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www.ADandP.media model year 2013. It was fairly evident to people inside and out of Honda that the ninth execution was something that they didn't want to repeat. Countermeasures were taken. Evert recalls of what had happened, "Somewhere along the line, we lost those exciting names and the character of some of those vehicles. We began to focus on the North American mass market competitors like the Corolla." Whereas the Corolla was arguably a car for young families and thrifty transportation, the Civic had come to develop a reputation for sportiness and had great appeal to driving enthusiasts. But that reputation was dented. And that wasn't lost on Evert and his team. "We wanted to make an 'Epic Civic.'" He goes on to say, "We wanted to make something truly special. So we started the development diferently. We started with the goal to simply make the very best compact class car in the world. We were going to do this by going back to the roots of a sporty, fun-to-drive car that is still afordable, spacious and efcient." In other words, they were pretty much going back to where the Civic once was in the market. But they wanted to do a little more. Rather than checking out the standard suspects in the compact segment in the U.S. market, "We started by bench- marking the best C-class vehicles in the world. This means that we went to Europe and drove not just our competitive set, but C-segment luxury vehicles from BMW, Mercedes and Audi." While it is probably not all that likely that someone would cross-shop an Audi A3 and a Honda Civic, Evert and his team wanted to make sure that the vehicle they were developing would be up to the comparison. Yes, an Epic Civic. "The Europeans are very good in terms of sporty handling and excellent road manners, including confdence-inspiring, high- speed stability. That's what we wanted of this Civic," he says. Remember: Not only is this Civic meant for U.S. highways, but it is intended for other places, including the autobahn. Speaking of which. . . "To get buy-in on our new direction"—remember, the ninth-generation Civic, fundamentally, was devel- oped with something less-lofty than an A3 in mind, and certainly not high-speed motor- ways, "we took an early development pro- totype and had our top global executive drive it and its European competitors at autobahn speeds. We created one truly world-class Civic plat- form that would satisfy global customers and underpin all Civics—the two-door, four- door and fve-door versions." To put into context what they did to achieve the 10th-generation car: "What did we need to change?" Evert asks, rhetorically, then answers with great understatement, "Besides the chassis, body, interior, and two new powertrains, not too much." He explains, "We focused on power, fuel economy, handling, packaging, styling and cabin quietness." Yes, they had their work cut out for them. Full disclosure: Not every- thing in the 10th-generation Civic was developed in Ohio or California. Yes, the engines—a 1.5-liter direct-injected turbo and a 2.0-liter naturally aspi- rated four—are being manufac- tured at Honda's engine plant in Anna, Ohio (which, inci- dentally, is the largest engine plant that Honda has anywhere in the world). But the engines were developed in Japan. They had the resources. They have the expertise. The base engine is the 2.0-liter. The previous model had a 1.8- liter engine. The new one (which is related to both the European Civic Type-R 2.0-liter turbo, which isn't surprising when you learn that Yuji Matsumochi, who is the Powertrain Development Leader, worked on that engine, and the 2.4-liter engine in the Accord) provides more horsepower (158 vs. 143), more torque (138 vs. 129) and better fuel economy (31/41/35 vs. 30/39/33 mpg city/highway/combined). But the engine that provides what Evert considers to help provide a "leap-frog over the competition" is the 1.5-liter turbo, the frst turbo that Honda has had in a car in the U.S. The engine provides 174 hp @ 5,500 rpm and 162 lb-ft of torque @ 1,800 to 5,500 rpm. Evert says that because they wanted the 2016 Civic to a t w e w a n t e d o f t h i s C i v i c , " h e s a y s . t h i s C i v i c m e a n t f o r U . S . h i g h w a y s , e r p l a c e s , i n c l u d i n g t h e a u t o b a h n . n e w d i r e c t i o n " — r e m e m b e r , t h e f u n d a m e n t a l l y , w a s d e v e l - s - l o f t y t h a n a n A 3 i n h i g h - s p e e d m o t o r - d e v e l o p m e n t p r o - l o b a l e x e c u t i v e c o m p e t i t o r s c r e a t e d v i c p l a t - g l o b a l n a l l u r - o n s . " a t t h e y e n e r a t i o n o c h a n g e ? " h e n a n s w e r s It was fairly evident to people inside and out of Honda that the ninth execution was something that they didn't want to repeat. Countermeasures were taken. The highlighted B-pillars and frame rails show where there are "soft zones" in the hot-stamped 1,500 MPa steel, which are produced through annealing and which provide improved crash energy management. 27 AD&P; ∕ JANUARY 2016 CIVIC