The 2013 Honda Civic->ke236 Coupe made its world debut at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show->ke211. Sporting significant changes to the exterior and interior, the Civic Coupe aims to impress the younger buyers that are seeking an exciting 2-door coupe on a budget.

"Our industry has never been more competitive or fast changing, and a significant refresh of Civic, America's best-selling compact car, just one model year after its debut as an all-new model shows true speed to market," said John Mendel, American Honda executive vice president of Sales. "Our corporate direction is to provide our customers with great products with speed, affordability and low CO2 emissions. There is no better example of this direction than today's introduction of the 2013 Honda Civic."

With strong words like those, Honda is obviously adamant on continuing Civic ‘s success in the U.S. market. For the success of any vehicle, the design, powertrain and the price must impress buyers – lip service just won’t do. Does the Honda Civic Coupe impress us?

Click past the jump to find out in our review.

2013 Honda Civic Coupe

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2013 Honda Civic Coupe
  • Engine/Motor: inline-4
  • Horsepower: 140
  • Torque: 128
  • Transmission: 5-Speed Manual
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array
Pros
Cons

Exterior and Interior

Aiming to rid itself of the previous model’s shortcomings, the Honda Civic Coupe receives significant changes to its exterior, as well as the interior.

In its 2-door coupe form, the car will sit on a shorter wheelbase than its sedan variant, thanks to the elimination of those pesky rear doors. The coupe receives a shallow-raked windshield and a swooping roofline that gives airflow a perfect path to the sleek rear window.

On the rear, the Civic coupe gets a new bumper, and sports a sculpted spoiler and redesigned taillights. Fortunately, Honda took great care when sculpting the Civic coupe, so it did not end up looking like a sedan minus two doors. It actually looks almost like its own model.

Honda bragged plenty about the Civic coupe’s new interior, and for good reason. The 2013 Civic has received an all-new tricot headliner, new soft-touch materials on the instrument panel and upper door panels, and revised textures and panel junctions throughout the instrument panel and center console. Customers can opt for either cloth or leather interior with subtle silver accents throughout.

Power

While the previous model had a heavily revised engine lineup, the 2013 Civic Coupe has almost the same lineup. Honda will offer only the 1.8-liter 16-valve four-cylinder engine that delivers a total of 140 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque at 4,300 rpm. The power is transmitted to the front-wheels via a 5-speed manual or 5-speed automatic transmission. With this combination, it manages an impressive fuel economy of 28 mpg city, 39 mpg highway and 32 combined.

That 5-speed transmission kind of confuses us... Very few premium automakers, like Honda, even use 5-speed units any more. Even the Kia Forte comes standard with a 6-speed transmission.

Prices

The 2013 Honda Civic coupe will hit showrooms on December 5, 2012 and will come in at a base MSRP of $17,965. We're pretty sure that will not include the destination charge, so figure for about another $900 on top of the price.

Competition

The Civic Coupe is contested by other compact Coupes, like the Kia Forte Koup and the Hyundai Elantra coupe coupe. Like the Honda Civic, its competitors are also coupe avatars of their original sedan design. The choice is up to the user as each car has it's own fair share of fans.

The Hyundai Elantra Coupe gives the Honda Civic a run for it's money. With a better design and a 6-speed manual gearbox, plus a base price of $17,445, customers might find it tough to look away from the Hyundai Elantra.

If there's a car that the Honda Civic should fear, it's the Kia Forte Coupe. With the top-of-line SX, the Kia Forte comes with a more powerful engine and a 6-speed transmission while still costing less than the base price of the Civic. To boot, the Forte has an all-new body design coming up in 2014 and it's a beauty.