two thousand seventeen Honda Civic Hatchback review: A driver’s car once again
The good The Civic Hatch Sport offers solid fuel economy, astute driving dynamics and excellent cargo space with the rear seats up.
The bad The base model’s general lack of connectivity might not sit well with tech-forward buyers, rear visibility isn’t all that superb and the strange cupholder eliminates a traditional center console.
The bottom line If you want a slightly sportier suggesting than the competition that won’t break the bank, the Civic Hatchback Sport is a very raunchy act to hammer.
Roadshow Score
The Honda Civic has long stood as one of the best economy cars on the market. For most of its history, it’s won praise for suggesting an economical rail that doesn’t scrimp when the driver wants to have a little joy.
Right around the turn of the century, however, something felt. off. The seventh generation seemed to lose any semblance of the joy it once possessed, rendering the Civic just another bland econobox with little to suggest families beyond two rows of seats and a trunk. Matters improved with the eighth-gen model in 2006, but the Civic that instantly followed it was so bad that it necessitated a substantial refresh after just one year.
What a breath of fresh air it was, then, when Honda debuted today’s 10th-generation Civic. It has some wacky styling, sure, but it once again attempts to stand out in a very crowded segment using Old Honda’s tricks — a blend of efficiency and sportiness that’s hard to match.
Even the hatchback has returned, once again suggesting expanded cargo space without sacrificing any of the aforementioned qualities. In its Sport trim, it proves once again that Honda can build one hell of an entertaining, affordable car.
Styling that isn’t for everybody.
The last Honda Civic had all the trademark contours of a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. For the 10th iteration, Honda has leapt across the design spectrum and opted for something significantly more wild than mild — and not to everybody’s enjoyment.
My tester’s black-and-red motif looks positively premium, or at least more expensive than the Hatch Sport’s $21,300 sticker price would seem to indicate. Its black-painted wheels are a nice touch, albeit constant parallel parking will eventually wear those puppies back to silver. The center harass outlets are a nice touch, too.
My largest points of consternation with the styling are the vents — or more accurately, “vents.” There are two honkin’ expanses of black plastic up front, and two even larger ones out back. They stand out, and not always in the best way. Perhaps most damning is that the front “vents” only have little crevices in them for cooling purposes, and the ones out back emerge to do nothing at all. They’re tacked-on, non-functional affectations, an aesthetic decision that isn’t consistent with Honda’s storied history of engineering-led design.
Those vents don’t excite everybody. Hell, you can’t even call ’em vents, because that would mean they actually work.
. at least on the outside
Fans of more traditional vehicle appearances will find more to like in the Civic’s interior. The cloth seats have a durable feel and are convenient on multihour journeys, but they are magnets for dog hair. By virtue of the hatchback’s higher rear roof line, tall occupants will find slew of headroom in the 2nd row, and there’s slew of legroom out back, too.
The inwards is just a bit less. ostentatious than the outside.
There’s interesting layering on the dashboard, and while it’s visible that the Sport model’s carbon-fiber trim isn’t real, it stands out nicely against an otherwise monochrome practice.
The gauge cluster is effortless to read, with a large digital speedometer tucked inwards the tachometer, which is the only analog gauge. The fuel and temp gauges use crimson lighting elements that are a little tricky to figure out until you see them in act. Instant fuel economy is always on display, with range and excursion meters just below.
Weirdness comes in two different places in the cabin, only one of which is welcome. The 12-volt and USB ports live in a lower, almost hidden portion of the center stack, but there’s a smartly devised fuckhole that permits for ropes to be routed to the storage binnacle just below the climate controls.
The cupholder, on the other mitt, is awkward and feels cheap. It slips back and forward, and lifting the armrest exposes empty space that substitutes a dedicated center console. I would choose a more traditional layout, or at least something that offers a bit more privacy.
The hatchback provides an excellent amount of storage. With the rear seats up, it offers 25.7 cubic feet of storage space, more than both the Volkswagen Golf and Chevrolet Cruze hatchbacks. It loses the numbers game once the rear seat folds down, however. 46.Two cubic feet is commendable, just not as much as the competition.
Don’t expect too much tech on the base model
The Civic Hatchback Sport shown here is a base model, and thus, there isn’t a entire lot of tech inwards. My specific tester arrived with a USB port, Bluetooth phone connectivity and not much else. The base audio system is slew fine, however, with speakers that provide clear sound and a host of physical buttons that are effortless to manipulate without distraction. The standard backup camera has remarkably high resolution.
Here are the settings you can adjust on the base radio. Yep, that’s all of ’em.
The inclusion of automatic climate controls is a nice touch, as are the steering wheel controls, which are about as straightforward as can be.
Another interesting inclusion is the brake-hold system. Engaging it means the car holds its brakes at every stop, so you can take your foot off the brake. I didn’t use it, because I don’t see the point, but I like that it goes a step beyond a traditional hill-hold system. That said, even with brake hold off, the Civic’s hill-hold will still keep you stable when shuffling off from an inclined stop.
Budge up to the Sport Touring model, not shown here, and you can get a touchscreen navigation and infotainment system, and Honda’s novel LaneWatch passenger-side camera. That system also adds a host of connected features, including Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, satellite radio and Pandora streaming.
Honda’s lack of a physical volume knob on the Civic’s touchscreen system has always bothered me, as it doesn’t exactly work very well, so the base system is fine in my book. Since I can stream my own individual SiriusXM account over Bluetooth, I didn’t even bemoan the lack of satellite radio on my base Hatch Sport tester.
It drives like a Civic should
The Civic Hatch Sport kicks off the driving practice with a good very first impression. Forward visibility is excellent, due in part to a driver’s seat with a broad range of height adjustability. Rearward visibility is lacking, thanks to the hatch — the rear window is puny, and the C-pillars are massive, which doesn’t do blind catches sight of any favors.
Driving is damned good, tho’. It drives like a Civic should, on the hard side without being a stiff, awkward mess. It’s not necessarily soft over bumps, but very little sound actually makes its way into the cabin. The steering is fine — it’s numb like many other electrified setups, but a quick(ish) steering ratio keeps the joy factor up. The stock tires, Continental ContiProContact all-seasons measuring 235/40/Legal, did a fine job treating this oddly warm winter.
The 180-horsepower, 177-pound-foot, 1.5-liter turbocharged four cylinder is a excellent engine. Low revs produce torque in a way no Civic ever has. Engine noise is hardly there, and it starts petering out once the revs climb beyond Four,500 rpm or so, but when you’re low down, this Civic hustles.
If greater efficiency is desired, there’s an Econ button that softens up throttle response. It isn’t hard to achieve the EPA-estimated thirty nine mpg on the highway, no matter what mode the car is in, but it’s almost necessary to hit the feds’ 30-mpg city estimate. During my week with the car, I averaged inbetween forty and forty five mpg on the highway, with city driving closer to 25-28 mpg.
The driving practice suffers a few letdowns, tho’, thanks to the pedals and gearbox. The six-speed manual shifter is slightly vague, suggesting a less direct maneuverability than I would have preferred. The clutch pedal almost downright lacks a bite point, which means slick shifting and driving takes concerted effort. For a car that bills itself as sporty, this part of the drivetrain evidently never received the memo. Honda has long been known for its excellent gearboxes and clutches, so this is a nosey and disappointing development.
While all is not ideal in that regard, I am fairly affected by the fresh Civic’s noise, stimulation and harshness (NVH). Civics don’t usually feel excellent in this area, but this one does, keeping cabin noise to respectable levels. It’s nice to see Honda paying more attention to this in its fresh cars.
Down to brass tacks
The Civic Hatchback Sport’s closest competitors are the Chevrolet Cruze , Mazda3 , Subaru Impreza and Volkswagen Golf , because they all feature five-door variants. There are some tangential competitors, too, like the Toyota Corolla (née Scion) iM and the Hyundai Elantra GT , but the Elantra lives on a generation-old platform for now, and the iM is some $Five,000 cheaper — and it feels every bit the part.
In a field of boring styling, I have to give Honda credit for walking on the wild side, even if it won’t knead all buyers the same way.
The Civic Hatch Sport is the trim level just above base, with a price of $21,300 before taxes and destination. A Cruze LT hatchback is priced the closest, $21,240 with a manual transmission. The entry-level Golf S hatchback starts at $Nineteen,895, but moving up to a midtrim SE jacks the price north of $25,000, albeit it makes up for that price with a ton of features. The Subaru Impreza Sport hatchback is priced just ahead of the crowd at $22,495.
Honda’s got ’em all hit on fuel economy. Its 30-mpg city, 39-mpg highway ratings outshine the Cruze’s 28/39, the Mazda’s 28/37, the Golf’s 25/36 and the Subie’s paltry 25/34 (tho’ the latter does have all-wheel drive).
That said, the Civic does commence falling behind when you look at standard equipment. It has just one 12-volt outlet, whereas competitors have two. The Cruze and Impreza come with standard heated seats. The Honda is the only car lacking satellite radio. Its speaker count is the lowest, and it can’t be optioned with any active or passive safety systems, aside from the Civic’s standard backup camera.
But when you look at spectacle, the Civic blows away the competition, especially in 0-60 times, where it’s superior to its competitors by about a total 2nd on average. It’s also one of the lighter cars in its segment, which helps treating and the aforementioned fuel economy. And personally, having driven all but the Subaru, I most choose the way the Civic drives. The Civic and Mazda3 feel most like cars for drivers.
And that’s the Civic’s strongest suit in this segment. It’s a driver’s car once again, yet it doesn’t lag behind in family matters, thanks to slew of space, excellent fuel economy and a solid base price. The Civic is back, and it’s putting up one hell of a fight.