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Honda Civic Review

Sam Worth
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What's good?

– Sporty design
– Decent boot space
– Good handling and fun to drive

What's bad?

– CVT is the only automatic. Ew.
– Infotainment system isn’t great
– Design won’t be everyone’s cuppa tea

What's the score?

7/10

Overview

This is Honda’s tenth generation Civic, and it looks as if Honda wanted to make it stand out as much as they possibly could. And it does just that. I mean, even the £22,730 base model SE has a sporty finish. This isn’t the sort of car my nan would be seen driving in, let me put it that way.

Believe it or not, there’s an even sportier variant called the Type R, and that, well… basically looks like Honda has let a load of kids loose on the drawing board to go crazy with the design. It’s very lairy looking and in your face. I like it.

The Sport model gets a low line kit, twin exhaust pipes sticking out the centre exit, black 17-inch wheels, rear privacy glass, and a few more black finishes on the outside. On the inside, there’s a 7-inch touch screen, red illumination around the digital instrument cluster, brake hold, motion adaptive electric power steering, and a few more goodies. All yours for £25,555.

Drive

When Honda released this Civic, not only did they make it look better, but they made it handle better, too. All Civics now come with fully independent rear suspension, opposed to a torsion beam from its predecessor. So, it now handles better, and the ride is also more comfortable and calmer.

It’s handles well at the corners and can be fun to drive. Unfortunately, I had a Civic with a CVT gearbox, which wasn’t very responsive. It’s just boring, especially at the corners and there’s no involvement in it whatsoever. Zzzz.

What’s even worse, is if you want an automatic, it’s either a CVT or CVT. There’s no normal automatic, which is a right shame. Thankfully, though, Honda’s six-speed manual gearbox which is the only other option there is, is very good. It has a nice and slick throw. Stick to stick shifting on this one folks.

Two petrol powered engines are available. The SE, SR, and EX models only come with a 1.0-litre three-cylinder with 127bhp. The Sport model is only available with the more powerful 1.5-litre four-cylinder with 180bhp and 162lb-ft. The 180bhp engine felt as if it had enough kick, but again… driving a car bolted next to a CVT gearbox lets the cars performance down enormously. The fun just went out the window.

There used to be a torquey 1.6-litre diesel with 118bhp and 221lb-ft, although sadly, Honda ditched that engine for the UK market, which is a bummer really, as I quite liked it. Not only did it pull away well and have a fair amount of go, but it was also economical. Pity.

After driving all engines (minus the 2.0-litre Type-R) and gearboxes. If you’re after a Civic, all I can say is, don’t get the CVT. Both petrol engines will suit most people, although the three-pot engine can seem a little grumbly at the higher rpm range.

If we forget about the CVT for a minute, there’s nothing I disliked about the Civic on the road. The steering felt well weighted, and overall, it felt quite fun at the bends. I wouldn’t say it’s as fun to drive as the Ford Focus, as the Focus feels more nimble and happier at the corners. But it’s not far off.

Interior

The Civics interior is a bit of a strange one. The positioning of everything seemed to be in the right place, but somehow, whether it was the shape or the look of everything inside, it just didn’t look right. It’s better than some of its rivals, but it’s just not to my liking.

I wasn’t keen on the 7-inch touch screen infotainment system. It has Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, however, it’s fiddly to use at times. Even trying to adjust the volume with the touch icons was a bit of a faff. As fast as technology is growing nowadays, nothing, and I mean nothing, will be as good as a volume control knob. Although newer model year Civics come with a volume control knob and buttons. Thank you, Honda.

Something I found uncomfortable, were the steering wheel controls. Using the controls felt the same as scrapping a finger on a concrete road. Seriously, seriously uncomfortable.

What I did find very impressive, is the rear doors are hingeless. So, you can open the doors and they’ll hold their position, which means you won’t ever have to go through the anxiety of the door swinging out on its own, smashing onto a brick wall. Ugh.

The rear seat area is spacious, and the boot is a decent size, too, with 478-litres. Honda have their own version of a parcel shelf, called a tonneau cover. It’s a flexible and soft material that slides across and attaches to the other side. Although it won’t completely cover a fully loaded boot. You can remove the cover and it sort of looks like a mini handbag, although I’m not quite sure if any women would want to be seen holding one.

Verdict

This is probably the best Civic Honda has made yet, although it’s massively let-down by the transmission choice. If Honda gave this Civic a proper auto transmission, it would sell a lot better. Even the smaller VW Polo, and slightly more expensive and bigger Ford Puma, is selling more than this Civic. The Civic doesn’t even make it onto Britain’s top ten best-selling cars.

Why? Mostly likely a mixture of the design looking rather wacky and spaceship-ey, or the CVT. Should you buy one you ask? Only if you’re on the hunt for a manual car or can put up with that horrid CVT. If you want an auto, better options are on the market.