2021 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Top Speed – The sedan struck a chord with us for style, functionality and price. Want to spend more? Consider looking at the plot.
The coupe is gone, the Si is on hiatus – but the 2021 Honda Civic still entices us with its winning formula of fuel economy, crashworthiness and driving fidelity.
2021 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Top Speed
Sold in LX, Sport, EX, Touring and Type R trims, we give the 2021 Civic a TCC rating of 6.7 out of 10. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
With the Civic, Honda has long passed the uncomfortable maturity stage of an economy car. Today’s Civic is a cheap set of wheels hiding behind a stylish package. We like the sleek fastback sedan better than the bulkier, puppy-tent hatchback, but when it comes to cargo space, it’s the clear winner. Both provide a high-quality passenger cabin well above the $20,000 base price.
Base Civics get a 158-horsepower 2.0-liter inline-four mated to the front wheels via a 6-speed manual or continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT); we prefer the latter when commuting, although the Honda’s light switch always turns the corners of our mouths. Even better is the 174-hp increase from the available 1.5-liter turbo-4; it’s bolder and more efficient than the non-turbo-4 and is standard in the hatchback. We reserve the wild Type R for track days and gameboy fantasies: its front-wheel-drive 306 horsepower is enough to make almost any driver a hero, which is why we named it the Motor Vehicles Authority’s Best Car to Buy 2018.
There is plenty of interior space for four adults in the latest Civic, with compromises to be found here and there. The seats are fine, if not throne-like; ground clearance isn’t great, but it’s not bad either. For a compact car, the Civic offers mid-sized interior space and is especially good in the front or back with legroom – and in hatchback cargo space, which offers up to 46.2 cubic feet of space, which is ideal for getting around. back to college when it becomes a realistic, healthy and viable option again.
Every Civic is equipped with automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and active lane control, which guarantee good results in crash tests. All trims also come with powerful features and Bluetooth, but we’ll skip the base car for its discreet audio display and go straight to the Civic EX, which includes a 7.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility with heated front seats, 17-in. wheels, dual-zone climate control and a blind-spot camera on the passenger side. EPA combined fuel economy of up to 35 mpg is standard on some models; all covered by Honda’s 3 year or 36,000 mile meh warranty.
Reduced to a sedan body that looks like a hatchback and a hatchback that looks like another hatchback, the 2021 Civic family shows how Honda has refined the Civic and made it younger.
Based on the large Accord sedan, the Civic sedan has a fastback outline that is sleek, well-engineered and beautiful. It is covered in many surface details, which sets us apart in its appeal. We’re more in the Cocoa Puffs camp than Coco Chanel, but we know she’d cast the first disapproving glance at the Civic’s overly busy rear end. Hatchbacks do not change this shape at all: sedans dip into the tail to create a small lid, while the hatch remains in motion. The hatchback is more practical, but it’s also busier, especially in Sport trim. Don’t get us started on the Type R unless we’re allowed to drive it.
Quiet inside, the Civic is still eye-catching and useful with plenty of cubbies, drink holders and storage space. It is arranged along a broad, wing-like horizontal line with bands of brushed metal or shiny black plastic. Base cars have a small 5.0-inch screen, although most versions have a 7.0-inch touchscreen that breaks up the wide panel.
Focusing on more pedestrian and regular versions, we give the Honda Civic 6 for performance. If we all drove a Type R, we might give it a 9. Compromise involves life.
Honda gives drivers a choice of three engines, a pair of transmissions and five power ratings in the Civic. Most buyers’ standard choice is the 158-hp 2.0-liter inline-four found in the LX and Sport models. It’s a wheelhouse efficiency commute special, the tension is somewhere in left field. For added enjoyment, it can be cranked out with a demanding 6-speed manual, but its front wheels are most often mated to a CVT, which requires little attention and few commands, too, because it doesn’t force the Civic to roar loudly. like some CVTs.
Honda powers the Civic with a 174-hp 1.5-liter turbo-4 that’s standard in the hatchback and available in the rest of the sedan lineup. It’s more efficient and powerful, so it’s a sensible powertrain choice for us. A 6-speed gearbox is also available on some models and is useful for mitigating the slight turbo lag found in the engine, but the CVT provides better fuel economy and easier drivability.
Honda gives the Civic – all of them – communicative steering and tight handling that make all Civics a joy to navigate on twisty roads and squares. It even drives well, especially in turbo-4 trim, where the fluid-filled bushings dampen some ride motion without reducing its accuracy.
But the Civic is frankly better on smaller 16- or 17-inch wheels. Sports and touring cars have 18-inch wheels that fill the wheel wells but pick up and telegraph more road bumps to the driver through the wheel and through the seats – but it’s nothing like the Type R’s.
The Civic has several high-performance alter egos, and most drivers would be happy with the Civic Si – but it’s taking a year off as Honda juggles global production and prepares for the new Civic in 2022.
Meanwhile, Honda fans will have to step up from the turbo-4 Civic directly to the Type R, a rotting hatchback equipped with a 306-horsepower 2.0-liter turbo-4, a manual transmission, dual-mode adaptive dampers, summer tires, and smart extras like a performance data logger. It’s the Civic you’d drive to airstrips and turn your daily commute into undercover missions; it is also choppy, noisy and perhaps too lively for normal civic duty. Read more about it if you dare.
Honda assembles the Civic with care, providing plenty of room for adults in a sedan or hatchback. We give it a 6 for quality and comfort thanks to good cargo space in both body styles.
With a low dash and tall side glass, the Civic gives front-seat passengers a wide view of the road ahead from comfortable cloth seats (on LX, Sport and EX trims). Spend more and the Civic gets leather upholstery and power front seats on EX-L trim.
Rear legroom is 37.4 inches in the sedan, 36.0 inches in the hatchback. The cushions create space for two passengers on board, although a third can fit in the back for short trips. Seat comfort everywhere else is average or better, although headroom is a little shy for tall passengers due to the Civic’s low roof.
In both body styles, the Civic’s rear seats can be folded down to increase luggage space; sedans have 15.1 cubic feet of trunk space (14.7 in Tourings), while hatchbacks grow from 25.7 to 46.2 cubic feet.
What impresses us most is the quality of the Civic model, even in basic equipment. Its interior materials and cut do not reveal any economy car roots. It’s a high-quality environment with soft plastics and matte surfaces that work well with the new sense of style.
Crash test results haven’t yet been updated for 2021, but the Honda Civic hasn’t changed – and we expect its excellent ratings to continue. We give him 8 here.
NHTSA says the Civic earned a five-star overall crash safety score; The IIHS gives all versions a “good” rating and finds fault with the car’s standard headlights. However, the Touring and Si Civics have better LED headlights, earning the Civic a Top Safety Pick award.
Every Civic has automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, active lane control and automatic high beams. The view out isn’t the best, thanks to its clinker roofline, but it’s serviceable.
With a base price of just over DKK 20,000, the Honda Civic spreads a lot of economy car joy. We give it a few extra points for value and options to make it a 7.
The Civic comes as a four-door sedan and a five-door hatchback – and in LX, Sport, EX, EX-L and Touring trims (the hatchbacks call the latter Sport Touring). Then there’s the Civic Type R hatchback, Motor Authority’s best car to buy in 2018.
The Civic LX loses a possible point for its 5.0-inch audio display—we prefer the larger touchscreen—but it also has performance features, Bluetooth, cloth upholstery, 16-inch wheels, a USB port, and automatic emergency braking.
Our pick is the Civic EX, which adds a 7.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, heated front seats, a high-speed USB port, dual-zone climate control, a passenger-side camera
