You may well not like its seems to be, but Honda’s Civic is a superb motor vehicle.


Craig Cole/Roadshow

The Honda Civic is an all-around outstanding smaller motor vehicle, arguably the gold common in its phase. This device has a thoughtfully created, large-top quality interior, it gives plenty of common machines, such as the Honda Sensing suite of state-of-the-art driver aids, and its authentic-environment gasoline financial system is fantastic. Further more broadening its attraction, this small Honda is provided in a array of physique designs, from a conventional sedan to a sporty coupe to a 5-door hatchback. If you happen to be in the market for a smaller motor vehicle just get a Civic and probabilities are you will never be let down.

Do not Like

  • The infotainment method isn’t really good
  • Elevated interior sounds concentrations
  • Overstyled exterior

A hatchback-to-fundamentals motor vehicle

This hatchback is provided in 5 unique trims, from the entry-stage LX model up to the Sport Touring variant, which is what I am tests here. The most basic model Honda gives begins at just about $23,000, such as $995 in place service fees. In a natural way, my critique device is pricier than that, checking out for around $29,905, which is still a absolutely acceptable sum thinking of all the machines it comes with.

When it can be time to haul a load of goods from your regional huge-box retailer, this Civic is happy to oblige. With the rear seats up, it gives twenty five.7 cubic toes of place. Fold those people backrests down and that determine grows to a Costco-deserving 46.two cubes, a determine that, although plenty useful, is a bit much less than what you get in possibly a Hyundai Elantra GT or Volkswagen Golfing, each of which present more than 50 cubic toes of utmost quantity.

Why is this Civic’s roofline so droopy?


Craig Cole/Roadshow

Other rivals of this Honda involve 5-door variations of the Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla. These rivals have their individual strengths and weaknesses, although I am not fearful to say that all of them are more beautiful than the Civic. It is really not that this Honda hatchback is ugly, it can be just that it can be obtained a ton of more styling, from faux air vents to extremely active-on the lookout bumpers to an oddly deflated roofline to its duet of rear spoilers. It is, regretably, not a quite quite motor vehicle. 

It is really what is within that counts

But if you can get earlier that wrapper, the Civic’s interior is far more pleasurable, and arguably 1 of the ideal in this phase. Entrance and rear, the seats are comfy and there’s plenty of area for heads and legs. Even taller individuals need to have no complaints although driving in this Honda, although older men and women might run into a small issues. The Civic sits quite lower to the ground, which makes it nearly really feel like you happen to be getting up off the ground when alighting. 

The top quality of this car’s cabin is extremely large. In reality, some of its interior supplies are nicer than what you get in some luxury cars and trucks. Improving its flexibility, the Civic’s middle console does more tricks than a magician. The armrest slides fore and aft to better accommodate unique men and women, but it also flips up, revealing a deep, spacious storage bin. Within this compartment are numerous cup holders as effectively as a different storage tray. Numerous of these elements also slide. There’s even an extra storage cubby underneath the middle stack need to you will need more junk-stashing place.

It may well be roomy and flexible, but all is not roses within this Honda. One particular ingredient I don’t treatment for is the instrument cluster. Like its physique, the Civic’s gauges are unusually robotic, with odd-on the lookout analog meters flanking a mildly reconfigurable middle display. The over-all appear is a little bit hokey and is not likely to age quite effectively.

Techno-illogical

A component of this motor vehicle that is now out of day is the infotainment method. All variations of the Civic hatch, preserve the entry-stage LX model, come with a Exhibit Audio method and a 7-inch touchscreen. With unattractive graphics and a demanding consumer interface, it is not 1 of my favorite multimedia arrays readily available right now. At minimum Apple CarPlay and Android Vehicle are included. Best-shelf Sport Touring types also come with a quality twelve-speaker audio method, which sounds fine, neither dreadful nor amazing.

2020 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hatchback

The Civic’s interior is rife with large-top quality supplies.


Craig Cole/Roadshow

Along with its front buckets, the rear outboard seats are heated, which is great, but the deficiency of any USB ports serving backseat travellers is not. Larger-close variations of this motor vehicle come with only two this kind of shops, 1 delivering one.five amps’ really worth of juice, the other a measly one amp.

One particular feature of note is the electronic parking brake with automated keep. Executing absent with a mechanical handbrake frees up place on the middle console. And I have obtained to say, automated brake keep has become 1 of my favorite options. When enabled, a agency thrust of the pedal although stopped will keep the motor vehicle stationary, so although waiting at a gentle you don’t have to continue to keep applying strain on the brake pedal. It is really a welcome usefulness feature, 1 that is still quite uncommon in this motor vehicle phase.

The Honda Sensing basic safety suite is common machines here and it can be as great as at any time. This features points like ahead-collision warning, collision-mitigation braking, adaptive cruise management and lane-keeping support. All those very last two options get the job done extremely effectively in reality, they’re some of the ideal readily available in the market right now. The cruise management with lane centering is particularly great, keeping the motor vehicle locked in the center of its lane with negligible ping-ponging from 1 facet to the other. 

2020 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hatchback

The infotainment method ain’t good, but at minimum you get a quantity knob.


Craig Cole/Roadshow

Electrical power and general performance

All mainline Civic hatchbacks are run by a one.five-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. In Sport and Sport Touring types, it delivers a respectable 180 horsepower and possibly 177 pound-toes of torque when paired with a six-velocity handbook transmission or 162 lb-ft when bolted to the readily available CVT. Non-Sport variants brandish 174 hp in their under-hood stables.

Pedantic vagaries aside, this powerplant is smooth and peaceful, even when operating all-out. Regardless of the pint-measurement displacement (technically one,498 cc is three.seventeen US pints, but I digress), this engine delivers plenty of midrange punch, a thick serving of torque proper in the heart of its rev array. In ordinary use, the Civic will never leave you seeking for more general performance as it feels very lively.

While not very as responsive as I’d like, this car’s consistently variable transmission is smooth and aids produce some outstanding gasoline financial system. So outfitted, the Civic Hatchback is rated at 29 miles for every gallon in the metropolis and 35 on highway drives. Blended, it need to return 32 mpg, although in combined use I have found just shy of 35 mpg. It is really often good when you can defeat the EPA’s believed rankings devoid of even making an attempt.

2020 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hatchback

This is most likely the Civic’s minimum-flattering angle.


Craig Cole/Roadshow

This Honda’s journey top quality is about on par for a compact motor vehicle, staying neither pillow-gentle nor buckboard-stiff. It strikes a good harmony between sport and ease and comfort. At velocity, however, this hatchback’s cabin is a little bit on the noisy facet, with unexpectedly apparent tire and wind ruckus. Yet another downside is the design and style of the C-pillars. They are chunky, even chonky, and very seriously block rearward visibility.

Nevertheless a good alternative

The 2020 Civic hatchback is great at just about all the things. Sure, I’d recognize an up-to-date infotainment method, some nicer instruments and toned-down styling, but the motor vehicle is so basically stable I can appear earlier these insignificant faults. If you happen to be in the market for an productive, flexible and effectively-outfitted motor vehicle but don’t want to go the crossover route, make positive to verify out this Honda or any of the other Civic physique designs. They will never disappoint.