2024 Honda Civic Hatchback Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Have you ever seen “The Strike,” that Seinfeld episode in which Jerry is dating Gwen? The current-generation Honda Civic Hatchback is like Gwen. Depending on the angle, the lighting, the paint color, and the wheels, the Civic Hatchback can look dowdy and homely or sporty and attractive.

Our test car, dressed out in Sport Touring trim with fetching 18-inch alloy wheels and an eye-catching color called Boost Blue, mostly appealed to us. The car’s rear end remains just a little too stubby, but otherwise, we found the Civic Sport Touring’s styling agreeable.

The Sport Touring sits atop the Civic Hatchback lineup, which also includes the base LX, the value-oriented Sport, and the upscale EX-L with a leather interior. Base prices range from $24,950 to $31,450, not including a $1,095 destination charge. Boost Blue is an extra-cost paint color, so our Sport Touring test car’s manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) tallied up to an even $33,000, including destination.

Open the driver’s door, and the Civic Sport Touring justifies its high price with quality materials, elegant detailing, and just the right amount of technology. The attention to detail is remarkable, particularly regarding the metal honeycomb mesh decorating the dashboard, the knurled knobs for the stereo volume and climate controls, and the high-resolution digital instrumentation and infotainment screens.

Buy a Civic hatch in LX or Sport trim, and you’ll get a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. It generates 158 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 138 pound-feet of torque at 4,200 rpm. What that means is you need to rev the engine to access the maximum motive force.

Fortunately, with Sport trim, you can choose a six-speed manual gearbox in the place of the standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). That will give you a little more control over the power. But, if you can’t operate a clutch pedal, the Sport trim’s CVT does offer a Sport driving mode and paddle shifters in an attempt to make the car more, umm, sporty.

If you’re feeling a need for speed, and you don’t want a Civic Si sedan or a Civic Type R hatch, we recommend getting the EX-L or Sport Touring with the turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine. It provides 180 hp at 6,000 rpm and 177 lb-ft of torque between 1,700 rpm and 4,500 rpm. Overall, the power is far more accessible.

With Sport Touring trim, you can choose between a six-speed manual and a CVT with paddle shifters and a Sport driving mode. The EX-L comes only with a CVT. Womp, womp, said the sad trombone.

Our Sport Touring test car had the CVT and a great-looking set of 18-inch wheels wearing 235/40 Continental ContiPro Contact all-season tires. So, it wasn’t quite as much fun as it would’ve been with the manual transmission, but aside from some occasional high-rpm groaning when accelerating to get on a freeway, the CVT is a decent transmission that takes proper advantage of the turbo engine’s torque.

Feeling light, lively, and lithe from behind the steering wheel, the Civic Sport Touring is delightful to drive no matter the situation. It can add some zing and zest to a daily commute, it brings some joy to the task of running errands, and when you decide to tackle a favorite twisty road, it is fun and fling-able. It and the Mazda Mazda3 Hatchback are the best choices in terms of driving enjoyment.

However, the Civic is loud inside on the highway. If you live someplace where the pavement is less than perfectly smooth, you might want to invest in a pair of earplugs.

Depending on which Civic hatch you choose, it will return between 29 mpg and 35 mpg in combined driving. Our test car earned the most efficient rating of 35 mpg, but on the evaluation loop it averaged just 30.2 mpg while driving in Normal mode in the city and on the highway, and running the car on mountain and canyon roads in Sport mode.

We must have been enjoying the car a little too much. It is easy to do.

When you upgrade from the relatively basic LX and Sport trim levels to the EX-L and Sport Touring, you get lots of appealing extras.

For example, these trims include dual-zone automatic climate control, heated exterior mirrors, heated front seats, leather upholstery, and a power sunroof. In addition, the driver’s seat offers eight-way power adjustment and there is a rear center armrest.

Our test car’s power driver’s seat and tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel meant we could find a perfect driving position. Not only that, but the seat is also exceptionally comfortable with great long-distance support. The center console includes a sliding center armrest for added satisfaction.

Unfortunately, the front passenger’s seat lacks height adjustment. While Sport Touring trim adds four-way power operation for that seat, we’d trade it for a manual seat-height adjuster.

The Civic Hatchback’s rear seat is roomy enough for two adults or three kids. It offers good support and, with Sport Touring trim, a couple of 2.5-amp USB quick-charge ports. But there are no air conditioning vents, which you would expect at this price.

Behind the back seat, you’ll find 24.5 cubic feet of cargo space, nearly 10 cubic feet more volume than in the Civic Sedan’s trunk. Honda doesn’t provide a measurement for when the 60/40-split rear seat is folded down, but it is reasonable to assume the cargo space doubles.

With the LX, Sport, and EX-L trim levels, the Civic Hatchback has a 7-inch digital instrumentation panel and a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Both are basic, and not up to par with rivals like the Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla Hatchback. Even the base Subaru Impreza’s tech is more appealing.

However, when you get a Civic Sport Touring, you receive an exclusive 10.2-inch digital instrumentation display and a 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Both add color, improved graphics, and a palpable level of sophistication to the Civic’s cabin. We particularly like how the Civic icon in the middle of the digital gauges shows when the headlights and taillights, turn signals, hazard flashers, and brake lights illuminate.

Sport Touring trim brings other technological and connectivity benefits. The upgraded infotainment system adds wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (instead of wired), SiriusXM satellite radio, HD Radio, a navigation system, and wireless smartphone charging. An impressive 12-speaker Bose premium sound system is also standard with Sport Touring trim.

We have no complaints with how easy it is to pair an iPhone to the infotainment system, run Apple CarPlay, or use the voice-recognition system. It responds quickly and accurately to spoken commands and queries.

Honda equips every 2024 Civic with Honda Sensing, a package of advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS).

On this model, the features list includes:

• Forward-collision warning
• Automatic emergency braking
• Lane-departure warning
• Lane-keeping assist
• Lane-centering assist
• Adaptive cruise control
• Traffic jam assist and low-speed follow capability (only with the CVT)
• Automatic high-beam headlights
• Driver monitoring system
• Traffic sign recognition system

Inexplicably, considering how popular the Civic is with younger, cash-strapped, and less experienced drivers, a blind-spot warning system is available only with the more expensive EX-L and Sport Touring trim levels. Worse, only the Sport Touring has a rear cross-traffic alert system and front and rear parking sensors with low-speed automatic braking. That sort of exclusion is disappointing to see on any new car.

Overall, the Honda Sensing technology is refined, sophisticated, and accurate. It handled the curves and nuances of the Pacific Coast Highway without incident and performed well on freeways and rural roads. In addition, the graphic within the digital instrumentation depicting driving assistance activity is legitimately helpful.

However, the adaptive cruise control responds with lethargy when slower vehicles ahead move out of the lane and the Civic’s path, and we did experience brief, unnecessary emergency braking due to parked cars on the side of a highway as well as inaccurate attempted steering into a left turn lane.

As far as crash-test ratings go, the Civic Hatchback earns Good ratings in nearly all assessments performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). In a new, updated side-impact test, the car gets an Acceptable instead of a Good rating. Otherwise, the Civic hatch earns top marks from the IIHS.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gives the Civic Hatchback an overall crashworthiness rating of five stars, the highest possible. It even earned a rare five-star rollover resistance rating.

There aren’t many alternatives to a 2024 Honda Civic Hatchback.

A Mazda3 costs more but also offers more in the form of a more powerful turbocharged engine option, available AWD, and more sophisticated standard tech. Plus, the Mazda is exceptionally refined, looking and feeling more like an entry-level luxury model.

The Hyundai Elantra and Kia Forte are great cars, but neither are offered with a hatchback body style.

A Subaru Impreza is competitively priced and comes with standard AWD. But it looks and feels cheaper inside, and the infotainment technology isn’t as well sorted as the Honda’s.

A Toyota Corolla Hatchback costs less while offering trendier looks and more equipment for competitive value, and it matches the Honda for complimentary scheduled maintenance. But it’s not as visually, tactilely, or dynamically appealing.

A Volkswagen Golf GTI is expensive, with prices starting where the Honda Civic Hatchback leaves off, making it a premium-priced alternative. But with its added power and in-bred German driving dynamics, it might be worth the added cost.

Overall, the Honda Civic Sport Touring hatchback is undeniably compelling, but the price is too high. At our test vehicle’s $33,000 window sticker, the upgrade to an Acura Integra A-Spec amounts to $1,695, and you’ll get Civic Si specifications in a more upscale and attractive vehicle.