2015 info-Car buyers: Honda’s Civic Concept

People love Honda, even at times when the romance is a very one-sided affair.

With all due respect to one of the world’s most popular auto brands, Honda has occasionally struggled to grasp the enthusiast market and nurture the passion that made it the darling of the tuner world.

Not long ago, Honda’s engineering acumen made it something akin to a poor-mans-BMW. Except that with the right specs or state of tune, the Japanese automaker’s performance products often had the muscle to best the boys from Bavaria, not to mention truly direct rivals from Ford, Toyota, Subaru and Chevrolet.

Then, somewhere along the road, Honda veered too far into the middle lane. The brand’s U.S. range lost its sporty edge and, with the move towards more ‘sensible’ models, a lot of the good automotive mojo it had created over the years.

The Honda Civic Concept, shown for the first time at the 2015 New York International Auto Show, is vivid evidence that Honda could be about to stage a performance renaissance. Here are five reasons why the Daily News Autos loves this car, and two reasons why we’re staying wary about the production model.

That color!

You can spot the Honda Civic Concept from pretty much anywhere at the New York Auto Show. This paint doesn’t just glow, it nearly grabs you by the collar and shakes you senseless. We were tempted to turn off all the lights at the Javits Center, simply to see if we could still spot this neon green machine. We’re betting we could!

Turbo baby

That’s right, Honda is slapping some turbos onto the engines of its long-serving economy car. The engine in the Civic Concept is a punchy 1.5-liter 4-cylinder coupled to a 6-speed manual. That combo could easily result in an output of roughly 200-horsepower, along with some very miserly fuel mileage. Performance and economy, this is what makes Honda, well, HONDA!

America gets to have some fun

For too long, we’ve been looking across the Atlantic at some seriously cool-looking Civic models sold in Europe. That’s right, the Civic sold here isn’t quite what you’re going to find anywhere else. Thankfully, Honda is taking a risk with the next stateside-Civic's exterior design. Even in a much more muted color, the Civic Concept’s sharply-creased front fascia, center-exit exhaust, and large LED-rimmed tail-lamps would look fantastic minus the neon green paintjob.

A hatch is back

After a strangely long absence, Honda is bringing a hatchback version of the Civic our way. We’re not sure why they ever gave it the chop in the first place, but let’s not quibble. When it arrives next year, Honda will offer a coupe, sedan, and five-door hatchback.

Return of the Type-R

That’s right, the legendary Type-R is on its way to the U.S. For Honda fans, this is better than having McLaren-Honda F1 driver Jenson Button take you for a lap or two of Monaco. The Civic Type-R could be the beginning of an entirely new era of Honda tuning and affordable performance. We can’t wait to get our hands on one!

Before we get carried away…

There are a couple things you need to keep in mind with the Civic Concept. For starters, details like super-sized alloy wheels and ultra-sleek side mirrors are going to get the heave-ho for the production models (yes, even the Type-R).

Honda also has to maintain – and regain – some ground lost to recent reliability issues. After years of watching the U.S. manufacturers stumble in this regard, Japanese automakers have proven they’re not infallible when it comes to quality problems and recalls. If Honda can rekindle its engineering creativity, while simultaneously rebuilding its record of reliability, the automaker could prove an unstoppable force in the very near future.

It starts at (or near) the bottom of the range, however, and with the eagerly awaited debut of the next-generation Civic in 2016.