2016 Honda Civic Sedan Road Test 2016 Honda Civic Coupe Road Test 2016 Honda Civic: Testing the 10-Speaker Sound System by Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor on July 21, 2016 Our 2016 Honda Civic is the top-level Touring trim. Among a few other exclusive features (LED headlights and a power front passenger seat, for example), it comes with a 10-speaker stereo system. The system is rated at 450 watts of power, according to Honda, and is the most premium factory system ever to be put in a Civic. Pleasingly, it lives up to its billing. The speaker setup consists of four mid-range speakers (one in each front door and two in the rear deck behind the rear seats), four tweeters (one at the base of each A-pillar and two again in the rear deck), a center channel speaker on top of the dashboard and then a subwoofer mounted in the rear deck. From inside the trunk I'm not going to claim to be an audiophile, but I have spent plenty of time with our Civic.
For a system in a so-called economy car, I'm impressed. Instruments and voices are distinctly staged and, if you're of a younger generation, you'll probably enjoy the robust bass response and way you can give the volume a good cranking. I don't think the system is quite as accurate or faithful to sound quality as some premium-branded systems I've listened to, but if you're just looking for something you can plug your phone into and immediately enjoy, it definitely delivers. Speed-dependent automatic volume and DTS Neural Surround are adjustable features. There's also a "DTS Neural Surround" feature that supposedly imbues regular two-channel audio with a surround-sound-like quality. I tested it out on a few different pieces of music, and the results were mixed. Some songs sounded more rich and distinct, while others were different but not noticeably "better." Either way, though, you're getting an extra add-on to play with that's not often found on standard systems. The 2016 Civic Touring has an MSRP of $26,500 (not including destination), which is $1,800 more than the EX-L with Navigation trim level below it.
The 10-speaker system doesn't justify that price by itself, but it does help make the Touring a suitably desirable model at the top of the range. Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor @ 8,282 miles Current Long-Term Road Tests 2016 BMW 340i xDrive 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV 2016 Nissan Titan XD 2016 Tesla Model X ebeaudoin's 2001 Toyota Camry Graham Peters' 2013 Mercedes-Benz B250 michaell's 2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R PF_Flyer's 2014 Nissan Versa Note Roadburners's 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 Sandman's 2015 VW Golf SE TSI TX_Traveler's 2010 Toyota Prius Share your own long-term updates.Here's how to participate. Past Long-Term Road Tests 2014 Acura MDX AWD 2015 Acura TLX SH-AWD 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon 2009 Audi A4 Avant 2015 BMW M235i Convertible 2014 BMW 328i xDrive Gran Turismo 2008 Buick Enclave CX 1987 Buick Regal Grand National 2011 Buick Regal CXL Turbo 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS
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No comparably priced rival has a rear-seat that flips and folds as cleverly as that in the Honda Jazz. It’s all in the engineering – by repositioning the fuel tank under the front seats, the rear seat ‘floats’, offering legroom underneath the rear seat bench. That also means that the rear seat bench can be flipped up, to create a middle cargo area between the boot and front seats. Alternatively, the whole seat can be folded flat to expand the cargo area from 337 litres to 848L – both best in class figures. Being five years old, the cabin quality of the Honda Jazz is a fair way from being light car state-of-the-art. The Jazz also lacks the equipment found in newer competitors like Bluetooth audio streaming – a Bluetooth mobile phone function is standard, but it’s accessed via a fiddly and unintuitive aftermarket ‘pod’ mounted to the A-pillar.The cabin has plentiful storage, however, including a dual glovebox, central cupholders, cupholders/storage bins beneath the side air vents, and large door pockets with bottle holders.
For rear seat passengers, legroom and headroom is excellent, with high-set seats offering fine visibility over the fronts. Visibility is also an advantage for the driver; the boxy exterior design of the Jazz, and its large glasshouse makes for effortless city manoevrability. Fit and finish is superb, as you’d expect from a Honda. Being a base model, the Jazz GLi is only decently equipped with air conditioning, multi-function trip computer, four-door power windows, six airbags, stability control, CD player and 15-inch steel wheels. If you’re shopping right now, however, Honda has released a Jazz GLi Vibe limited edition model with alloy wheels, cruise control, electric-foldable door mirrors, leather-wrapped steering wheel and gearshifter, and for the auto model, steering wheel mounted shift paddles – a claimed $1800 worth of extras for a $1000 premium.Perfect reliability is another Honda expectation, although the three-year/100,000km warranty is trumped by Korean rivals Hyundai and Kia, both of which offer a five-year unlimited kilometre warranty.
Other rivals also offer fixed-price servicing and twelve-month/15,000km servicing intervals, however the Honda Jazz GLi requires six-month/10,000km check ups with variable pricing.A call to a central Sydney dealership saw the first six services to 60,000km come in at $1725, or an average of $288 per service. The Ford Fiesta, with fixed price servicing, will cost $1400 for four services to 60,000km, while a Holden Barina, also with fixed price servicing, will cost just $740 for servicing to 60,000km – a noticeable saving.The base Honda Jazz GLi is the only model in the range to get a 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine – the up-spec VTi and VTi-S both get 1.5-litre mills. Similarly priced rivals also get bigger engines, of 1.4-litre (Suzuki Swift, Hyundai i20, Volkswagen Polo), 1.5-litre (Mazda2) and even 1.6-litre (Ford Fiesta, Holden Barina) capacity. Yet none of them are as sweet as the Honda’s smaller engine. Don’t let the size deficit fool you – on the road the Jazz GLi continues the interior theme of squeezing more from less.
The Jazz GLi produces 74kW of power at 6000rpm, which is actually 4kW more than the Swift and i20, and 11kW more than the Polo. That’s the headline figure as the tachometer needle swings sweetly up towards its 6800rpm cut-out. The 127Nm of torque at 4800rpm – less than all its rivals – hints at a small issue with the Jazz.The Jazz GLi is nippy on light throttle around town, and the five-speed auto is superbly intuitive, picking up lower gears quickly on hills before more throttle is required. It’s when big throttle input is required that the Jazz GLi ultimately feels a bit off-pace – the auto surges back several gears, yet is quick to drop back into higher gears, and it’s not until the tachometer needle gets close to where peak power and torque are that the Jazz starts to shift. Even the air conditioning loses its cool under full throttle. But most owners won’t need to flog their Jazz, and that’s a crucial point. If they decide to do so, they’ll relish a sweet sounding and keen-to-rev engine, if not the most sporting automatic.
Be warned though – heavy use of the throttle will quickly spiral the claimed fuel consumption sticker of 6.6 litres per 100 kilometres to well past 10L/100km. Our test in mixed conditions settled at 8.5L/100km, a figure the bigger 1.5-litre engine would likely match simply because it is more effortless.Although many light cars are pegged as urban based shopping trolleys, most in the class also double as brilliant handling and fun-to-drive hatchbacks. Unfortunately, the Honda Jazz is not in the same league as a Ford Fiesta, Skoda Fabia, Suzuki Swift or Volkswagen Polo – in that order of greatness – in this regard. The steering is direct but too light just on centre, before becoming heavier as the wheel is turned around its arc. Handling is perversely entertaining; because the boxy Jazz doesn’t have wonderful balance, it’s only fun to feel when grip levels are eroding, or to maximise corner entry speed to keep the little engine singing. At least some fun is available, and the stability control calibration is superbly subtle.