2009 Honda Civic receives Bluetooth, facelift

(Credit: Honda)

Honda unveiled its 2009 Civic lineup this Tuesday. As should be expected, the new model receives some incremental styling changes in the form of a tweaked grille and headlamp combo, clear turn signals in the rear, and a new, more aggressive three opening front bumper cover. Power output remains unchanged for the gasoline, natural gas, and hybrid variants. Honda has, however, made vehicle stability control standard for top-tier trim packages.

Inside the cabin, Honda is still offering the same optional DVD-based satellite navigation system that we saw on the 2007 Civic Hybrid model, but has added Bluetooth hands-free capabilities to the system. Oddly enough the Honda navigation still offers that weird PCMCIA card slot that allows the use of a digital memory card and PC Card adapter to store MP3- and WMA-formatted music.

Honda has also added a new LX-S trim level, which is a sport-styled LX model, and a DX-VP trim level that sits just above the DX trim level and adds air conditioning and an audio system, which inadvertently brings to focus the fact that Honda even offers a radio-free Civic DX in the first place.