Honda Civic Review 2024

A new Honda Civic is always a big deal globally. After all, it's one of the all-time best-sellers with over 27 million cars built to date. The eleventh-generation Civic is now hybrid-only in Europe, though, and in this Honda Civic review we'll see if that narrows its appeal. 

Honda has spent the last couple of decades shaking off its 'reliable yet dull' image, particularly where the long-lived Civic is concerned. You only have to look back at the radical 2006 model, which still looks mad even today, to see that reinvention.

But the following two generations of Honda Civic weren't exactly universally praised for their Marmite styling. So Honda's clearly played it safe with the latest, eleventh-generation model, arriving on the scene with fairly conservative looks that will disappoint some looking for another wacky shape. It's a more rounded, better proportioned version of the last Civic, but nothing revolutionary.

Don't judge a book by its cover, however. The Volkswagen Golf has made a name for itself for its subtle, classless, high quality approach, and that's clearly what Honda has its sights set on with the Mk11 Civic. Certainly the new cabin illustrates that, with a smart yet easy to live with layout and a significant step up in quality. It's spacious, too - if not quite up there with the Skoda Octavia. 

There's plenty of hatchbacks that the Civic competes with, ranging from the more affordable Ford Focus to the premium-badged Audi A3. But its closest rival is actually the Toyota Corolla, and that's because the new Civic is only available as a hybrid in Europe. 

So it looks a little dull and it'll be even duller to drive, right? Not so. Honda has thrown its considerable engineering might behind the new Civic, with chassis improvements and a new generation of hybrid system even compared to the latest HR-V.

That means good performance, impressive efficiency and probably the most natural-feeling (and sounding) CVT gearbox we've tried yet. It really is a surprise - you'd almost call it fun. Yet the Civic is comfortable and refined around town.

You pay a premium for this newfound polish, however. The Honda Civic's starting price is above most of its mainstream competition and knocks on the door of premium brand models. There's no pure petrol or diesel models to bring the price down, either. But hybrid and electric is the future, and if you're willing to pay to embrace that the new Civic is a strong buy.  

We lived with a Civic for three months - find out how we get on with it in our Honda Civic e:HEV long-term review.

The latest Honda Civic builds on the strong base of the previous generation model, which had proper independent rear suspension across the range. The new gets not only a longer wheelbase and wider track to boost stability, but also a variety of suspension improvements, a 22% gain in body rigidity and features like an aluminium bonnet to save weight. 

Straight away it feels like a thoroughly developed car. There's a tautness to the ride on our top-spec model, but we're pleased to report it never gets crashy or harsh on bumpy British roads. There's a feeling of high quality damping that isolates the worst lumps and bumps well - it feels more BMW 1 Series than SEAT Leon.  

The steering feels direct and positive, with a quick turn-in boosting agility. There's a touch more body roll than you might experience in a Ford Focus, but it's largely well-controlled, and you'll be pushing hard to run out of front-end grip. As an overall balance between ride and handling the new Civic is pretty hard to fault, even if it isn't the most entertaining car in its class. 

There's even some new tech which claims to improve the driving experience, such as Honda's Winding Road Detection. This is meant to recognise when you're in the mood on a twisty road and sharpen up the engine response for the best acceleration. We couldn't notice a huge difference, but there's no real issues with how the engine kicks into action anyway. 

Indeed our only reservation is that road noise seems a touch more noticeable than in a VW Golf. It certainly isn't intrusive, however, and wind noise is kept at bay well. 

The days of family hatchbacks with a huge variety of engine choices are over, but most rivals still offer the choice of both petrol and diesel options alongside the hybrids. Not so in the latest Honda Civic. 

Your only choice is the self-charging hybrid, which uses a naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre petrol engine mated to two electric motors and a small battery pack. Unlike the Corolla, and like Honda's other hybrids, the engine doesn't directly drive the wheels and instead acts as a generator for electric motors, which then drive the wheels. Except it CAN directly drive the wheels only at high speeds, because that's more efficient. Got that? 

Where the Civic moves the game on here over the Jazz, HR-V and CR-V is in the engineering. There's a new direct-injection 2.0-litre engine, which is more responsive and efficient than the old port injection engines. You also get a further improved 'e-CVT' gearbox - Honda is keen to point out that it's not a traditional CVT as there are no physical gears, just electric operation. 

At low speeds it's not a revelation. It'll cruise around town in electric-only mode most of the time, although it won't do this continuously for miles like a plug-in hybrid as the engine kicks into life every now and then. Get above 30mph and the engine is on most of the time, but it's a quiet and smooth motor that you barely notice is on. 

Get out of town and give it the beans and you'll be pleasantly surprised with the amount of performance. With 184PS and 315Nm it manages a relatively brisk 0-62mph time of 7.8 seconds, and it does so with less aural pain than most CVT hybrids. It's actually quite enjoyable. 

Honda has engineered simulated 'gears' in to help reduce the constant high-rev groaning you normally get. It works pretty well here - under full throttle the revs will rise and fall almost like a normal automatic, and although it isn't as refined as a normal turbo petrol engine, it's not an unpleasant noise. There's even active sound generation in Sport mode that makes it a bit more vocal, although we'd personally turn that off in the Individual drive mode. 

We've yet to have a star rating from Euro NCAP for the new Honda Civic, but given the increased body stiffness and bigger roster of safety kit we'd expect to see the maximum five stars here. 

You get a full eleven airbags on every model, plus automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection - it's an improved camera system that even has its own heating element to ensure it works in low temperatures. There's also an improve lane assist system, traffic sign recognition, road departure mitigation and intelligent speed assist. 

You adaptive cruise control as standard on every model - something which isn't the case on many rivals. It comes with Traffic Jam Assist which will steer, accelerate and brake for you in low-speed traffic.

The 2022 Honda Civic has a braked towing weight of 750kg. That's about par for the course for a smallish hybrid, but certainly won't cut it if you need to tow a big caravan.

The previous-generation Honda Civic was quite a bit bigger than the class average on the outside, knocking on the door of the Skoda Octavia. The latest model is no different: in terms of dimensions it is 4549mm in length, 1800mm in width and 1414mm in height.

That means it's grown by 30mm in length, but is basically the same width, with a lower, more sloping roofline. Conservative as the design may be, the new Civic has a squat, purposeful stance for a family hatchback.

The wheelbase of the new Civic is 35mm longer than before, so legroom certainly isn't an issue. Six footers can sit behind themselves with kneeroom to spare, although headroom in the rear isn't brilliant for those large adults thanks to that lower roofline, and you can't slide your feet fully under the low-mounted front seats. 

There's enough width for three passengers in the back for short journeys, though, and the new Civic has bigger windows than the old one so it's less claustrophobic. Storage all-round is okay but not brilliant, with a rather pokey glovebox, decent sized door bins and the usual central armrest cubby. 

Boot space is above average for the class at 410 litres. The eagle-eyed will spot that's down on the old Civic, but that's because the hybrid's battery takes up space under the floor. Advance models see the capacity drop to 404 litres because of the Bose sound system, but that's no biggie. Really, you'll need the Skoda Octavia if you want more space. 

For the most part the new Honda Civic's interior is also above average in quality terms. Bar the Mazda 3 you'll be needing something with a premium German badge to get better fit and finish and nicer switchgear, although we hope Honda will introduce other colour choices than black-on-black when sales commence. 

Pretty much every key touch point has nice soft-touch finishes, the doors close with a reassuring thud and the switchgear is well-damped - in particular the air vents with their classy click dials to open and close them. We also like the knurled volume knob (a proper knob, take note VW), but the slightly wobbly central armrest and questionable scratch-resistant trim around the cupholders could be better. 

In the outgoing Honda Civic the central screen was as easy to use as the machine that broke the Enigma code and as responsive as a fifteen year-old smartphone. Happily, the new model is a big improvement in this respect. 

The new nine-inch display isn't dazzling in its size or graphics, but it's a lot easier to use on the move. The menus are simple, the screen responds quickly and sharply to inputs and there's some proper shortcut buttons down the side. It's not quite as intuitive as the rotary dial setup in a Mazda 3, but it's easier to use than the fiddly system in the latest Golf. 

Sat-nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard fitment, although the latter isn't wireless. A seven-inch digital dial display features on lower spec trims, but you'll need to go to Advance spec for the full 10.2-inch setup. We like that Honda has avoided touch sensitive wheel buttons, too. 

Wireless phone charging is only standard on Advance system, where you also get a punchy twelve-speaker Bose sound system. The standard eight-speaker setup is decent, however.

Bargain hunters will be quite miffed to see that the new Honda Civic starts at £29,595. That's considerably more than the base price of the old car, plus all of the mainstream competition. You'll need £30,595 for a Sport model and £32,995 for Advance trim. 

Put off? Hold on a sec. The main reason that the Honda Civic isn't as cheap as it used to be is it's hybrid-only, and hybrids always cost more. Yes, the Toyota Corolla is a few grand less, but that's the lower-powered 1.8-litre version - the competing 2.0-litre model starts at more than £28,000. 

And that's before we get to other hybrid competitors, most of which are plug-in hybrids. All of those kick off at well over £30,000. And it's not as if the entry-level Civic Elegance is sparsely equipped - far from it in fact. None of that takes away from the fact that you'll find plenty of better value family cars out there, though. 

The hybrid-only Honda Civic is claimed to be capable of 56.5mpg combined on the WLTP test regime. That's very competitive, and realistic as we were able to get near that without even trying.

With no plugging in required and no depleted battery on long runs, you'll probably get well over 50mpg in every situation unless you're really hooning it. Still, it's a pity there's no 60mpg+ diesel option for high mileage drivers. At least tax costs are kept low by the hybrid's CO2 figures. 

Opt for the entry-level Honda Civic Elegance and you'll get 17-inch two-tone alloy wheels, LED headlights with auto high beam, sat-nav, heated front seats, parking sensors front and rear, a rear view camera, dual-zone climate control, adaptive cruise control, eleven airbags and an extensive suite of safety assists. 

Stepping up to the Honda Civic Sport gets you 18-inch black alloy wheels, gloss black exterior trim details, LED front foglights, part synthetic leather trim, a wireless phone charging pad, an auto dimming rear view mirror and rear climate control vents.

Topping the range is the Honda Civic Advance, which upgrades the 18-inch alloys to two-tone style, plus adds a larger digital instrument display, electrically adjustable front seats, full leather upholstery, electric lumbar support on the passenger side, a heated steering wheel, a Bose premium sound system with 12 speakers, adaptive LED headlights and a panoramic glass sunroof.