Civic Virtues

The redesigned Honda Civic offers, once again, great quality and strong performance at a great price

by Thane Peterson

Editor's Rating:

The Good: Handling, high-tech features, decent price

The Bad: Where are my Zagat restaurant ratings?

The Bottom Line: An econobox with lots of pizzazz

Reader Reviews

• View Slide Show

With gas prices high and likely to climb higher, Americans seem suddenly, finally, to have gotten small-car, high-fuel-economy religion. But in the land of NASCAR and pickup trucks, will they be able to keep the faith? Or, faced with an eternity of poky, little cars, will they once again lapse?

When choosing which of the four versions of the new, redesigned Honda (HMC) Civics to spend a week test-driving, I deliberately went with the least exciting version: a four-door sedan with a small 1.8-liter, 140-hp engine and a five-speed automatic transmission. Last year, I briefly drove all of the new, redesigned Civics -- there's also a coupe, a hybrid, and the sporty SI with a bigger 2-liter, 197-hp engine -- at a press event in Washington, D.C., and I knew the basic sedan was no Porsche (see BusinessWeek.com, 9/1/05, "Honda's New Civics Lap Detroit"). But I had forgotten how much fun a Civic could be.

One sunny afternoon I took the car out into the rolling hills of Northeast Pennsylvania and ended up driving and driving -- punching it up hills, throwing the car into curves, slamming on the brakes when no one else was around, whipping down farm lanes -- just for the fun of it. Who would ever expect to do that in an econobox? I'm happy to report that even this sensible family-sedan version of the Civic is peppy, tightly built, and a lot of fun to drive.

I was struck once again by something I noticed the first time I drove the new Civics. The Civic sedan isn't all that quick off the mark, but it really responds when you punch the gas at speeds of 25 to 65 mph (Honda engineered the Civic to be the fastest car in its class in that speed range). There's actually a high, hard whine to the engine when you accelerate hard, which is satisfying to hear in an economy car, and the automatic transmission shifts very smoothly.

HIGH VALUE, HIGH-TECH

This driving performance is one reason the Civic's sales are up 20% to 138,744 this year through May. It's also why it's hard to get your hands on one right now: The Power Information Network figures Civics only spend an average of 10 days on dealers' lots before being sold, a fraction of the industry average of 57 days.

The price is right, too. You can get the no-frills Civic sedan in the most basic DX trim level for as little as $15,310. But the price doesn't soar all that outrageously as you add options: The mid-range LX trim style -- which includes full power, cruise control, keyless entry and other amenities -- starts at $17,260. And even the fancy EX version of the car with a navigation system, better sound system, moon roof, alloy wheels, and other add-ons, starts at a reasonable $21,310. (The sporty SI only comes with a stick shift and starts at $20,840.)

The new Civic demonstrates how quickly advanced technology now makes its way into inexpensive models. Standard gear includes a drive-by-wire electronic throttle system, electronic brake distribution, brake assist, halogen headlights, and a tilting and telescoping steering wheel, as well as safety features such as dual-stage front airbags, side airbags, side curtain airbags (an essential safety feature on small cars, as far as I'm concerned), anti-lock brakes, and active head restraints.

COOL CONTROLS

By mounting the little engine sideways, Honda's engineers also managed to give this compact car a surprising amount of leg space. The front-engine compartment is stubby, but the car's front end looks attractively rakish because the windshield extends out so far. That creates space for the driver's and front passenger's legs to extend forward under the dashboard in a sort of cockpit-like arrangement.

The telescoping and tilting steering wheel adds to the spacious feel because you can push it way forward if you need to put the seat forward to make space for a rear passenger, or pull it way back and put the seat back when you're alone. One of the Civic sedan's few downsides is that the back seat is a little cramped, as you would expect in a compact.