For decades, the Honda Civic has been one of the most recognizable names in the auto industry, appealing to buyers looking for inexpensive and efficient transportation.
In 2016, Honda took the Civic upmarket, giving it more space, a distinctive design and refinement to challenge more expensive cars.
For its fourth year on the market, the Civic sedan gets a few changes. There are styling tweaks, the SE trim is gone, and EX-T has been replaced with a Sport model.
More notably, the Honda Sensing suite of active safety features is now standard across the line. It was previously limited to EX and the defunct SE) trim and above.
Now, the DX and LX trims, with their sub-$18,000 and $21,000 price tags, respectively, come with forward collision warning with automatic braking, lane departure warning with lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control and road departure mitigation. All that’s missing from these budget trims are the LaneWatch blind spot display and automatic high beam headlights.
The Civic’s mechanicals are unchanged. DX, LX, EX and Sport use a 2.0L four-cylinder that makes 158 hp and 138 lb-ft of torque. Touring and Si get a 1.5L turbo four-cylinder that makes 174 hp and 162 lb-ft in the Touring and 205 hp and 192 lb-ft in the Si. A six-speed manual is standard in DX, LX and Si; a continuously variable automatic (CVT) is optional in the LX and standard in EX, Sport and Touring.
Civic is a juggernaut among compact cars, along with the Toyota Corolla. The Hyundai Elantra is a big name, too. Other comers include the Nissan Sentra, Mazda3, Chevrolet Cruze and the soon-to-be-defunct (at least in North America) Ford Focus.
Some standard features in DX trim include a multi-angle backup camera, keyless entry, a four-speaker stereo, six-way manual driver’s seat, 16-inch steel wheels with covers and heated side mirrors.
LX trim’s key adds are an eight-speaker stereo, 7.0-inch digital gauge cluster, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, automatic climate control, heated front seats and auto on/off headlights.
EX brings dual-zone climate control, a leather-trimmed steering wheel, passive keyless entry, power driver’s seat, 16-inch alloy wheels, sunroof and the LaneWatch blind spot display.
Sport gets paddle shifters for its automatic transmission, aluminum pedals, 18-inch wheels, centre exhaust finisher, a decklid spoiler and fog lights.
Touring brings navigation, a 10-speaker stereo, leather seating, wireless smartphone charging, LED headlights, rain-sensing wipers and LED fog lights.
Si’s additions are mostly performance-oriented. There’s a limited slip differential, sport drive mode and cosmetic touches. This trim also reverts to a manual driver’s seat adjustment.
Honda’s fuel consumption estimates are 9.3/6.5 with the 2.0L engine and stickshift; 7.9/6.1 with 2.0L and CVT; 7.8/6.2 with the 1.5L and CVT; and 8.4/6.2 with the Si’s uprated 1.5L and six-speed stickshift.
