Readypro

*** This has been updated after having the car 3 months *** Updates have an "*"

I traded in my 2005 Honda Civic EX coupe for it. It was even the same color. Why dont I write a review and compare what I like and dont like.

1) Suspension: The stock suspension is adequate for me. I like taking sharp turns in the country and the suspension holds up just fine, better than my old 2005 civic. 8 of 10 stars

2) Stock tires: Really horrible and to be frank, quite unsafe on the highway. They really wander and if you are totally concentrating, the Civic will take you right off the road. I replaced those. The downside is that I get about 5 MPG less, but it is much better at cornering and safer and I have no problems with the car wandering. 0 of 10 stars

3) Sex Appeal: Its better looking except for the blanks for the fog lights in the front. Otherwise I like the looks completely. 9 of 10 stars

4) Drive Train (engine & transmission): I got the CVT, and wish I had upgraded to the SI with the 6 speed manual instead. I may trade this in because of it. There is NOTHING I like about this transmission. Its just goofy and sounds just like a snowmobile or a jet ski. A lot of slippage and it never feels like the tires are actually hooking up. Also, the damn thing is gutless. 1 of 10 stars. *** Update *** I actually have learned a little more on the CVT, and in sport mode and with a little manipulation of the throttle, it actually has acceptable gitty-up *** changed to 7 of 10 stars

5) Visibility: Excellent. There is a blind spot camera that displays who is there, and the year window on the left is good enough for the left side. There is a big window in the back, and forward windshield is huge. 9 of 10 stars

6) Paint Quality: Excellent. No issues, paint was perfect. 10 of 10 stars

7) Glass Quality: Poor. There are lots and lots of waves in the front and rear glass. This simply is not acceptable, and something I did not expect from Honda. 1 of 10 stars

8) General Interior Fit and Finish: In general, the interior is just fine. It does come with a center armrest which opens well and slides forward and back. The seat height is adjustable, but even when its at its lowest, I still bang my head when getting in and out of the car and Im only 5' 10". Ive learned out to tilt my head to the extreme to avoid this pain. 5 of 10 stars

9) Audio system: Ive never been more delighted by the looks of an audio system and totally disappointed by its actual sound. It looks like something out of star trek, but sounds like something out of a Ford Pinto. Expect to pay another $1000 in decent speakers. The stock subwoofer does not produce any sub bass sounds. and the speakers have magnets the size that your mother used to put notes on the fridge. -5 of 10 stars. *** I now use the Galaxy S5 and the Samsung stock music player which has an EQ function which helps until I can get new speakers ***

10) Other car electronics: There are two displays, one for the main system and another smaller one on the upper tier of the driver display. There is an HDMI port, two USB ports, and cigarette power port. the USB ports only are for charging. They will not accept any music through them unless you have an Apple product (Android users have been punked). The HDMI works, but my Kindle Fire has a better resolution, so there is not much of a point unless you want to run the audio through the lame stock speakers. Yes, there are lots of other stuff, auto gas mileage display, clock, phone integration for your, ahem, Apple phone, etc etc. I have an android S5. so naturally my rating is 1 of 10 stars.

So, there you go. I am going to Salt Lake City tomorrow to test drive something else just to see if I might trade it in in a few months.

06Honda

I am planning on trading my 06Honda Civic Dx-G auto for a new honda. Have only looked so far, planning on a test drive soon. The 2014 Honda
Civic Ex is on my short list so your review is helpful. You would think the gas mileage would be better, that sucks. Good info you have provided, will keep this in mind for my test drive. Although more money the other on my list of 2 is the 2014 Honda Accord LX CVT, not sure if it will fair better. My current civic has all seasonal Goodyear TripleTred Assurance, a little noisy on the highway but grip the road really well in rain and dry conditions.

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

C&D top 10, again! They say it's "almost perfect".

Readypro

FYI, this weekend I did find out the the USB ports to accept a thumb drive, so I ordered one and will post the results. Further, I have tried the Sport mode with the ECON off, and that seem to be enough to satisfy me at this point. Good luck on your decision. Let me know what you think of the Accord.

Hondi

Nice!

Readypro

Ok, so I got in the USB Flash drive from Amazon today, and I just copied all the music files over, just over 1200 songs. It was only 8% full! LOL. Here is the one I got. SanDisk Cruzer Fit 64GB USB 2.0 Low-Profile Flash Drive- SDCZ33-064G-B35. I plugged it into the dash USB port and it worked right away. Files are organized by band name, album, then songs. There are no album graphics on the Honda display, but its easy to flick through what you want to listen to. I had no issues whatsoever. USB drive cost $32.73 with free shipping. Thats an easy solution to my music problem!

Hondi

Nice car!

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

With all of the features the 2014 ended up with..... puts it very close to an Acura imo.

dignity19

Hi folks,

It is about a few weeks that I bought my 2014 civic EX and I agree on almost all those points that Readypro mentioned about the car. Actually this is my first Honda ever (used to drive Corolla S). Overall, I like the car, except that the CVT transmission is not smooth when driving 20 mi/h or less. It rather gives a annoying shock when shifting in that low speed, especially when I release the accelerator, it feels like I am driving a manual transmission car. It takes a moments for the transmission to adjust the gear with the speed and when shifting down, you feel a bump. I wonder whether this is normal with CVT on Honda. My wife bought a Corolla, a day after me and its CVT transmission is a lot smoother.

Thanks

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

^^^ Since the CVT has retained grade logic it may take a little while to adjust.

Ease onto pedal if still rolling and then need to then re-accelerate.

06Honda

I test drove the 2014 Honda Civic LX today and compared to the 2014 Corolla LE earlier in the day its far better in almost all regards.

Pro's:
Steering easy to drive and turns nicely.
Very comfortable ride.
Pretty quiet with no major road noise.
A/C works very good.
Radio is just fine for the size of the car.
Comfortable seats.
Didn't mine the double dash mainly has my current 06 Civic has a similar setup less the extra screen on the right of the odometer.

Cons:

Windshield is at a fairly sharp angle and takes a little getting use to.
Armrest could be a little larger.
Other than turning the volume off on the radio did not manage to find a Off button for the radio (maybe there isn't one).

Overall liked the test drive alot and would be my choice over the corolla easily. The corolla had a lovely dash but headroom even with seat adjustment doesn't leave you alot of head room. Engine was louder than the civic, drove both automatic cars. Steering on corolla not as good as civic, seemed stiff then turning.

dignity19

So, you believe there is nothing wrong with the transmission itself? I do not have a heavy foot while accelerating/decelerating. Since I have to drive in stop-and-go traffic to work and back, this rather shock in shifting in low speed gets annoying. In higher speed, the CVT is actually nice and very smooth.

Readypro

The CVT in Drive with or without ECON on or off is very nice on the highway. No doubt. But the CVT in Drive with or without ECON in the city is a bit erratic. With the slightest touch of the accelerator it seems to be trying to find a ratio that it can live with .... whatever that is. So, I've just learned to go SPORT mode with ECON OFF and I am happy with the CVT in the city. It stays at a higher rev point and the CVT doesn't need to hunt around.

Readypro

Its on either the right side or left side of the CD slot.

UPDATE: The power button is to the left of the CD slot

Readypro

I agree. There is a ton of features on the 2014 Civic EX Coupe

- Push button start
- Keyless entry and keyless trunk
- Nearly every switch and button is lit
- Height adjustable front seats
- Fully automatic moon roof - One touch open/close
- Two displays - one on the dash and one for the radio (color adjustable)
- Blind spot and rear cameras
- Fully automatic headlamps
- Opposing windshield wipers (very cool)
- Fully programmable headlamps, maps lights, and door locks (program them when to turn on and turn off for various conditions)
- Tire pressure notification.
- Fully automatic temperature control (heat / fan speed / air conditioning)
- Tilt / telescopic steering wheel
- Redundant radio volume control on steering wheel

and more that I cant think of right now ....

06Honda

Thanks.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

And you will discover more.

The delay wiper system is certainly different from past. (8th & 9th gen)

The coupes are nice.

danwat12345

Does the CVT work well with the paddle shifters? This way you can keep the fuel economy by shifting at low RPMs but have control

Readypro

Dan,

For full manual and 100% control over shifting, the driver needs to be in Manual mode. The whole idea with the CVT is that it knows better when it comes to shift point which ratio is best for fuel economy. So, I believe nobody could out think the computer. JMHO

Readypro

Craig,

Can you tell me more about "grade logic"? Today I tried sport mode without econ and when it appeared to try and figure out the gear ratio, I got off the gas pedal, and then immediately stomped on it, and it revved to a good gear ratio and the darn thing took off like a bat out of hell! I suppose that's one of the ways to fool the CVT computer?

Readypro

Media Ports

There are a few more features that I have figured out completely.

1) USB Center Console port and Armrest Port. These do provide full electric charging and will even charge the S5 with enough juice just like the factory charger. They also accept the USB drives.

2) HDMI Port in Center Console. I'm pretty sure this is the first vehicle that actually has a video port that comes factory from a car company on a stock radio. Even though it is illegal to drive while watching a video, I'm pretty sure its main intention is to use with the iPhone and future (hopefully) with an Samsung S5 or higher for complete touch integration. I have used this port with my Kindle Fire 8.9" HD, the port works just fine for audio and video.

As I have said before, the stock speakers are poor and I am looking forward to an upgrade.

Readypro

The wiper delay has a variable range that is certainly wider and more varied than any car I have ever had. Most cars just have a delay setting, but this has a roll like a volume control on a stereo - which makes it nice to adjust on the fly.

danwat12345

Curious if you could connect up a laptop to the HDMI port and use the navigation screen as a second screen for the laptop, with audio from that laptop going through the main speakers? That would be nifty.

In manual mode, does the CVT act like a good manual transmission with good acceleration and behavior?

Thanks

Readypro

The stock wheels and tires - not very pretty.

Readypro

I would think you could. I mean my Kindle Fire HD shows everything, I don't see why you couldn't do the same with the output of a laptop - Its the same concept.

Readypro

Yes, with the help of the forum here, and figuring it out, its definitely very acceptable to me. In town, I just take it down to SPORT, ECON off, and use it that way or with the paddles. It actually has pretty decent response in that mode - I like it!

Readypro

HDMI, USB, and 12V Power. There is another USB port in the Armrest.

Coupex14

You basically nailed it right there I almost completely agree on all of it except the stereo which over time really opens up and blends in more but yet the built in sub is only 6 inches and doesn't do much but the tweeters and speakers are pretty amazing given they are stock metal tweeters and fiber woven mids some of the best speakers stock I've seen and the magnets i believe are small because the kind of magnets used over time are smaller now adays buy a lot f companies like the polk mm series tiny magnets also. and you are dead on about tires had them taken right off I felt like I could die with one false move. Excellent little summary of the car couldn't say it better myself its like you were reading my mind when I analyzed my new car

Readypro

Thanks! I thought there was way too much mid-range in the front speakers too. Hoping to replace all of them soon.

Readypro

Today I tried the ABS. A grandma in the left lane decided to turn right into the lane I was in without looking. DAMN good ABS. No sliding at all and pretty quiet too. Easily avoided a crash into my drivers side. However the horn was a bit weak! LOL

Also, one of the features I forgot to mention is the 4 wheel traction control. When its on (automatic unless you turn it off) it's supposed to help on ice or due to acceleration. This will be an interesting feature to try out this winter with the ice to see if it really does help. I suppose much of it will have to do with how good the tires are on snow or ice.