Honda's Civic continues to be one of the best compact cars on the market with a well-deserved reputation of being a solid-built, reliable car with a great resale value.
Plus, the
2010 Honda Civic lineup is filled with variety, offering choices of hybrid to high performance, gasoline to natural gas, basic transportation to loaded with leather and navigation.
Enhanced inside and out for the 2009 model year, the 2010 model is unchanged. Why mess with success? A totally new version is due out next summer.
The Civic may not be the most stimulating looking vehicle in its segment, but its looks, inside and out, make it easy to like.
Regardless of whether you prefer the two-door coupe or four-door sedan, the base trim level is the DX model.
With a starting price of around $16,000, the DX is for those on a tight budget. However, the base DX comes with a five-speed manual transmission and does not include a radio or air conditioning. Ironically, though, the DX does come standard with power windows.
Air conditioning and a four-speaker 160-watt audio system with CD player and auxiliary input jack are included on the DX-VP model for an extra $750. Add another $800 if you want an automatic (five-speed) transmission.
So a 2010 Honda Civic Sedan DX-VP with automatic transmission will cost about $18,000. If you want more goodies, you'll want to step up to the LX or EX. There's also a sporty version (LX-S) and leather-trimmed (EX-L) model. Just so you know, the 2010 Honda Civic Sedan EX-L with navigation and an automatic comes in at just less than $25,000.
All Civic coupes and sedans (except Si and Hybrid) are powered by a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 140 horsepower. When mated to the five-speed manual, fuel economy is 26/34 mpg city/highway for the sedan. With the five-speed automatic the sedan delivers 25/36 mpg.
My Honda Civic test model was a sedan in EX trim with a five-speed automatic transmission and no options. The $21,000 price tag includes cruise control, power door locks with keyless entry, power moon roof and steering-wheel-mounted audio controls.
Overall, the Civic is a very nice car. Some may find the 1.8-liter engine to be lacking in power, especially when loaded down with four adults and the air conditioning on, but there was enough oomph to comfortably pull out into traffic and for merging onto the expressway.
One complaint, though, was that when accelerating hard, there was a fair amount of engine noise in the cabin. When cruising along at a steady pace, though, it wasn't as objectionable.
The five-speed automatic transmission in my tester shifted smoothly, and the sedan delivered an impressive 36 mpg on the highway.
If you're more concerned with performance than mpg, you can opt for the Si, which is powered by a 197-horsepower 2.0-liter engine (requires premium fuel) mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. It's rated at 21/29 mpg.
Of course, if you're looking for a Civic that makes less of an impact on the environment, the Hybrid model is powered by a 1.3-liter gasoline engine and a 20-horsepower electric motor. It's delivers 40/45 mpg.
Anyone looking for a good, reliable compact car should definitely have the Civic on his or her shopping list.
2010 Honda Civic Sedan EXENGINE: 140-horsepower 1.8-liter I-4
TRANSMISSION: five-speed automatic
DRIVETRAIN: front-wheel drive
FUEL ECONOMY: 25 city/36 highway
BASE PRICE: $20,255
AS TESTED: $21,005 (including $750 for destination)
WEB SITE: www.Honda.com