2022 Honda Civic Sport

Test Drive Notes Library

Pros
Very Honda. Like most Hondas, the Civic is easy to live in. Despite its sporty character, the car is, first and foremost, easy to drive and maneuver. The 158 hp 2.0 liter, normally aspirated four cylinder engine gives you peppy acceleration off the line. That suits anybody doing in town or city driving, where a lot of driving involves getting away from stop signs and traffic lights. The steering is sufficiently light and the car agile. Controls are clear, simple, and in the right places.
Good handling. If you want a modestly priced car, but enjoy driving a car that handles well, the Civic is worth a test drive. Despite the name, this is pretty much a basic Civic. The higher priced Civic Si is the real sport model. But even the basic Civic is very good when it comes to cornering and handling. Its impressed us on all roads with its flat cornering, secure road holding, quick steering, and fun to drive factor for a low priced car.
Great controls. Other car makers should be poaching whoever designed the interior controls in the Civic. They’re wonderfully simple and straight forward. Everything you need is where you want it. The switches and vent controls have a higher quality feel and finish than in previous Civics, and the climate controls have a satisfying click when you adjust them. We never found ourselves frustrated wondering how to change or adjust a setting.
Mileage. We got just under 33 mpg overall, which is very good.
Price and Reliability = Value. Our Civic Sport cashed out at $24,000. Like it or not, that’s cheap in today’s market. For that price, you get Honda’s well-earned reputation for reliability, excellent fuel economy, a suite of standard, key safety features, roomy seats, room for four, good headroom, and a car that’s fun to drive.
Looks good. This is a cleaner looking, more classic Civic, a huge improvement over the previous generation’s unfolded origami exterior. This is a good looking car, that should have broad appeal.

Cons
The handling trade off. As usual on non-luxury cars, there’s a trade off between sporty handling and ride comfort. The Civic leans sporty, and the ride suffers. It’s on the stiff side. If a soft, comfortable ride is more important to you than fun to drive, you’ll find the Toyota Corolla more to your liking.
A few things missing. There’s no blind spot monitoring in the Civic Sport. That surprised us, because it’s practically ubiquitous these days, even in less expensive cars. It’s available on higher trim Civics, and we’d recommend it. There’s also no wireless charging or wireless CarPlay, which you would think might be a sought after feature, especially for younger buyers.
Low. Honda’s Civic is sticking with its close relationship to the ground. In an era where many people are buying crossovers and vehicles that sit higher up, it’s even more noticeable when you get in a car that you have to sort of fall into, and climb out of. Civic has always appealed to younger buyers, who may be fine with that. But the Civic has a secondary market among older buyers, who just want a practical, reliable, smaller car. We wonder if they’ll now take a pass on the Civic and go for something with seats closer to butt height.
Noisy. The Civic Sport is not a terribly quiet car. On hard acceleration, the 2.0 liter engine has to work hard, and its noise is quite loud. You can hear the engine working harder on highway entrance ramps, where the continuously variable transmission (CVT) forces the revs way up and emphasizes the engine noise. On the highway, with the engine and road noise, there’s definitely a din.
Picky dislike. The side window sills are high. So if you’re one of the few remaining people who likes to roll down the window and rest your elbow there while you drive, you’ll get a shoulder impingement and won’t be able to pitch for the Red Sox for the next six weeks.