Can you believe the Civic is almost half a century old? And in these 49 years, Honda produced 11 generations and countless variants.
The latest and the greatest Civic yet has just arrived at dealers throughout the United States, and the most affordable specification carries a $21,700 sticker price. LX is how the base trim level is called, and you can expect up to 35 miles to the gallon (6.7 liters per 100 kilometers) combined from a 2.0-liter engine coupled to a boresome continuously variable transmission.
Level up to the Sport, and you’ll see the EPA estimate drop to 33 miles per gallon (7.1 liters per 100 kilometers) from the same combo. The EX offers the best gas mileage and a bucketload of standard features for $24,700 excluding the $995 destination charge. Just like the EX, the fully-loaded Touring boasts a 1.5-liter turbo four-cylinder engine known for oil dilution issues.
The best-selling compact passenger car in the United States doesn’t feature a manual transmission. Customers who really want a three-pedal setup will have to wait until the five-door hatchback rolls out later this month. As ever, the Civic Si and Civic Type R will continue to feature a six-speed manual.
On that note, what do you exactly get for your money?
The LX opens the list with an expanded suite of driver-assistive and safety technologies that include Traffic Jam Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keeping Assist, a rear-seat reminder, and a rear seatbelt reminder. A 7.0-inch touchscreen is featured, along with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, push-button start, partial digital instrumentation, and LED headlights.
The Sport adds flair in the guise of 18-inch alloys with low-profile tires (hence the worse fuel economy), black exterior accents, a chrome finisher for the exhaust, eight-speaker audio, a leather-wrapped shift knob and steering wheel, sport pedals, and a pair of paddle shifters although a continuously variable transmission doesn’t really need paddle shifters.
Moving on to the 1.5-liter turbo EX, this configuration flaunts blind-spot information, a one-touch power moonroof, heated seats and mirrors, and dual-zone automatic climate control. Finally, the posh Touring adds leather seats, power front seats, SiriusXM radio, satellite-based navigation, a 9.0-inch touchscreen, wireless phone mirroring, wireless phone charging, Bose premium audio, a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster, and LED fog lights.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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