2006 Honda Civic - 26th January 2006
Photography by Narend Sooknarine and Duane Boodasingh
Article by Duane Boodasingh

Classic Motors launches the all new 2006 Honda Civic

The new, redesigned and reengineered 8th generation Honda Civic was officially revealed to the public of Trinidad & Tobago with a gala event at the Classic Motors, Richmond Street Showroom. With a sale price of approximately TT$185K, this fully loaded sedan will set a new benchmark in quality and performance for our market.

Mr. Ronald Elcock, General Manager of Classic Motors, the sole Honda Motors dealership in T&T had this to say about the very popular sedan: "The Honda Civic is the cornerstone of Honda and its automotive heritage, earning recognition and acclaim as an icon in the automotive industry since its introduction in 1973."

He went on to say "As the Civic has been reinvented throughout its previous seven generations, each new model has consistently set new standards in the automotive industry with its innovative packaging, attractive styling, high fuel economy, fun to drive performance, reliability and safety. The pioneering eight-generation 2006 model amplifies the defining character of the Civic with a long list of technology and engineering innovations. This has resulted in a vehicle that is pure Honda, exclusively Civic and outside the boundaries of traditional small car thinking."

"The 2006 Civic represents an extreme transformation of design and dynamics, having an impressive and futuristic design with exciting performance and a dedication to providing advanced safety technology has set the Civic apart from the competition."

The 2006 Civic enters our market here in T&T with the most prestigious acclaimations and awards in the international automotive industry: The new Civic has managed to cop the 2006 Motor Trend Car of the Year and the North American Car of the year 2006.

This is no small feat; Winning vehicles are selected based on factors such as innovation design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value. To be eligible vehicles must be “all new” or “substantially changed” from the previous model.

We test drove the 2006 Civic and can definitely report that the build quality both interior and exterior is exceptional. There are details on the interior that prove that Honda has 'upped the ante' with regards to ammenities, esthetics and features that are not usually expected in a small sedan. We will refer to it as 'upscale ambience' as it really impressed us. The forward thinking two-tiered instrument cluster is a real eye catcher with its "indiglo" blue ambient light.

The handling was commendable and especially soft. The 1.8 iVTEC engine with CVT pulled relatively strong through the powerband, though the CVT never let us feel any gear ratio changes. We were not able to test drive a unit with manual transmission but we are sure that it would carry the rewarding feel of previous Honda gearboxes when mated to this 1800cc engine. We assume the suspension will be stiffer on the new Si Coupe model which should arrive in a few months with an estimated price of TT$250K.

From a tuning perspective (considering the Civic is the most tuned and modified automobile in the world) the 2006 Civic has some issues that had us thinking: The catalytic converter is directly on the exhaust manifold along with the O2 sensor. In fact it would seem there isnt much of an exhaust manifold at all! This should make setting up for AFR tuning simpler and we should see some interesting header designs in the future.

Also the engine bay is very short and so the front shock mounts are under the windshield but still accessible through removable plastic panels finishing the cowl. We wondered what interesting strut tower braces and pillow ball strut mounts the aftermarket industry would have to devise to facilitate this radical cab forward design.

Four wheel disc brakes is standard on all models and much to the delight of many tuners the wheels are also 5 hole from the factory. The trunk is huge and the sound system is good with options for MP3 and steering wheel controls. Seems like someone at Honda has been listening to its customers.

We can deifinitely see the new 2006 Civic will take the industry by storm and will have everyone from salesperson to casual driver to track-day tuner thinking outside of the proverbial box.

Be sure to check it out at the Classic Motors showroom, we definitely liked what we saw!

Click here to view the press ad.