Honda Civic Review & Prices

If you’re in the market for a mid-size hatchback, the Honda Civic - a 2023 carwow Buy It Award winner - is likely to have crossed your mind to some degree. It’s a stalwart of the category, alongside other well-known cars like the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf and Toyota Corolla.

The Civic is a bit like the Subway sandwich chain, though. Undoubtedly more popular over in the States, it’s a well-known name on UK shores but it’s also rarely anyone’s immediate choice. Is this new model set to change that?

Styling-wise, probably not. Though by no means a bad looker, this iteration of the Honda Civic feels a little uninspiring. Even more so when compared with the rather wildly-styled previous model. 18-inch alloys on higher-spec models do sharpen it up a bit, but not drastically.

You might get a sense of the same thing by looking at the interior. There’s a lot of greys and black — not exactly bold — and it’s pretty conservatively styled.

That’s where the negatives end really, though. Build quality is really impressive, and you’d be hard-pressed to find any scratchy plastic. There’s a nice, low-set driving position as well and Honda sticking to physical controls for most functions pays off here.

All versions of the Honda Civic come equipped with a 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system. The base software is easy to use and comes with satellite navigation, but you’d be better off connecting your phone to take advantage of Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

Top-spec Advance versions get a fully-digital driver’s display with configurable displays, but lower-spec models need to make do with a clunky half-analogue solution.

Space in the back of the Honda Civic is pretty good, even for the tallest adults. Headroom is a tad compromised by the sleek roofline, but legroom is very impressive.

As for boot space, you’ve got 404 litres to work with. Compare that with 361 litres in a Toyota Corolla, 380 litres from a Volkswagen Golf and 375 litres with a Ford Focus — it’s pretty impressive.

More impressive though is the way the Civic drives no matter the situation. It’s a delight around town with well-judged steering and decent visibility, plus manoeuvrability is really good.

It rides rather nicely over bumps and potholes in the road too, which favours it both at low speeds and when taking on a motorway. The latter is helped even further with decent sound insulation, and standard-fit adaptive cruise control.

None of that compromises fun, either. You get the sense Honda developed the Civic with the Type R firmly in mind. The car is quick to respond to movements in the steering wheel, and the car remains pretty flat through corners — there’s no wobbliness to it.

All versions of the Honda Civic use a hybrid setup, combining a 2.0-litre petrol engine with an electric motor. Together, they produce 184hp, which is plenty for the car. Official tests have the Civic as returning 60mpg, with a few hours of mixed driving routes for this test returning an impressive 58mpg.

Low running costs are guaranteed, but you’ll have to be ready to stump up a fair bit of cash. Honda doesn’t offer a cut-price, lower spec version of the Civic at the moment so its starting price is considerably higher than its alternatives.

That said, this new-generation Honda Civic is set to be a serious contender as the king of the mid-size hatchbacks. You’ll just need to live with the anonymous looks.

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