Honda Civic Review, Specs & Performance

Overview of the Honda Civic

Practical and comfortable family car

Great fun to drive

There's a lot to recommend the Honda Civic as a practical family car choice and it has lots of comfort and refinement on board, but it's also a great car to drive. There's also a big boot and the styling is a bit more aggressive than its rivals. The economy and performance of the Civic make it a sound choice as a family car.

Engines and performance for the Honda Civic

Engines for the Honda Civic consist of a 1.0 litre Vtec petrol engine and a 1.6 litre i-Dtec diesel unit that are mated to either a manual gearbox or CVT automatic transmission. The 1.0 litre petrol unit is an ideal performer around town and will return around 56 mpg, while the 1.6 litre diesel engine delivers better performance, particularly on motorways at speed. The diesel unit also has emissions of 91g/km to return an impressive 83 mpg, while the automatic version will return 70 mpg. That's a big attraction for many families, while the petrol unit offers efficiency and economy of around 58 mpg. Also, despite the size of the Civic, the petrol engine is responsive and delivers on motorways when necessary.

Equipment and handling

The Honda Civic's cabin has been well-designed and is made with quality materials; there are a lot of soft-touch plastics and a 7-inch infotainment touchscreen is fitted as standard. There is plenty of room in the backseats for three adults and the boot is spacious for carrying lots of luggage. The Civic is easy and comfortable to drive with an adaptive suspension system on some models fitted as standard so the lumps and bumps in the road will disappear. It's also a very safe car that is rated highly in official crash testing. The Honda Civic comes with lots of equipment including lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control and traffic sign recognition. There's also a collision mitigation braking system to avoid vehicles and obstacles in front of the car while other models come with rain sensing automatic wipers, parking sensors and dual zone climate control. The top model has leather seats, wireless phone charging and heated rear seats.

The Honda Civic has built-up an army of fans because it offers an excellent driving experience with comfortable seats and high equipment levels to make it a very attractive proposition when compared with its rivals. While the exterior may not suit some people's tastes, behind the wheel there's a lot to recommend the Civic for its refined and rewarding drive but also for the comfortable cabin and excellent economy figures. As a family car, this will need to be on your shortlist.

More information about the Honda Civic

Why not have a look at the Civic on the official Honda UK company website and get the latest news about it in the UK at The UK Honda Owners' Club.