Honda’s latest Civic stands to offer buyers more choices than the breed has in several years, with three body styles?sedan, coupe, and the upcoming hatchback?as well as two engines, new sporty Si versions, and even the long-awaited high-performance Civic Type R. Among this sea of choices, the one choice Honda has yet to offer?one we’ve been pining for since the new Civic debuted?is the top-level 174-hp 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine paired with a manual transmission. Today, Save the Manuals fans, brings good news.
At an event on the eve of the 2016 New York auto show, Honda has confirmed that, for the 2017 model year, it will offer the 1.5L turbo, six-speed manual transmission combo in every Civic body style?sedan, hatch, and coupe. In the non-Si, non?Type R Civic (those versions are forthcoming), that turbo engine thus far has been available only with a CVT automatic, and the only stick shift in the lineup is paired with the Civic’s base, 158-hp non-turbo 2.0-liter four-cylinder. The reason we’re so eager to try the regular Civic’s top-line engine with the manual transmission is simple: The new Civic has a great chassis and drives superbly. That said, the CVT that Honda bolted to the turbo engine for the 2016 model year?which will continue to be offered in 2017?saps half the fun. We found a lot of that missing fun when we sampled the Civic 2.0L with the manual transmission, and the turbo engine’s extra power and smoothne...