A 2022 Honda Civic Hatchback test mule was spotted in Columbus, Ohio, sporting some of the most unnecessarily aggressive automotive camouflage in recent memory. But the thick black cladding wasn’t enough to mask what the 11th Gen Civic Forum immediately identified as a rear spoiler.
Historically, most of Honda’s design previews have been so close to the finished product that most of us don’t even bother referencing them as concept vehicles anymore. They’re akin to a final draft with a few embellishments that are likely to be toned down before anything hits the assembly line. But the 11th-generation Civic Sedan Concept came out looking like a Honda’s attempt at building the Volkswagen Jetta, leaving the manufacturer with a shortage of radical design cues to scale back.
Of course, the more mature styling of the next-generation Civic doesn’t prohibit Honda from building versions that appeal to the children trapped inside our dour, adult exteriors. Type R and Si variants are a guarantee and the manufacturer has already been bragging about how the 2022 model year comes with a stiffer chassis, upgraded suspension options, and an available manual transmission for people interested in exercising their fine motor skills during the daily commute.
A spoiler seems as though it would slot in there rather nicely and the one we’re seeing in the spy shots is tasteful enough to make it onto the most vanilla versions of the hatchback without causing offense. It might even be too subtle if the hatch in question happens to be a performance model. We didn’t exactly expect Honda to go full Plymouth Superbird with the new Civic. But your author feels the subtle spoiler featured in the spy images and sedan doesn’t even surpass what was offered on the Oldsmobile Intrigue — may the earth lay lightly on its steel — in terms of how many thumbs up it’s likely to garner from passersby.
There’s also a chance that the symmetrical bump located just above the rear taillights is an optical illusion created by the wild amount of black padding added to the test vehicle’s media shroud. Though it seems the less likely explanation since the Civic 4-door has already been shown with an integrated lip spoiler.
[Image: 11th Gen Civic Forum]
Hopefully it DOESN’T. Spoilers are just plain stupid on anything but a supercar. They have zero function at legal speeds, always look tacked-on, and just give you another surface to have to clean around and risk burning your paint while buffing some day. The new Civic sedan is a clean, grown-up look and a welcome departure from the awful boy-racer mess of mismatched seams and fake plastic vents of the current abomination. Hopefully they don’t feel the need to appeal to millennials with no money when they do the hatchback version, and carry over the same sophisticated look for those of us who are tired of trendy designs that age poorly.
I feel the same way about roof racks and roof rails on CUVs and SUVs. All they do is create strange sounds at high speeds and make it difficult to remove snow from the top of the vehicle.
SPOILER ALERT!!!
The Civic is usually the youthful choice in the segment, a spoiler is not the end of the world. If the current Civic’s design has been so polarising, it wouldn’t have been the top selling car in its class and amongst the top in the country. If you want boring “clean” lines I’d say go buy a Jetta or a Corolla but true to Honda form, every alternating generation of the Civic is usually way more conservative than the preceding one. We’ll see how it’ll work for them but with today’s compacts, especially the Koreans, and CUV’s cranking up the dial it might not be enough.
@Yankee
Spoilers reduce drag at even moderate speed. You’re thinking of a downforce-inducing wing which, yes, would be silly on a FWD car.
A spoiler. A wing. Whatever you want call it. Neither one of them REDUCE drag.
@BigDuke6
Spoilers reduce drag. Fact.
Wings induce downforce AND drag. Fact.
Look up ‘Laminar Air Flow’ or ‘Reynolds Number’ or ‘Kammback’ or ‘Gurney Flap’.
Or just look up ‘spoiler’.
The rear of the original GT40 didn’t look like it did because Ford ran out out money. Same with the Prius.
@Tele Vision
You are absolutely right, I was thinking of all those boy-racer wings, not a subtle lip spoiler. I stand corrected. Thank you.
That tarp looks like a late model Saab 9-3.
Spoiler has been a part of the civic since vtec yo
I can live with a subtle body color spoiler to get the more sophisticated styling we saw on the prototype. Now I wish Honda would tone down the Type R’s juvenile styling. I don’t care how well it performs on a track, I wouldn’t be caught dead commuting in something that looks like it was dragged straight off a Fast and Furious set.
Yes, I didn’t mind the prototype lip spoiler at all, and I hope that’s the extent of the “spoilage” on the Si. I can’t stand the current Si sedan’s wing/spoiler (looked OK on the coupe), and if they want something like that, it could be a $300 dealer-installed accessory IMO.
I also hope the next Type R looks less Transformer-like. Honda has said it would release Type R variants that would emphasize the “GT” aspects of the car, so maybe we’ll see something like that.
STOP THE PRESSES!!! A CAR may COME WITH A CAR ACCESSORY!!!
Spoiler Alert!!
Even if it doesnt come with one, it will likely receive a giant one from the third or forth owner as most Civics do.
I know its a mule with a cover over it but… waht?
That’s just a bizarre looking rear end to me.