Honda unveils new Civic coupe ahead of L.A. show
LOS ANGELES -- Honda pulled the sheet off its more powerful coupe version of its dramatically restyled Civic compact Tuesday ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show,
The coupe is aimed at generating renewed enthusiasm among the Honda Civic faithful, a sportier version than the sedan that will make up a small, but important, part of overall demand.
About 10% to 15% of Civic buyers opt for the coupe, a percentage that Honda hopes to increase when the new one comes to showrooms in March, says Jeff Conrad, the head of the Honda division in the U.S.
Coupe buyers will have a choice of two engines, one of them being the first-ever turbocharged powerplant for the model.
The base is a 2-liter, 158-horsepower engine that has 15 more horsepower than the one it replaces. The fancier engine is the 1.5-liter turbo that will spit out 174 horses, 31 horsepower more than the 1.8-liter engine in the old coupe. Both engines will get a combined 35 miles a gallon.
"This is the sportiest, most tech-savvy coupe we've ever made," said Honda designer Guy Melville Brown at the unveiling in Honda's design studio in downtown Los Angeles. He says he hopes the car has "a greater level of emotion" to lure buyers compared to the outgoing model.