Honda Civic review

Driving position

First of all, the Honda Civic e:HEV is everything you could ever want from a family hatchback, and that starts with the sporty driving position.

The low, coupé-like seating is complemented by seats that can go really low, but the flat dashboard keeps everything open and airy.

Slim A-pillars and a low bonnet line also help outward visibility, so whether you've got your seat high or low, you'll be amazed at how manoeuvrable the Civic is from any position.

Specially designed body-stabilising front seats help ensure comfort on longer journeys – they add areas of support for your pelvis and spine plus an element of firmness to keep you sitting in a natural, upright posture. Again, a thoughtful update that you might never notice, but one that you would notice if Honda ditched these comfy seats.

Honda has even positioned the door mirrors to avoid blind spots – we won't bore you with how and why, but we think it works. Especially with the blind-spot monitoring system, which adds to your confidence.

You get all the usual adjustment for the steering wheel, too, including in and out, and up and down. We tried various seating configurations in the Civic e:HEV, from low and sporty to upright for maximum visibility. The seat and steering wheel could keep up in all positions, which is really good for an unassuming family hatchback.

Tech and features

This is where the Civic starts to show its true colours – in a sea of ultra-modern German rivals with minimalist, HD screens, the Civic's infotainment was slightly less impressive.

Criticise us for nit-picking, but the user interface, resolution and response weren't quite up to other cars' standards, though only by a degree or two.

Luckily, this is a real non-issue, and standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto keep you connected whenever you switch the engine on.

Then, there's the native operating system. Again, a tad fiddly to navigate, but filled with useful features like a power split to show you where you're getting your energy from and how many miles per gallon you're averaging.

Besides the on-screen infotainment, Honda also cleverly integrated some physical controls. It's really easy to quickly adjust the temperature, so there's no battling with on-screen logistics like you might find in the Peugeot 308 and Peugeot 408.

Higher trims also get luxurious such as a panoramic glass sunroof that opens (that's an important addition, because many sunroofs are fixed these days), a BOSE speaker system (that sounds as good as you'd expect) and a heated steering wheel.

Standard kit is hardly stingy, though, with a digital instrument cluster, keyless entry, a reversing camera, wireless charging, adaptive cruise control, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control and all-round parking sensors giving you no real need to upgrade.

You could do a lot worse than buying an entry-level Honda Civic e:HEV, and that's this car's superpower.

Engines and power

Although there's only one power option, it's a truly impressive one. It uses the hybrid fundamentals that we've seen in numerous iterations over the years, but with some useful improvements.

For example, power goes through a CVT automatic gearbox to the front wheels, but instead of revving highly for a noisy experience under hard acceleration, Honda fitted it with a few fake gears to make it sound more 'normal'.

Then, there's the 2.0-litre engine, which by itself has 143hp. Add to that not one, but two electric motors, and you've got a system output of 184hp, which doesn't sound much, but it certainly is.

Thanks to the twin-motor setup, brisk acceleration is available right from the get-go, and they'll keep pushing the car well beyond town speeds.

The 0-62mph time of 7.8 seconds is slightly quicker than average for this class, and not far off hot hatches from a decade or two ago.

It's because the petrol engine isn't always directly connected to the wheels like in a conventional car. Most of the time, especially around town, the wheels are driven by the electric motors alone, which results in a far smoother and more engaging experience, akin to an electric car.

You'll often hear the petrol engine, but it might not always be driving the car. Instead, the Civic e:HEV might be using it to recharge the batteries.

The sort of wizardry Honda has achieved with the 2.0-litre e:HEV system is beyond belief, but just know that it's a truly engaging powertrain that's far from hybrids of old.

Handling and ride comfort

Not only is the Civic e:HEV an extremely comfortable car, but it's also far more spacious than previous generations. The 35mm longer wheelbase and 18mm wider rear track improve both passenger space and vehicle stability at the same time.

Tweaks to the suspension, including up to 19% increased body rigidity, also keeps the car composed in corners.

We love the use of active noise cancellation, which would typically be seen in more premium vehicles, which softens road noise at higher speeds. We can confirm both wind and tyre noise are about as good as it gets.

We're not so sure about the Active Sound Control, which is meant to make the engine sound better inside the cabin. To us, this sort of fakery is a disappointing way of getting around engine and noise emission controls – we'd rather the Civic own its hush-hush nature.

Besides the usual adaptive cruise control, all Civic trim levels come with Honda SENSING, which includes collision-prevention systems like automatic braking and blind spot monitoring.

We put the steering assistant to the test on multiple journeys, and it's nice to have this controlled separately from the adaptive cruise control. So you can choose to have any combination of the two, even if that's a steering aid, but full control over the pedals.

Boot space

On paper, the Civic isn't that far ahead of other family hatchbacks, but it still puts it in a good position. Boot space is 410 litres on lower specs, but Advance trims have a 404-litre space due to the placement of the BOSE speaker system.

Where it stands out is with the wide boot opening – because of the raking, coupé-like roofline, you get a boot that's longer than it is deeper.

That translates to more usable floor space in the boot, and less of a deep lip that you'd get in something like a Volkswagen Golf.

Honda also notes that the boot lid is 20% lighter for easy opening thanks to the use of resin.

Rear seats

We've already indicated that the long wheelbase results in plentiful rear legroom, but we need to make that point again.

Many hatchbacks in this segment are pretty tight on space, and some are pretty appalling, but the Civic's shape (which verges on saloon-like) lends it well to being the ultimate family car.

The only car that comes near to it is the Škoda Octavia, but even this doesn't quite feel as comfortable from the back.

You won't even feel cramped in the back despite the sloping roofline, because a low belt line means the windows can sit slightly lower, so there's plenty of light in the back.

Repositioned boot hinges (further back) also helps headroom in the back.

Storage solutions

Space in the front is pretty standard, comprising a central armrest with decent depth to keep things out of sight and two large cupholders in the centre console next to a wireless phone charger.

The door bins are sized well for bottles but aren't necessarily long enough for much more, and the glovebox is of a pretty average size.

Safety

There's no wonder the Honda CIVIC e:HEV got a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating, because the car's packed with advanced tech to minimise the impact of any collision.

Safety kit includes 11 airbags, a pop-up bonnet to reduce pedestrian risk and the aforementioned Honda SENSING suite with sonar sensors, enhanced pedestrian and cyclist detection, and an improved 100-degree front-facing camera.

Individual scores across the four test categories were consistently strong, which not all hatchbacks can say.

Fuel economy

Honda reckons around 60mpg could be possible, but we think you could get more thanks to the clever use of two electric motors and a 1.05 kWh battery.

As with any hybrid, it comes down to both how you drive it and the type of driving and journeys you do, but because the electric motors can drive the wheels in a lot of conditions, Honda's setting you up to spend as little time at the pump as possible.

On a short two-mile trip where petrol engines would typically be at their least efficient, we got a smidge over 100mpg from the Civic e:HEV. Remember, this isn't a plug-in hybrid, so that sort of figure is beyond impressive.

Take it on a longer trip where the battery has more recharge cycles, and you'll be using a lot more of the petrol engine, but you'd struggle to get below 50mpg even in the worst conditions.

It only has a 40-litre tank, so filling up is a bargain, but you could still get over 500 miles of range. It's hard not to love the Civic.

Reliability

Toyota might take the credit for popularising hybrids, but Honda also has more than two decades' experience building hybrids, so it knows what it's doing.

Honda also has a strong track record for drivetrain reliability, with the e:HEV also successfully appearing in the Jazz, HR-V and CR-V.

That's before you mention Honda's general reputation, which is highly regarded. The three-year warranty is only industry-average, but owners report few major faults after years of ownership, so the Civic is a sensible purchase.