The Civic, long one of our top-scoring small cars, slipped substantially with this redesign. Blame sits with so-so interior quality, a choppy ride and more pronounced road noise. Vague steering robs the Civic of its fun-to-drive feel. On the up side, the Civic provides decent rear-seat room and great fuel economy.
The Hybrid with a new 1.5-liter four-cylinder hybrid engine, is the mileage champ of the range of Civic versions with a thrifty 40 mpg. With the low-rolling resistance tires on the Civic Hybrid, it recorded long stopping distance numbers.