Honda Civic Sport: long-term test review

First report: we’re off to a winning start with the latest hybrid Honda Civic hatchback

Verdict

The Honda Civic stands out as being one of the best family hatchbacks on the market, thanks to a smooth driving experience, strong build quality and excellent practicality. It’s hard to think what more you could want from a daily runabout. A very strong start, indeed.

• Mileage: 1,410
• Economy: 46.1mpg

The Honda Civic has changed a lot in 50 years. My mum’s first car was a second-hand Mk1 back in the eighties, yet when I visited her in this Mk11 model, she admitted she wouldn’t have recognised it as a Civic. The styling has very clearly changed from generation to generation, but what shocked me is just how big it feels.

There are some real advantages to this, of course. There’s easily space to seat four adults in comfort, and the boot is more than adequate for my needs – although I wouldn’t be able to put my German Shepherd in there due to the low, sloping roofline.

Whereas a Mk1 Civic could easily slip down narrow city streets, the Mk11 model feels a bit more constrained when there are parked cars on either side of the road. It’s not the easiest to parallel park, either – the back window is fairly useless, leaving you to rely entirely on the reversing camera.

These are minor complaints, however, because overall early impressions are very positive. The hybrid powertrain means it runs on smooth EV power most of the time in the city, and it favours electric drive a decent amount of time on other roads, too.

When the engine does kick in it’s unintrusive, unless you really floor the throttle. And if you do decide to do that, you can at least put it into Sport mode and enjoy the rather comical fake exhaust note that’s pumped through the speakers.

The Civic is also a good motorway cruiser. Its adaptive cruise control and lane-assist features work well, and it’s comfortable, despite the ride being a little stiff.

At least that means it manages to tackle a winding B-road well. The Civic feels quite sprightly, with acceleration that’s punchy enough for safe overtaking and to make the most of the sharp chassis. Again, switching to Sport mode tightens things up.

Ultimately, however, this is a car that buyers will value for its practicality and dependability over everything else. The build quality certainly appears to be there. The Civic’s exterior is clean and modern, in contrast to the fussy design of its predecessor.

The story continues inside. A long metallic grille runs along the full width of the dashboard, and this neatly houses the air-conditioning vents. The driving position is great and the seats are accommodating, plus the physical switches for the climate controls feel fantastic. If I wanted to be pedantic, I might say it’s a bit stingy of Honda to only make one of the dials in front of the driver digital and the other analogue – you have to buy the top-spec Advance model for a fully digital panel – but really this is just nit-picking.

The infotainment screen could perhaps be a little better integrated and angled more towards the driver, but at least it doesn’t look like an iPad stuck to the dashboard and there are plenty of physical shortcut buttons. It’s a well designed interface – simple and easy to use – with wireless Apple CarPlay fitted.

The only issue I’ve experienced in this regard is the connection between my iPhone and the car. It drops out every few minutes for 10 seconds or so at a time. I thought that switching from a Bluetooth to USB connection might solve this, but it makes no difference.

This is a very minor complaint, though – the Civic really is a very accomplished family hatch. This was illustrated in Issue 1,755, when it earned a first-place ranking in a group test against the Vauxhall Astra and Toyota Corolla, despite the former having a fairly significant cost advantage.

It did strike me that the mid-spec Sport model – which is the one you want – breaches the £30,000 mark, but that’s to be expected when hybrid tech is involved and the likelihood is that finance options will make this less of an issue for buyers.

Overall, the latest Honda Civic has really impressed me in the first few weeks. Let’s see if it can continue to do so as we head into the New Year.

*Insurance quote from AA (0800 107 0680) for a 42-year-old in Banbury, Oxon, with three points.

Keyword: Honda Civic Sport: long-term test review