2022 Honda Civic Sport Keeps It Simple

The 2022 Honda Civic sedan you see here is primed to disappoint when compared with its impressive siblings. The Civic hatchback has a more spacious cargo area and offers a manual transmission, while higher trim levels such as the comparison-test-winning Civic Touring come with lots more features and a more powerful turbocharged 1.5-liter engine. (And that’s not to mention the sporty Civic Si and Type R.) The Civic Sport sedan has a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter inline-four and a continuously variable automatic transmission—hardly a combination that makes us think of sport in the traditional sense.

And yet we found lots to like in the simplicity of this lesser Civic, which reminds us of older Hondas in the way it lacks frills but offers an inherent, satisfying goodness. Oh, and did we mention that this model starts at just $24,765? For that price, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a vehicle that’s this fun to drive, this fuel-efficient, or this stylish. While our test car’s looks were helped by a $1418 HPD appearance package that adds a body kit and a rear spoiler, all Civic Sports look a bit cooler than their LX and EX brethren thanks to 18-inch wheels, chrome exhaust, and black trim for the window surrounds and mirrors.

HIGHS: Great ride and handling balance, pleasing interior, nice price.

Michael SimariCar and Driver

While the 11th-generation Civic has a far more streamlined body than its gawky predecessor, Honda kept the underpinnings mostly the same—and that’s a good thing. We love the Civic’s quick steering, firm ride, and responsive brake pedal, and the Sport model outperformed the loaded Touring both around our skidpad and in our 70-mph braking test. It gripped to the tune of 0.87 g and came to a stop in 170 feet, improvements of 0.04 g and 4 feet. Due to its lighter load of optional equipment, the Civic Sport weighed in at just 2906 pounds, 148 fewer pounds than the Touring.

Even so, the 2.0-liter engine’s 158 horsepower and 138 pound-feet of torque are not up to the task of motoring around the Civic with much gusto. It took a long 8.8 seconds to reach 60 mph, a second and a half slower than we measured in a Civic hatchback with the optional 180-hp turbo engine and a six-speed manual transmission. The Sport’s naturally aspirated inline-four is also annoyingly buzzy at high rpm. Interestingly, the more powerful turbo is more fuel efficient by the EPA’s measurements, with the EX and Touring both beating the Civic Sport’s combined rating. We measured 36 mpg in our 75-mph highway fuel-economy test, falling 1 mpg short of the EPA’s highway rating.

Michael SimariCar and Driver

LOWS: Slow acceleration, buzzy engine, less fuel-efficient than the turbo.

The cheaper Civic’s more plebian nature is immediately obvious once you open the door and see its black cloth upholstery and smaller screens. The infotainment display measures 7.0 inches to the Touring’s 9.0-inch screen, while the gauge cluster combines an analog speedometer with a 7.0-inch screen that displays a tachometer among other info (the Touring has a fully digital gauge cluster with a 10.2-inch screen). Fortunately, the screens’ functionality is not compromised, as the smaller infotainment screen incorporates hard buttons and both volume and tuning knobs that make its interface easy to use.

Michael SimariCar and Driver

The interior materials are nothing to write home about, but the Civic’s cabin feels well assembled and offers some visual interest thanks to the honeycomb pattern that stretches across the dashboard and incorporates the air vents. The three climate-control knobs click with precision, and the steering wheel is attractive and nice to grasp. Rear-seat passengers are missing amenities such as cupholders, air vents, and USB ports, but there’s plenty of space for two adults back there.

The compact-sedan landscape is less populated than it used to be, but the Civic still faces strong competition from the likes of the Mazda 3, Volkswagen Jetta, and Hyundai Elantra. It already proved its mettle in top-trim form, and while we don’t think we’ll be conducting a base-model econobox comparison test anytime soon, we can say with confidence that the Civic is at or near the top of its class no matter which version you choose.

Specifications

Specifications

2022 Honda Civic Sport

Vehicle Type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE

Base/As Tested: $24,765/$26,183

Options: HPD appearance package, including front, rear, and side body kit, rear spoiler, HPD emblem, $1418

ENGINE

DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 122 in3, 1996 cm3

Power: 158 hp @ 6500 rpm

Torque: 138 lb-ft @ 4200 rpm

TRANSMISSION

continuously variable automatic

CHASSIS

Suspension, F/R: struts/multilink

Brakes, F/R: 11.1-in vented disc/10.2-in disc

Tires: Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season

235/40R-18 91W M+S

DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase: 107.7 in

Length: 184.0 in

Width: 70.9 in

Height: 55.7 in

Passenger Volume: 99 ft3

Trunk Volume: 15 ft3

Curb Weight: 2906 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS

60 mph: 8.8 sec

1/4-Mile: 16.9 sec @ 86 mph

100 mph: 23.7 sec
Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.4 sec.

Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 9.1 sec

Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 4.3 sec

Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 5.7 sec

Top Speed (C/D est): 124 mph

Braking, 70–0 mph: 170 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.87 g

C/D FUEL ECONOMY

Observed: 27 mpg

75-mph Highway Driving: 36 mpg

Highway Range: 440 mi

EPA FUEL ECONOMY

Combined/City/Highway: 33/30/37 mpg

C/D TESTING EXPLAINED


the track club

A car-lover’s community for ultimate access & unrivaled experiences. JOIN NOW

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io