IT’S A BEST BUY BECAUSE:
The Honda Civic lineup offers a broad range of trim levels and body styles to suit a variety of tastes and budgets, and all of them are practical, economical, refined, and fun to drive.
BUT…
The Civic’s infotainment system trails some class rivals (and annoyingly lacks a traditional physical audio-volume knob), and despite the broad model lineup, not all trim levels are offered in all body styles.
WORTH NOTING:
Honda also sells a super-performance Type R version of the Civic that has a 306-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder and racetrack-focused equipment inside and out. The Civic Type R comes only as a hatchback and is priced at $33,900.
WHAT IS IT?
The Civic is Honda’s popular compact car. It was redesigned for 2016 in coupe and sedan form, and gained a 4-door hatchback body style for 2017. Trim levels differ a bit by body style, but mainly stick to Honda’s traditional LX, EX, EX-L, and Touring models. The base engine is a 158-hp 2.0-liter 4-cylinder that is offered in sedans and coupes. The step-up engine choice is a 174-hp turbocharged 1.5-liter four that is available on all body styles. The Sport and Sport Touring models (which have a 180-hp version of the 1.5-liter turbo engine) are exclusive to the hatchback body style, and the sporty Si models (which rejoined the lineup for 2017 and have a 205-hp turbo 1.5) are offered only as coupes or sedans. Available on most models is the Honda Sensing suite of safety features, which includes lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, forward collision warning and mitigation, and adaptive cruise control.
WHAT’S NEW?
The Civic lineup sees no significant changes for 2018.
FUEL ECONOMY
Regardless of trim level, the Civic has commendable EPA fuel-economy estimates for its respective levels of performance. The base 2.0-liter engine is rated at 28 mpg city/40 highway with the 6-speed manual transmission, and 32 city/40 highway with the CVT automatic. The turbocharged 1.5-liter engine is rated at 31 mpg city/42 highway with the 6-speed manual transmission, and 32 city/42 highway with the CVT automatic. EPA ratings for the coupe and hatchback body styles are 1-4 mpg lower across the board. The manual-transmission-only Si is rated at 28 mpg city/38 highway. In Consumer Guide® testing, a Touring sedan with the automatic averaged 33.8 in 60-percent city driving, a Sport Touring hatchback (which is automatic only) averaged 30.7 mpg in 55-percent city driving, and an Si sedan with the manual averaged 32.5 mpg in 70-percent city driving.
VALUE IN CLASS
The rollout of the redesigned Civic lineup that started two years ago reached full fruition with the mid-2017 introduction of the versatile hatchback body style and the sporty, affordable Si trim level. In any of its numerous permutations—from penny-pinching commuter to satisfyingly spicy sportster—the Civic offers excellent all-around refinement, an engaging driving personality, and laudable real-world fuel-economy numbers.
| BASE PRICE RANGE | $18,840 – $28,500 |
| BODY STYLES | 4-Door Sedan, 4-Door Hatchback, 2-Door Coupe |
| AVAILABLE ENGINES | 158-HP, 2.0-Liter 4-Cyl.; Turbocharged 174/180/205-HP, 1.5-liter 4-cyl. |
| DRIVE WHEELS | Front-Wheel Drive |
| BUILT IN | USA, Canada, England |
| EPA FUEL-ECONOMY RANGE | 28-42 MPG |
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