Quick sit, few comments about 2012 Civic Hybrid

Took a good sit in a 2012 all-new Civic Hybrid this morning in Fremont. This one had leather seating, but no navigation

* Everything appeared very well placed while in the driver's seat - armrest, steering wheel, seats, footwell, controls all very nice.

* Driver's seat was very good. No power lumbar, but there seemed to be nice lumbar built in. Didn't notice leather quality as compared to Prius, but it felt pretty good.

* Some don't like the overlapping dash surfaces, but I don't mind them. The feel of the plastic was pretty nice. There is no upper glove box as in Prius, but there is a coin tray on the left and a bigger one in front of the shifter. I pretty much prefer the open / semi sport type of console as found in Civic. I'm not so keen on the floating bridge console in Prius, mostly because it's hard to reach underneath it, and hard to reach over it to get something off passenger floorboard.

* The steering wheel is ace - nicely positioned and sized. Very reasonable adjustment range as compared to the seat itself. I like how the cruise control buttons are on the face of steering wheel. No chance of bumping the stalk which turns with the steering wheel in Prius.

* I like the generous left side of the footwell in the Civic. They give you a whole dead pedal and they don't restrict the left foot room with some kind of kick panel as found in Prius.

* I'm cool with the dual level instuments in Civic. The speedo and other info is pretty much straight in front of the driver. Unless someone can prove that a more centered speedometer is somehow better while driving, I say scrub the speedometer that's moving more towards the center in Prius (and I think also in the v).

* Rear seat legroom is cozy as well as headroom, especially for me at 6'2". The view out the back side windows is quite compromised in the Civic.

Obviously the trunk / cargo room is likely not half that of the Prius, especially since the rear seat does not appear to fold forward.

* It's a sharp looking car overall. I like the new alloy wheels and the fact they don't cover them up with stupid plastic covers. Taking plastic hubcaps off Prius leaves an ugly hole in the center and I'm seeing a lot of Pri's around like that.

* The car definitely looks more elegant than the last gen Civic. It appears stretched out a little bit and a little more sleek. The front end is very sleek. Some mind the rear, but I think it looks nice. I'm seeing more new Civics around and I'm sure they will sell like hotcakes for years to come.

* btw, I sat in a very new Corolla XRS. pffffffft. Sorry. They are rather lame. I just hate the compromised footwell due to the kick panel on lower left of floorboard. It's not nearly a whole dead pedal either. This car was a XRS (their performance car? sure). Also, the tilt of the steering wheel is somewhere between a car and a bit more like a bus. These are the kind of things that turn me off. That's that.

 

I didn't power up the car to check out the i-mid system. Hmm, I don't notice anything offesive looking about the body design, rather it's attractive, but to each his own. HSD beats IMA every time, but at least the HCH is up to 44 MPG average.

I wonder if the HCH wheels are as light as the Prius wheels. If so, it would be nice if Toyota would skip the hubcaps and dish out a standard wheel more like it.