Though everyone seems to think we HATE Honda, that couldn't be farther from the truth. If we weren't hard on them we would see another General Motors-like explosion right in front of our eyes.
You know what that lede means. Yup, another article that's critical on Honda.
Remember how Honda introduced the NEW Civic only to refresh it shortly thereafter? Hardly anyone could tell the difference between the incoming and outgoing product. While the new refresh is certainly a step in the right direction, it's still lacking some of that panache that made the Civic unique. And I should know. I owned a 2000 Honda Civic EX coupe for a period of time.
In the 1990s when the car was in its heyday it seemed to exude a bit more confidence and was even a little offbeat with some unique colors and some jazzy options. I remember my silver beauty, it had one of those Si-like spoilers. Silly, yes. Did it give the car some character? Yes.
Now you can't even option the car in a HOT color. Check out Honda's configurator. It's white, black, silver, grey, a bleh blue and a deep red. Really, that's it. And the design is pretty standard. It's been spiffed up for the 2013 model year, thankfully but it's not exactly blowing doors off.
When you compare this to the Hyundai Veloster though, it's a different ballgame. There's FUN colors, a ton of optionality and while its design isn't going to be loved by everyone, it still makes you feel something.
The reality is Honda has kept all the cool stuff for the Si models, which are obviously more expensive. If you're in the market for a standard car you're pretty much selecting the most dull and unimaginative product out there.
That said, what say you, Spies?