All-new Honda Civic 2022, 50th anniversary
The all-new 2022 Honda Civic Sedan turns up the fun, with a sporty ride, spacious cabin, and available Bose audio
LIKES
- Fab new interior
- Better gas mileage
- Excellent quality
- Enhanced safety features
- 9.0-inch touchscreen (Touring)
DISLIKES
- Mature style, for better and worse
- No wireless Android Auto
- Multimedia feels dated
- Needs better lumbar support
What kind of vehicle is the 2022 Honda Civic? What does it compare to?
The 2022 Honda Civic is one of the bestselling and best-known compact cars on the planet. Emerging now in sedan and hatchback body styles, it’s offered as a Civic LX, Sport, EX, or Touring. The hatchback swaps the EX trim for EX-L and the Touring for Sport Touring. The Si model bridges the performance gap until the Type R arrives, but no coupe will return. Other compacts that come as a sedan or hatchback include the Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3, and Subaru Impreza.
Is the 2022 Honda Civic a good car?
With softened style, a jazzy interior, and fine ride and handling, the 2022 Civic earns a TCC Rating of 7.0 out of 10, before a final safety score has been tallied. That puts it within reach of the top-scoring compacts in our rankings.
Is the Honda Civic 4WD?
No, all Civics are front-wheel drive.
How fast is the Honda Civic?
In standard-issue trim, it’s not very fast. The Civic LX and Civic Sport come with a 158-hp 2.0-liter inline-4 and a CVT for acceptable acceleration. It’s sluggish from a start off the line, and the CVT winds up the engine and lets it sit in a part of the powerband where noise intrudes more than speed. Even dialed into a driver-selectable Sport mode, it’s a setup that requires planning for merges and passes, even though the Civic checks in at a light 2,877 lb in stock form.
The 3,077-lb Civic Touring represents the other, happier end of the performance spectrum. Its 1.5-liter turbo-4 steps things up with 180 hp, up 6 hp, and 15 lb-ft of torque from the 2021 edition. It’s not so different in feel from the previous year’s turbo version, either, with more confident levels of power. The good stuff’s on hold until Civic Si and Type R versions rejoin the family.
There’s good news for fans of the manual transmission: the hatchback offers a 6-speed manual as a no-cost option on both the Sport and Sport Touring trims. This transmission is a much better match for the turbocharged engine especially, which doesn’t really open up until 4,000 rpm. The CVT tries but doesn’t keep the Civic in that range consistently, and with better control over the engine’s rpm, the manual makes the car much more responsive and enjoyable to drive. Clutch action is on the lighter side but the catch point is generous, making the Civic a great car for those who are interested in learning to drive stick as well.
The Si comes only as a sedan and only with the 6-speed manual, with significant influence from the Type R that includes rev-matching. The 1.5-liter turbo-4 returns in the Si and makes the same 200 hp and 192 lb-ft. It’s good for a 0-60 mph time of fewer than seven seconds with a more sensitive throttle. A single-mass flywheel replaces the heavier dual-mass unit in the outgoing model; it makes the Si jumpier off the line and quicker to rev. The torque peak arrives earlier at 1,800 rpm (from 2,100 rpm in the old model), and the broader power band limits the need to downshift coming out of a turn because the power is often already there.
The Civic earns its stripes with balanced and responsive handling. It’s an evolution of the same setup from the previous car, but this Civic sits 1.4 inches longer, which helps it feel even more stable. The front-strut and rear multi-link design has been tuned for better ride quality, already a strong point, and its all-season tires soak up bumps well even when they grow to the 18-inches on Touring and Sport versions. The steering’s also in accord with the ride and handling, and communicates some of the roads through the wheel—but it’ll make vast gains in Type R and Si versions if the past predicts the future. The one downside to the bigger Civic? A crossover-like turning circle of 38.1 feet, makes parking more of an effort.
Hope you found it useful! Enjoy Drive! but remember Speed thrills but it Kills ;)
