Written by Keith Adams Updated: 21 August 2024

The Honda Civic is a brilliant hatchback in a world dominated by SUV family cars. So good, we’ve crowned it our 2023 Car of The Year. But is it good to live with? We’re running a Sport version to answer that very important question: Do you really need a big, heavy, inefficient SUV in your life?

Reports by Keith Adams & Murray Scullion

Jump to:

• Welcome
• Cabin and controls
• Performance, handling and economy
• Economy
• A second opinion
• Verdict

Update 1: Welcome

Introducing the Honda Civic e:HEV Sport

When the new Honda Civic e:HEV breezed into our office a few months ago, it would be an understatement to say that we were blown away by it. As is always the case with cars we’ve not driven before, it’s easy to go in with a set of expectations. This was definitely the case here – I expected a good, usable hatchback like the last one, but not one that would blow me away.

I was wrong. Within the first few miles of getting behind the wheel, I knew this was pretty special, and in a stroke, the hatchback pecking order was thrown away and scattered to the four winds. Duly bowled over, I headed back to the office to confer with the rest of the team, leading a conversation that – to paraphrase – went, ‘what the hell was that? It was brilliant.’

Three months on and with the Parkers Car of The Year trophy now sitting in Honda’s awards showcase, it’s time to make sure we weren’t getting ahead of ourselves. And the only way of proving its mettle is to rack up miles in real-world driving, and see how it copes with the ins and outs of daily driving in one of Europe’s toughest driving environments – the United Kingdom in winter…

What do you get with it?

In the three-car line-up, our Sport model sits in the middle and is likely to be the biggest seller of all. So you get the excellent 184hp hybrid drivetrain that combines a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol and punchy electric motor for an official average fuel consumption of 56.5mpg.

As standard, our Civic Sport costs £30,595, which is a reasonable price for a near-200hp five-door family hatchback. The Sport gets all of the essential kit you’d expect with a car in this class, but it does miss the range-topping Advance’s leather seats, panoramic roof and Bose stereo. So far, I can’t say I’m missing the latter two (the standard infotainment system sounds punchy enough), but I do like a leather interior. Here are the main features you get as standard:

• 9.0-inch touchscreen for infotainment
• Adaptive cruise control and speed limiter
• Heated, electrically adjustable, folding and auto
  dimming door mirrors
• Drive mode select
• Dual-zone climate control
• Keyless Stop/Start system
• Wireless phone charger
• Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay
• Lane assist
• LED Ambient lighting
• LED headlights and daytime running lights
• Parking sensors front and rear
• Rear view camera
• Satellite navigation system
• WiFi hotspot (in-car WiFi)

The great news is that there aren’t many options to bamboozle you on the configurator – you literally choose your model and decide what colour you want it. That’s a refreshing change, and one I am sure has been forced upon us in the aftermath of WLTP changes and the semi-conductor shortages. Long may it continue, if it means we end up with well-equipped cars like this by default.

After a few years of running EVs and plug-in hybrids, it’s strange to be driving a car that doesn’t come with leads in order to help it go. In one respect it’s great as I’m not needing to incessantly plan as I would be in an electric car, but it does mean, I’m back to windswept petrol forecourts and closely watching our petrol price page…

I’m expecting to enjoy my time with the Civic as I am a keen driver, and one that spends most of his time on fast A-roads and motorways. I’m sure that’ll mean my average fuel consumption won’t be as good as those who have a more pedestrian lifestyle, but it will be interesting to see if it delivers the promised 50+mpg in daily driving without trying too hard. I sincerely hope so.

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Update 2: Cabin, equipment and options

What’s the Civic like to spend time in?

Long story short – the Civic’s interior is simple to use, ruggedly made and looks attractive. Long-distance comfort is excellent, too.

The Honda Civic’s principal rivals are cars like the Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra and Volkswagen Golf, but in a market where family hatchbacks are being increasingly sidelined, it’s worth comparing it to a plethora of SUVs also available for similar money. After the first 4,000 miles in the car (it’s been a very busy month!) I can say that when it comes to spending time in and actually using the Civic, it’s ahead of all of them. I’ll explain…

Its closest rival is probably the Skoda Octavia, which is similarly sized – however that car is offered with a huge range of engines and trim levels, a strategy somewhat at odds with Honda’s one-size-fits-all approach. However, the Honda offers near vRS performance and combines it with hybrid fuel economy. Where the Skoda excels is its ability to cover long-distances effortlessly.

The first test I had for the Honda was a 2,000-mile week-or-so handing out trophies to the Parkers New Car Awards winners. As most of the UK’s importers’ HQs are in and around the M25, that was a grinding few days of motorways, cities and traffic jams in some pretty shocking traffic. In that time, the Honda proved absolutely faultless in that situation, with the adaptive cruise control proving invaluable for keeping going without stress. Still, it was the perfect vehicle for visiting Honda’s HQ (above).

I wouldn’t say it outdoes the Skoda on long trips as it’s slightly noisier and the seats are initially less comfortable (but improved with miles), but the Civic’s brilliant mechanical refinement means you get out after a day in the wars without feeling at all fatigued. Impressed. Just a shame that a small 40-litre tank results in a middling real-world 350-mile range.

Infotainment and tech

Dominating the interior is the centrally-mounted 9.0-inch infotainment display with built-in navigation, and seamless integration to Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. It’s a nice size, which means it’s easy to operate, and other than some foibles with how it handles USB sticks full of music, it’s been flawless. It’s a small thing, but I like the physical volume and forward/back buttons. They just, er, work.

It’s very clear, sharp and easy to get your head round, and the only criticisms I have of it is that it’s not angled towards the driver, looks awful when covered in fingerprints and it’s mounted so high it means the fresh air vents are pushed lower down into the cabin. But at least the fresh air output is easily directed via natty little joysticks.

Many of the car’s features are handled on this screen, so the interior looks almost basic, but the good news is that the car’s climate control system is primarily driven by a trio of knobs and a handful of buttons. Surry if it makes me sound like a luddite, but they work beautifully, and are surely safer than stabbing at a touchscreen.

It’s still a very good story, and I’m very much looking forward to taking it on a quick trip to the South of France shortly. I’ll let you know how that goes…

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Update 3: Performance and handling

How quick is it and how well does it drive?

Long story short – it’s smooth and refined, but if you want to have fun in it, the Civic won’t disappoint at all…

I’ve been driving our 2022 Car of The Year pretty much solidly for the past two months now, and it’s fair to say that it was important that those favourable early impressions remained in place. The good news is that some 5,000 miles on, I’m still very impressed with it, and am delighted to report that the family hatchback is alive and very well in an SUV-dominated world…

Let’s start with the performance. Although Honda doesn’t market this car as anything other than a family car, it’s fair to say that the Civic’s off-line acceleration and overall vim and vigour are enough to keep most drivers more than amused. Thanks to a decent amount of hybrid assistance, it positively sprints away from the line – perfect for getting across busy roundabouts – with very little fuss. The 0-62mph time of 8.4 seconds really only tells part of a very positive performance.

Mid-range overtaking is easy too – mash the accelerator, and the Civic picks up speed with genuine enthusiasm, making light of getting past dawdling trucks. The responsiveness of the transmission means that as soon as you need power, the revs are there – and although it behaves like a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), it sounds more like a conventional gearbox, with definite ‘steps’, rather than mooing away to itself annoyingly like some rivals I could mention.

And the handling?

Part of this car’s thorough testing regime was to take it to the South of France and see how it handles some of the more challenging roads down there. Yes, I could have just taken it to Wales or the Lake District, but I’ve seen quite enough rainy days, thank you very much.

There’s definitely more good news on that front. Response in corners is very good, with a lack of bodyroll and alert steering meaning that you can zip through the bends without losing your equilibrium. More importantly in these speed limit-constrained times, it’s actually a great deal of fun when the going gets twisty – a quality that can’t be underestimated. Especially if you have passengers who don’t respond well to your typical lurchy family SUV in challenging conditions.

There’s another bonus. If you put the Civic into Sport drive mode, accelerator response is sharpened, and it’s even more keen to entertain. Not only that, but the engine noise is augmented pleasantly to such a degree that if you close your eyes (when someone else is driving!) that you could almost believe it’s a VTEC-R. So, it’s a family car you can genuinely have a lot of fun in. Should play well for the rest of the time the Civic is with us.

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Update 4: Economy

Economy is a big test for this car. Hybrids are renowned for their abilities to sip fuel and the Civic is no different. It will officially do 56.5mpg which is strong considering it uses a 2.0-litre petrol engine that’s really quite pokey.

Even just a decade ago, more than 55mpg from a 2.0-litre petrol seemed impossible. But we’ve come a long way, and the good news is that this mesmerising figure is, broadly, nearly achievable. In the right conditions.

You see, the waters become murkier and the mpg differs wildly depending on what kind of driving you do. Around town it’s a real mixed bag. On short drives, say, two miles, I’ve seen mpg as low as 40. While longer drives, say around five miles, produce more like 50mpg, sometimes even more than that. Prolonged stretches of motorway driving results in scores in the low 40s.

In other words there’s a huge chasm depending on what kind of driving you’re doing. If you’re this far into the review, you must be really seriously considering a Civic as your next car. If your top priority is mpg and you do a lot of motorway driving, don’t get sold on the official rating. You may be better off with a diesel.

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Update 5: A second opinion

Deputy Editor Murray Scullion has been handed the keys to find the answers to some of his own questions

I’m gonna admit something here. The Honda Civic may well be our car of the year, but I hadn’t really spent much time in it compared with my learned colleagues.

Luckily Keith has very kindly handed the keys over to me so I can a) experience it and b) hopefully back up our decision to crown it our favourite car.

Now that I’ve covered around 2,000 miles I can offer a second opinion to Keith’s thoughts above.

First up, I completely agree with him about the spec. Our Sport model is proving Goldilocks-esque (porridge metaphor, not breaking into anthropomorphic bears’ house metaphor) in that it has precisely everything I want in a new car tech wise – primarily wireless Apple CarPlay, adaptive cruise and a parking camera – and nothing I don’t want. It’s safe to say the official Parkers opinion on the Civic is to go with the Sport.

Keith’s also right about the climate controls. Unlike with VW, controlling the temperature is done with physical dials you twizzle. An absolute delight to use rather than going into a sub menu on a touch screen.

I’ll add that the space on offer is perfect for me. The boot in particular is especially good. It’ll swallow my weekly shop (admittedly only for two adults) with about 50% of the boot space still available for other bits ‘n’ bobs.

Where I differ from Keith is in the driving. I’ll admit that it is plenty powerful enough for day-to-day driving. But so far I’m a bit disappointed with the economy. On my average drive (admittedly consisting of a lot of motorway work) I’m only just climbing above 40mpg. Which isn’t too bad for a two-litre hybrid, but is pretty far away from quoted fuel economy. I’ll have to see if it improves over time.

I don’t drive around my city much, but on the few occasions I have in the Civic I’ve been testing out the regenerative braking to try and eke out a few more mpg. It should be as simple as pulling the lever (which looks much like a paddleshift gear selector) on the left hand side to bump up the regen level. This works, but it resets as soon as you press the accelerator. In other words it’s useless unless you remember to do it every time you come up to a roundabout or red light.

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Update 6: Verdict

You know a car’s good when one of its only irritations is the size of its windscreen washer reservoir.

Yup, our time with the Civic is finally up, and reassuringly, everyone on the team agrees that it is a very worthy winner of our Car of the Year. Phew.

Over thousands of miles it’s become one of the most popular cars on our ever-changing fleet, primarily because of its comfort and economy. I cover a lot of motorway miles and most cars can be pretty good on them in the right circumstance. The real test of a car’s mettle is when it’s met with sudden ruts and blemishes at 70mph.

This little assesment, adroitly doled out by the M11, is how one member of our staff measures a car’s motorway munching ability, and reassuringly, the Honda scores very well. It rebounds in a soft, predictable and most importantly, un-irritating way and it takes a big ole’ hole to change its directory.

60mpg is basically on the cards on long motorway jaunts too, which is nothing short of phenomenal for a 2.0-litre hybrid.

What impressed us most was not the sheer economy or comfort, but the overall competency of that hybrid system. Honda’s version is a bit more complex than others, and while their older models looked good on paper, we didn’t think they were much to drive. The revs and noise would rise and fall in an artificial way, not conducive to what your right foot was doing, and we found the system in the CR-V for example, as uneconomical as it was annoying.

This Civic is night and day away from that. If Honda can shoehorn this into its other cars, they will surely be award winners too.

Oh and that windscreen washer. We were averaging MONTHLY if not BI MONTHLY fill ups. Which is obscene.