2006 Honda Civic to have... A BEAM AXLE?!?

[wrxsti]

beam axle or not, bottom line the car's overall package based on the pics is good. and its a Honda.

[niky]

As for the Sentra and Maxima... yes, those were good beam-axle cars... for their time. I had a Sentra, and set-up, yes it could handle well... but the steering feel and turning ability, plus the suspension composure, is light-years behind a (multi-link double-wishbone) Honda's or my current Lynx.

As for the packaging question: The Mazda 3 and the new Focus share the same complex multi-link suspension packaging. Note how they save vertical space by separating the strut and coil? They both have nice, BIG trunks. My cousin stuck a huge sound system in his Mazda because of this.

And as for the sedan getting multi-link, yippeee... yay... but the hatch is what they will spawn their R and RR models off of... so Civic performance fans (of which I am one...) will have yet another reason to hate Honda...

Yes, it looks to be a good car, but not a good Civic.

[BlueBimmer]

the dash alone makes it a good civic! hehe

[gearspeed]

wow ang ganda ng interior ng hatch na civic ah.Hindi ko lang gusto yung shape niya.

[Karding]

wow, so much for Sentra having such a nice handling with beam-axle. Like I said earlier, my wife's current car is a 2004 Sentra. I dont wanna be mean but Sentra has a lot of bodyroll on turns, freeway(highway) cloverleaf etc. And when you are a rear passenger and the car hits a bump, *thud*, *ouch*, uncomfortable. Even if we have to compare it with my previous 2004 Civic.

but Im pretty sure my wife's sentra handles better than the jeepney.

Beam axles are not that bad. And they give the advantages of less cost, less weight, less complexity and more space efficiency.

Sure, with those categories, its not that bad. But what about the handling characteristic/category which is the suspension's main purpose?! And then again, the general public doesnt care about handling characteristics anyway. Their only concern is trunk space.

hatch then the most likely reason is to help on space efficiency.

I concur.

[pajerokid]

We'd be lucky if we get that uber-hot hatch as it is here. Most likely we'll get a watered down version.

[OTEP]

There are days when you just want all the grocery bags to fit in the trunk and challenging a two-lane twistie is the farthest thing from your mind.

The Civic has always been designed to appeal to mr. and ms. average. Then more specialized variants just branch out of the family tree.

[Karding]

If beam-axle was designed to increase trunk space, I wonder why:

2004 Corolla 14 cu.ft / max cargo 13.6 cu.ft (4-wheel independent suspension)
2004 Sentra 12 cu.ft / max cargo 11.6 cu.ft (front independent, rear beam axle)

I believe that suspensions are not just for the so called 'twisties,' it was designed by manufacturer's R&D for handling without sacrificing comfort.

Sadly, there are not any day that we want to be comfortable in our ride.

But then again, the latest survey of the average Civic buyers/owners are 58yr-olds.

[OTEP]

I'm not sure if the Corolla is physically bigger than the Sentra, though.

But locally, the Sentras have more usable trunk space because there is minimal intrusion of the suspension into the trunk.

And beam axles do cost less for manufacturers (another factor).

Sometimes it just seems stupid that sedans are getting live axles while 4x4's which work better off-road with live axles, are going independent.

[Karding]

Length

Sentra: 177.5
Corolla: 178.3

Width

Sentra: 67.3
Corolla: 66.9

Height

Sentra: 55.5
Corolla: 58.5

True Market Value

Sentra: $14,897 (arent they supposed to be cheaper?)
Corolla: $14,758

Then the reliability between the two is added to the equation.

And beam axles do cost less for manufacturers (another factor).

This and ONLY this factor seems to be the valid argument for me.

[wilcats]

eh hindi naman dadating yang hatch nayan dito eh....

[Karding]

eh hindi naman dadating yang hatch nayan dito eh....

:bwahaha:

the very first honda owner who's being realistic

[BlueBimmer]

all i want is that dashboard in the sedan...

[number001]

I believe the dash that everyone is coveting, will realistically be available on very upscale trims such as the Type-R or SIR, etc. The normal sedans will probably have something really bland, but lets cross our fingers, and hope that Honda will not screw up again.

[BlueBimmer]

if thats the case i'll wait for the camry instead..

[ian_rex]

sayang naman. we got high expectations for the new honda civic. but that's for the euro version.

[Blackraven]

Wow! Ganda pala ng hatchback version.

Black and aluminum.......... inside and out.

Amazing.

Problem is, it won't be brought here for the Asian market. (ayon kay Takeo Fukui during his speech sa Medium-term plan ng Honda)