Update Speculation thread

My edits

The covet is split up into two facelifts. The pre facelift resembles the 1983-1987 civic, with extra parts for sealed vs unsealed headlights, and the facelift resembles the 1987-1991 civic.

No 5 door hatch, as the job of the 5 door hatch is taken up by a new wagon variant, ala the Honda Shuttle: (you've named it the SportMover)

The 4wd system could be either a manual transfer case, meaning part time 4wd, or a torsion differential making it an active 4wd system. (the civic shuttle had both; part time from 1983-1987, and real time from 1987+. Ideally this would be a part of a facelift.)

Trim levels:

• DX - Base with carbureted engine, 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto.
• DXi - Base with fuel injected engine, 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto.
• LXi - Mid trim with fuel injected engine, 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto.
• DXi4 - Base trim with fuel injected engine and 4wd, 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto.
• LXi4 - Mid trim with fuel injected engine and 4wd, 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto.
• RXi4 - Top trim with fuel injected engine from the ZXi, 4wd, 6 speed manual with an ultra low first gear.

4 Door Sedan & 3 Door Hatchback:

The two are basically identical, save for their bodywork. All the factory variants carry over to the sedan from the hatchback, except for the GTz, which is hatchback only.

Trim levels:

• Hatchback and Sedan are identical in trim level, save for the GTz trim level, which is exclusive to the Hatchback.
• New HX trim level, taken from the gen 1 pessima, with a more efficient engine, low rolling resistance tires, aerodynamic body parts, and taller geared manual transmission, or standard automatic.

3 Door Extended Hatchback: (Civic Aerodeck Equivalent)

An extended 3 door hatchback featuring pop up headlights, a sloping hood, and perhaps even the weird gullwing rear hatch seen on the aerodeck. Based on the Sedan / Hatchback LUX below.

Trim levels:

• Identical to the 3 Door Hatchback, with the exclusion of the GTz and HX.

3 Door Sports Hatchback: (Civic CRX Equivalent)

A 3 door hatchback with a sloping roofline. Mechanically identical to the 3 door hatchback, but with a longer, sloped rear hatch, like on the civic CRX.

Trim levels:

• Identical to the 3 Door Hatchback, including GTz and HX trim levels.
• Potential for a more sporty trim level specific to the Sports Hatch, with a higher revving GTz engine?

3 Door MEHS Hatchback: (Renault 5 Turbo Equivalent - The new rally homologation special you've named the MEHS. I absolutely love the name!)

A 3 Door Hatchback with the engine mounted at the back, perhaps even a pessima v6 swap is possible, ala the accord swap done to the real life rwd civic that was home built. Serves as a Renault 5 Turbo equivalent, but weirder.

Trim levels:

• ZXi.
• GTz.
• Homologation Special of some kind
• Full Group-B rallycross build.

4 Door Sedan LUX & 3 Door Coupe LUX: (Honda Accord Equivalent)

An equivalent to the Honda Accord, being a gussied-up Covet with a sloped front end, popup headlights, new taillights, an upgraded interior, and bespoke options.

Trim levels:

• EXi - Base trim with a High Output 1.5 DXi engine. 5 Speed manual or 4 Speed automatic transmission.
• LXi - Mid trim with a High Output 1.8L engine. 5 Speed manual or 4 Speed automatic transmission.
• LXi-S - Mid trim with a High Output 1.8L engine and four-wheel steering. 5 Speed manual or 4 Speed automatic transmission.
  
• HX - Mid trim with a High Output variant of the HX engine found in the covet. 5 Speed manual or 4 Speed automatic transmission.
• ZXi - Top trim with a mildly detuned 2.0L engine from the GTz, digital gauges, and four-wheel steering. 5 Speed manual or 4 Speed automatic transmission.

 

Yeah, it could get a JTCC variant with a highly-tuned 1.5 DOHC engine revving @9500rpm with a Stage-3 Performance Long Block and a straight-through exhaust coming under the passenger door!

 

This makes way more sense and is way more realistic, thanks!

 

...so a pessima?

 

pessima but smoller

 

imagine covet sedan

 

We're probably getting a pre-facelift Covet- it's relatively light work and would easily check the box of "pre-1987 subcompact". Some new wheels are also possible, but I'm guessing we'd only get one or two. We might get something akin to the Honda "phone dial" wheels.
an HX config with special gearing and such is likely too.
I think we'll also get a 5-door wagon version, which will be the closest thing to a minivan we've gotten so far. It also opens the door for more "offroad"-focused versions with plastic cladding and mudflaps- a visual cue that would be useful in career mode to differentiate it from standard models.
I don't think a sedan, glassback coupe, or conventional 5-door hatch are coming. They might offer a different bodystyle, sure, but that's about it.
That's why we didn't get a 5-door '96 Pessima, but we got the LeGran wagon. The LeGran wagon allowed for the 4wd LeGran, a good jumping-off point in career mode for early-game rally builds. A 5-door Pessima (presumably EUDM) wouldn't really allow for anything beyond a diesel engine, which would be useless in career mode so it didn't happen.
The devs are beginning to prioritize career mode viability over vehicle roster gaps. Career mode is closer than it's ever been...

 

damn
that's some good speculation

 

Accords are not covet sized lol

 

Isnt the pessima a corolla?

 

I personally picture the 1996 pessima GTz as a 1998-2002 Honda Acord Type-R

 

I agree with you entirely, tough I would be surprised if we didn't see the CRX or sedan included, since they're vehicle archetypes not yet seen ingame.
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A lassback coupe would be the first FWD coupe ingame, the first compact coupe, and the first car with a liftback. (The 200bx has a trunk rather than a hatch).

The 5 door sedan, meanwhile, would be the first compact sedan ingame, which, while much less unique, would also be simple to construct and would be able to use almost all of the mechanical and trim components from the hatchback.

 

Creating one new bodystyle is a lot of work, let alone three. We're probably getting only one new bodystyle (if at all).

 

How's career mode got anything to do with what bodystyle is gonna be available in the game?

 

when you write an essay over a cryptic image of a fender

Neat writeup either way.

 

Imagine if we get hyped for a covet remaster but the picture was of something else..

 

I always thought the Pessima to be Rover 400 sized (R8 not HHR)

 

I was really bored
--- Post updated ---

Oh absolutely, though recently the quality of vehicle refreshes has grown tenfold, with the bolide especially getting a ton of variations, with multiple generations of bodywork, popup and sealed beam headlights, multiple widebody kits, targa and hardtop configurations, and fully custom suspension for race variants. I wouldn't be surprised to see the covet serve the next step in this direction of improvment.

 

Seeing how content light the Pessima remaster was makes me think the Covet may be the same, with this widebody being the only large content we get. Maybe less important stuff like a CRX body will be for a later content pass after more important stuff like other remasters and maybe even career mode.

 

I believe that the content lightness of the remastering of the new Pessima is in full accordance with the era the car was made. Japanese car makers were starting to decontent their models in the mid-90s due to the Japanese economic/stock market bubble burst and the new Pessima, being a 1996 model, reflects exactly that.
The Covet was a 1987 car, made amid the developmental craze in Japan of the mid-80s to early-90s, so I believe it's gonna get all the content we're talking about.