2019 Honda Civic Pros and Cons

The Civic is a consistent sales leader for Honda in North America.

The debut of the 10th-generation Civic brought many exciting changes to Honda as a whole. From bold exterior and interior styling to innovative engine technologies that have started trickling down the rest of Honda’s product lineup, the Civic is constantly evolving the Honda brand.

The 2018 model year brought two new additions to the Civic family, the Si sedan and coupe and for the first time in North America, the formidable and fun Type R. We take a quick look at the pros and cons of this popular car and make sure you take a look at our full review too.

Variety of Engine Choices: The Civic’s engine choices start with a very competent 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 158 horsepower and 138 pound-feet of torque. Moving up, a new 1.5-liter turbo four-cylinder making 174 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque becomes available. That same engine is tuned for 205 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque in the Si models. Finally, at the top is the 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder with 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque that’s strictly reserved for the Type R. A CVT is standard in all Civics with all engines except in LX trim cars, where the base transmission is a six-speed manual. The Type R is available exclusively with a six-speed manual transmission.

ALSO SEE: Honda Accord vs Honda Civic: Which Sedan is Right For You?

Class-Leading Interior: Across the whole range of Civic body styles, every Civic interior is made up of soft-touch materials on the door and dashboard. Front and rear seats are well contoured to fit a lot of body shapes and enhance overall passenger volume. Even the base LX model does not cheap out on cabin materials. The top Touring trim takes things to a whole other level with premium quality leather seats with rear seat heating. Honda benchmarked entry-level luxury cars with this interior.

ALSO SEE: Honda Civic Type R Review

Innovative Technological Features: Honda Sensing is offered as a $1,000 option on every trim level and it offers a plethora of driver assistance features such as lane keeping assist, forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control. In addition, even the smart key remote locking system has a walk away feature that lets the car lock itself automatically as the driver walks away from the vehicle with the car’s key fob in hand.

Exemplary Road Manners: This generation of the Civic does not sacrifice road comfort for impressive road holding abilities. “Putting the Civic hatchback’s taut chassis to the test, it responded well, behaving more like the coupe than the sedan,” AutoGuide.com‘s Dan Ilika wrote in his review. “The brake-based torque vectoring system, which is featured throughout the Civic lineup, successfully quelled much of the understeer typical of a front-driven car, helping pull the car towards to the inside of the tree-lined chicanes and esses.”

Craig Cole wrote in his review that, “Putting the Civic in motion validates most of the promises made by Honda. The car is refined, surprisingly fleet and enjoyable to pilot.”

Diverse Body Style Options: The Civic is available in three different body style configurations: Coupe, sedan, and hatchback. For a single individual or a small family looking for a fun two-door, the coupe is available. With its increased cargo capacity, the hatchback caters to families looking for a little more versatility. The sedan is the perfect size for a typical family and even offers a 15 cubic feet trunk, which is an above average for its class.

Reliability: It’s a Honda, and the Japanese automaker has built its empire on robust products that seem to last for ages. Civics are known for this as well and historically get good resale values because of it. They’re also relatively affordable to insure and the dealer network is massive, meaning you shouldn’t have problems finding warranty-approved service centers.

Polarizing Exterior Styling: The Civic’s exterior styling has been divisive right from the start. Some welcome its fastback profile and angular front end. Others think the design can be overwrought and riddled with too many overwhelming design details, especially when it comes to the hatchback and the Type R.

Frustrating Infotainment System: The display audio touchscreen system in the Civic has a clear and vivid display. Even climate control functions can be accessed through the screen but it’s the execution of simple functions that is a little lacking. The touchscreen is not quick to respond to touch inputs and critical menus for radio and climate settings are buried too deep in the system. But the most guilty of sins here is the placement of a touch slider for adjusting the volume instead of a traditional volume knob. “The Civic still features a confounding volume slider in lieu of a proper physical knob. Why, Honda?” asks Craig Cole of AutoGuide.com in his review. Luckily, the 2019 models have been updated with a physical volume knob.

Can Get a Little Pricey When Fully Optioned: The Touring Trim level comes fully loaded with a host of luxury amenities and technology that justify the higher price, but there are strong competitors in the marketplace such as the Hyundai Elantra and Chevrolet Cruze that offer the same or similar level of technology and luxurious cabin at prices several thousands of dollars less than the Civic.

It Will Be Ubiquitous: If you want to stand out, the Civic isn’t going to help you do that. As one of the most popular cars on the market, there will be many other drivers on the road with the same car as you.

FULL HONDA CIVIC REVIEW HERE