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2006 Honda Civic News

2006 Honda Civic

The image shown here of the Si Concept is considered 90-percent accurate of the final styling, which will likely retain the high trunk deck and lower rear bumper diffuser with an integrated center exhaust system. On the concept, wheel openings have been optimized to minimize the gap between the tire and the body, and a full front and side aero kit and tall rear wing enhance the sweeping bodywork.

The 2006 Si will be powered by a 200-horsepower, 16-valve i-VTEC engine. Honda sources indicate that next-generation i-VTEC technology will offer significant gains in performance and fuel economy. A six-speed transmission will give drivers manual control of shift points up to the engine's redline of 8000 rpm, and a helical-type limited-slip differential will enhance traction and cornering ability.

Suggesting that Honda is determined to make the new Si fun to drive right from the factory, the Si Concept includes performance features such as 18-inch cast aluminum wheels with 225/40R high performance tires, and 4-wheel disc brakes with large cross-drilled brake rotors and 4-piston Brembo calipers.

The concept car shown here was designed at Honda R&D America's Los Angeles design center and unveiled at the 2005 Chicago Auto Show in February. The production Si will make its world debut at the 2005 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in November.

See More Pictures Of The 2006 Civic SI Here
 

2006 - Progression Of The Honda Civic Hatch/ Civic SI

An amazing look back on the progression of the civic hatch/ civic SI.

1972


1979

1983


1987


1991


1995


2000
 

2006 Honda Civic On The Track

ON THE TRACK: 2006 Honda Civic to Debut
January 14, 2005

An all-new 2006 Honda Civic is waiting in the wings to make a debut. The 2006 Civic comes with variable valve timing lifts derived from the Formula 1 technology enabling small engines to churn extremely high horsepower and torque output for mass produced cars.

Honda pioneered in this technology, but other car manufacturers managed to overtake.

Honda Civic that was once the benchmark in the compact car segment is now being threatened by new and strong contingents from Japan like the Mazda 3, Toyota Altis and the EVO inspired Mitsubishi Lancer. In reviving interest and spotlight on the Civic, Honda took taunting and discordant opinions from current Civic owners and die-hards and then went back to the drawing board.

That is, back to the drawing board and in closed doors. What entailed was a flurry of rehashing and drafting and the new design was a hatchback version. The new design was supposed to be hushed but photos leaked and the hatchback Honda Civic showed that it is boldly designed and sportier.

In 1993, Honda ushered the Civic ESI and in 1996, Honda pulled in the Civic VTI. Both of which were awarded the most coveted Japanese Car of the Year.

The current model with no awards under its belt could be a disappointment to its predecessors in design and driving dynamics.

Double wishbones.

The Honda Civic is made popular by its curvaceous and sporty design, driver-friendly cockpit and double wishbone suspensions on all its four wheels. Honda Civic ESI and VTI have suspension set up that are more agile providing good steering feedback.

Apparently in a move to cut costs, what was once a sporty compact sedan especially when pushed to its limits is now more sedate and leisurely because it is fitted with McPherson struts in the front.

If it is to do battle with the likes of the Mazda3, Toyota Altis, the up-coming Sentra and Mitsubishi Lancer, the all new Civic, may have double wishbones all around. Even then, double wishbones suspensions have its drawbacks.

It may be agile and sporty but it cannot isolate cabin and passengers from road noise and cannot tackle deep potholes as a McPherson Strut set-up. In a sense, it ruins its sporty nature.

But Honda Civic diehards have always been accustomed to this driving orientation. A car with a dual personality, it can be a perfect family and executive saloon for busy weekdays and a perfect driver’s car for that suppressed boy racer instinct.

The Civic is a blend of great design, top-notch engineering and great driving dynamics. Until it is unveiled at the Geneva motor show in September, it remains a quite silhouette on the wings.
 

2006 Honda Civic - Gran Turismo

Before the video game Gran Turismo came along, Honda had a lock on youthful buyers with the Civic.

Fun to drive, reliable, and equipped with technologically advanced and fuel-efficient engines, Honda Civics could be easily tailored to the owner's personality through myriad aftermarket parts catalogs and websites.

But then the PlayStation gaming system exploded into living rooms, exposing the youth of America to Civic alternatives ranging from aging Nissan 240SXs to hyper Mitsubishi Evolutions. Honda responded by killing the handsome Civic Si coupe after the 1999 model year, and by dropping the Civic's popular double-wishbone suspension system with a 2001 redesign. In 2002, the Civic Si returned as a 160-horsepower version of the Europe-only hatchback, which looked like a doorstop and didn't possess the increasingly popular aggressiveness popularized by drivel such as "Too Fast, Too Furious."

With the debut of the Honda Civic Si Concept, a barely disguised version of what will appear in showrooms for 2006, Honda makes it clear that it still wants its slice of the sport-compact pie. Honda has also announced that the production version of the Si will debut at the 2005 Specialty Equipment Marketers Association (SEMA) trade show in Las Vegas in November, and that Honda is SEMA's official vehicle manufacturer for the show - which means scores of modified new 2006 Civics adorned with scantily clad women will litter the desert floor come November.

Until SEMA, the Honda Civic Si Concept not only signals a return of America's favorite compact car to favor among aftermarketers, but it foreshadows the entire redesigned 2006 Honda Civic lineup, which includes coupes and sedans in various states of trim, the performance-oriented Si Coupe, the environmentally responsible Civic Hybrid sedan with updated Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) technology, and the natural-gas powered GX sedan.

John Mendel, Senior Vice President, Automobile Operations for American Honda, promises, "The new Civic will be the safest car in its class, bar none." Standard equipment on every 2006 Civic will include antilock brakes, side-impact airbags, and side-curtain airbags. More details on the redesigned 2006 Honda Civic lineup will be available at a later date.

It's been 20 years since the first Honda Civic Si arrived in the U.S. for the 1984 model year, and Honda says that the 2006 Civic Si will be the fastest and most powerful production Civic ever. A 200-horsepower, 16-valve, dual-overhead cam, inline four-cylinder engine with an 8,000 rpm redline boasts the latest generation of i-VTEC technology to produce optimum power, optimum efficiency, and optimum levels of emissions.

A close-ratio six-speed manual transmission delivers power to the front wheels, and the engine breathes through a sport-tuned exhaust system that sounds terrific. Honda recorded a production Civic Si making a run through the gears and played it during the concept's introduction to reporters. It sounded more powerful, and more exotic, than a four-cylinder ought to. Keeping that power flowing to the ground is a standard helical-type limited slip front differential.

Large 18-inch alloy wheels wearing 225/40 performance tires filled the wheel wells on the Honda Civic Si Concept, fronting four-wheel-disc brakes with cross-drilled rotors and Brembo four-piston calipers. But these rotors and calipers are just for show, like the glossy black-painted hood, giant rear decklid wing, and the air diffuser with center-mounted exhaust mounted under the back bumper.

What will translate to showrooms is the Honda Civic Si Concept's swept roofline and ultra-fast windshield rake, which present a gentle arc that stretches from front to rear. There's plenty of Acura in the Civic Si Concept's face, which results in a more aggressive appearance, but the flanks are plain despite better elegance and flow than a Scion tC. Don't expect the full aero kit on the Honda Civic Si Concept to be standard when the car goes on sale early in 2006.

Mendel calls the Honda Civic Si concept, "Fast, fun, and full of what makes a Civic, a Civic." Let's hope Honda was smart enough to get the car programmed for inclusion in the next iteration of every driving enthusiast's favorite video game, Gran Turismo 4.
 

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