I still kind of think the next gen Civic should go back to it's more tuner friendly roots, but it sounds like Honda's aiming the Fit's US launch for that.

I would expect more of the same, really. The Civic's a pretty big car for a compact.

In terms of design, I'm expecting something bland to ugly, just judging from recent trends (Accord and Ridgeline). Probably a K-series engine around 2.0L

I believe the last Honda prez mentioned that they dropped the ball on the current Civic, so they may try to aim it a little more aggressive than the current Civic, but nothing radical. It'll probably me more Toyota than Nissan.