We compare the specs and features of the cheapest and most expensive two-door Honda Civic models after chugging a can of Surge. The LX is at the bottom and the Touring comes with all of the toys.
TranscriptDAVID GLUCKMAN: These two cars represent the opposite ends of the Civic coupe spectrum. The red car is an LX, the green car is a Touring model. This is a 16 ounce can of Surge. Surge is the fully loaded citrus soda with carbos, that was popular in the late '90s. Its can happens to match the colors of these two cars perfectly. I'm now full of caffeine, so let's argue about these two coupes.
One big difference between these two cars is the powertrain. The Touring comes with a 1.5 liter turbocharged four-cylinder. It's smaller than the LX engine. 31 in the city, and 41 on the highway. 174 horsepower, and 162 pound-feet of torque. The catch though, is that it only comes with a CVT. The engine in the LX is a lot simpler. It's 158 horsepower, 138 pound-feet of torque. Fuel economy is 26/38, and it's the only way to get a Civic with a manual. And you definitely want a Honda manual.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The Touring has all of Honda's safety bells and whistles, stuff like adaptive cruise control, road departure mitigation, lane departure warning, lane keep assist. It also has Honda's weird approach to blind spot monitoring, which is a camera that activates with the right turn signal.
Not a lot of safety nets in this one. It's got breaks and stuff. And I can see out of it. The Turing has Brake Hold, which you can turn on whenever you want, and when you come to a stop keeps the parking brake on for you. When you hit the gas, it turns it off. The LX has Brake Hold too, and it kind of helps if you're not great with a stick and trying to start on a hill.
So it's hard to tell the difference on the outside, but this one has some pretty fancy headlights and fog lights down here. The LX has headlights and no fog lights.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
This volume control is a rocker, and a touch-sensitive slider. It can't quite decide what it is, and it's really hard to use. The LX has as a regular rocker switch, and it works perfectly well. The Touring has this big center display with navigation, Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay. This one has a radio with, like, a screen that you can't press on and some buttons and stuff.
Both cars have this nifty reconfigurable center console. The LX just has these cloth seats. They're fine, except for the weird carbon fiber-looking racing stripe thing in the middle. The Touring also has a stripe, but it's leather.
So, what did we learn today? Well, which Civic you choose really comes down to how lazy you feel like being. If you definitely want a manual, you have to go with an LX. If you want stuff like adaptive cruise, and all the cameras, and heated seats, and CarPlay and Android Auto, step up to the Touring. Or there's the EX in the middle, and there's going to be the SI later, and that'll have a manual. And it's kind of confusing. The one thing I did learn is it's really a terrible idea to chug an entire can of Surge.
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