2014 Honda Civic Coupe – A New Look Up Front For The 2014 Model

You know how Honda works. Its mid-cycle changes are hardly ever dramatic. A crease in a bumper here, a fraction less friction there, and maybe a couple more horses. Really, it just wears you out. But then you drive down the road in the 2014 Honda Civic coupe and it feels like a whole new car. Was it only two years ago that we despaired of the 2012 Civic, which seemed to have been overcome by cheapness, another victim of the Great Recession?

To be sure, there’s a new look up front for the 2014 model, most notably a character line at the base of the A-pillar that echoes the front wheel well. The Si coupe even gets a wing and an aero diffuser on the back. More important, the revised interior looks and feels better. The Civic also has a new electronics package, and the seven-inch touchscreen works with a slide/ flick/ pinch/ multitap just like your smartphone.

The 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine now has an additional 3 hp and 1 lb-ft of torque and gains 1 mpg on the EPA’s combined cycle. The secret is the new CVT that takes the place of the 2012–13 Civic’s five-speed automatic. Its progressive response to the throttle is very natural, just like the CVT of the Honda Accord from which it’s derived.

But what we care about is the way the new Civic coupe drives. Added internal structure, acoustically insulated glass, and trick dampers with refined action (borrowed from the Civic sedan, which received an emergency face-lift for 2013) combine to give this car real poise on the highway without compromising its liveliness. It’s most noticeable in the Civic Si coupe with its 205-hp, 2.4-liter engine and six-speed manual transmission.

The Honda Civic coupe is reborn. Turns out, little things make a difference.