Associate Editor Brandon Turkus tests out the front and back seats of the 2016 Honda Civic Sedan, and then attempts the same feat in the all-new 2017 Civic Coupe. It doesn't end well.
TranscriptBRANDON TURKUS: Hey, Autoblog. This is associate editor Brandon Turkus. I'm still here with our 2016 Honda Civic Sedan, and I'm actually going to talk to you about cabin space because it's one of those things that's not really that easy to explain in text. So I'm actually going to show you. First of all, I'm about 6 foot 1". I'm about 250, 260 pounds, so I'm a bit on the bigger side, long-legged. But I fit quite well in the Civic.
I've got the seat down as low as it can go because I just like to sit closer to the road. But I have plenty of leg room and you know, can reach steering wheel nice and easily. My one complaint is that the center console here-- this is a really hard plastic. So for someone like me that's longer-legged, if I'm going to be doing a long freeway drive, my knee is constantly resting against this hard, almost sharp piece of plastic, and it's one of the let downs in what's otherwise a very, very nice cabin.
The other thing that, especially in this size class, when you have someone of my size, someone my height, it usually means not very good things for whoever is in the backseat. So what I'm going to do right now is you can see me in the front seat. I've got plenty of room. I'm quite comfortable. I'm actually going to shut off the camera, set it up in the back seat, and then you can see me climb in there and see just what it's like for ingress, egress, how much room I have, all that good stuff.
OK. As you can see, it's not that bad. I've got a good bit of separation between me and the driver's seat. And keep in mind, this is set up for someone my height, so a bet on the longer-legged side. And it's really not that bad back here. There's enough headroom. My head's not hitting the roof, which is good, considering kind of the coupe-ish, fast back-ish design of the Civic. Go ahead and put my seat belt on here.
Two-stage heated seats back here, too. That's nice for a Michigan January. But yeah, it's not bad back here. You know, I wouldn't want to sit back here for a super long drive, but for a ride to the bar, or a ride to a restaurant, or over to a friend's, it certainly wouldn't be a bad way to get there.
Hey, Autoblog. I am back. You just saw me getting in and out of the Honda Civic Sedan, both the front seat and the back seat, to get an idea of just how much space there is. Now, through the magic of editing, I am here in sunny San Diego, rather than chilly, cold, snowy Michigan, in the new Honda Civic Coupe. Sitting in the driver's seat, as you can see-- there's a steering wheel in front of me.
And basically, it feels more or less the same as the Sedan. The seating position is very similar. The H-point is very similar. I think I have a little bit less headroom. It feels that way to me. But other than that, it feels pretty much the same. Sight lines out the front are pretty much identical. You'd be hard pressed to tell the difference from the B-pillar forward.
Look over the shoulder-- the blind spots aren't huge. This is not a touring model that I'm in, but some of the models do have the camera underneath the passenger side mirror to highlight your blind spot. But these rear-quarter windows are pretty spacious, so you aren't going to have a hard time finding stuff in your blind spot. But other than that, it feels pretty much the same. I'm going to get in the back seat now and we'll see just how cramped I can be.
OK. It's not that easy. And it's not quite as cozy back here. I can't actually reach the driver's side seat adjustment, so I can't set the seat back to my driving position. But as you can see, my head is right up against the back window. It's really quite cramped in here. There's not a lot of shoulder room.
Basically, I mean, this might sound like common sense, but if you have any intention of hauling anyone besides yourself, you're probably going to want the Sedan. The Coupe looks really good. It looks better, in my opinion. But it's pretty cozy back here. I couldn't imagine doing more than a few miles. And as you could see, ingress and egress is not great, either.
There doesn't appear to be a release for the seat here. There's one on the passenger side, so you might have a little bit easier time getting in. But overall, it's definitely not the greatest thing in the world. So if you're planning on, you know, occasionally driving others, you'll probably want to go with the Civic Sedan.
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