range in a meaningful manner. This... Isn't better.