2016 Honda Civic Long-Term Road Test - Wrap-Up

Edmunds.com

2016 Honda Civic Long-Term Road Test - Wrap-Up

Our Long-Term Road Test of the 2016 Honda Civic is complete after one year and 22,000 miles. It surprised us with its stellar efficiency and the amount of unexpected maintenance.

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legacygt

Your summary about the improvements made to the Civic is accurate. I can't think of a single car redesign that improved upon its predecessor quite as well as this Civic. Let's be honest. The last two generations of Civics were uninspiring and not terribly good. They were mediocre cars for the class and well below what we've come to expect from a Civic. They sold well but were trading mostly on reputation and brand loyalty. This car leaps back to be at or around the best in the class and it lives up to our expectations for the nameplate.

Regarding the styling, the red color helps this car out a lot. The other colors, especially the lighter ones, look awkward and busy from rear angles, mostly because of the size and shape of the taillights. The red of the tail lights blends in a bit with the red car. On a white Civic, it's a mess back there.

Regarding the interior space and headroom...yes, it's good but I think we need to start to rename the car classes. There is nothing "compact" about the Civic. The same is true for many of its competitors. When you see a Civic in person, the immediate impression is that it's significantly larger than its predecessors.

Two points on fuel economy. The first is that I'm impressed. The second is that you shouldn't consider the EPA numbers (35 mpg combined) "modest" when you averaged 33 mpg for the life of the car. I'd call them "realistic" but not "modest."

moparbad

Add touch knobs for volume and tuning and I'll consider a Civic Hatch for next vehicle.