2019 Honda Civic Review and Buying Guide | A little something for everyone

In the compact car market, the Honda Civic has almost always been a benchmark, and there's a reason for that: it's consistently been really great. The 2019 Honda Civic is no exception. It has a large, airy interior with quality materials. The engines are smooth, powerful and economical. And it's nimble while also being comfortable. Not only that, but there's a Civic for just about any need with sedan, coupe or hatchback body styles — no other compact car offers such diversity. There are also trim levels and powertrains that range from frugal to exhilarating, yet all offer competitive pricing and impressive value. For these reasons and others we'll explain below, the Civic is still one of the best compact cars on the market.

What's new for 2019?

The 2019 Honda Civic marks the third year for this generation, and changes are mostly restricted to some styling tweaks, and trim and feature additions. All Honda Civics, regardless of trim or body style, now have black grilles, replacing the flashy chrome version available on past models. The lower grilles of the sedan and coupe have been merged into one opening, and all trims on sedans and coupes get chrome accents in the lower fascia except the new Sport trim.

The Sport trim has been added to the coupe and sedan models, but unlike the hatchback's Sport trim that gets a turbocharged engine, these Civics stick with the naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder. The Sport coupe and sedan do get Honda's touchscreen infotainment system with CarPlay and Android Auto, unlike the Sport hatchback. This infotainment system now features physical shortcut buttons and a volume knob, but it retains the existing user interface. The gauges get red backlighting, the pedals are made of aluminum, the wheels are larger and it has a leather-wrapped steering wheel. A manual transmission is also now restricted to LX sedan, all Sport body styles, the Si and Type R. All other Civics get a CVT.

What's the interior and in-car technology like?

The Honda Civic has a spacious interior that feels even more so thanks to a low dashboard and thin pillars. The materials are high quality, and you should find a comfortable driving position whether you prefer to sit low or high. The seats in normal Civics are a bit on the flat side, but they do feature stylish upholstery and have a reasonable amount of cushion. Both the Civic Si and Type R have increasingly more aggressive front seat bolsters that hold you snugly, but aren't so firm that you feel pinched or poked.

All Civics get a digital display for the tachometer, speedometer and additional driving information, and the readouts are under deep cowls. Two types of infotainment systems are available. Low-trim models get a very basic system with a small screen and old-fashioned physical buttons and knobs for navigating through different functions. It does feature Bluetooth, a USB port and a media player interface, but is not compatible with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. The second version comes with a 7-inch touchscreen that for 2019 features the welcome addition of physical buttons and volume knob. Unfortunately, that touchscreen's user interface is still ugly, sluggish and not particularly user friendly. The good news is that it does include Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which are both much easier to use than the Honda software.

How big is it?

The Honda Civic is on the larger side of the segment, but it's within a few tenths of some other larger compacts. The only exterior trait significantly different from the competition is overall height, with the Civic sitting 1 to 2 inches lower than similar cars. The Civic is also one of the lighter cars in its class.

Inside, you'll find the Civic offers more passenger and cargo space than most. In fact, it challenges some midsize cars. Leg- and headroom up front are exceptional, while folks of all sizes should be able to fit comfortably in the back seat. Even the coupe is reasonably roomy back there. That would've been rare at one time, but as the sole surviving compact coupe, there's no longer anything to compare it to.

Small item storage is superb thanks to a clever center console that features a deep bin, a sliding cupholder unit and a large, grippy area for smartphones. For large items, both the sedan and hatchback provide best-in-class cargo room with the rear seats up. That said, the hatchback is atypical, as its cargo area is much deeper and trunk-like than a Volkswagen Golf, for instance, but it's not as tall restricting its usefulness for especially bulky items. We think it'll be an acceptable trade-off for most.

Child seat access for all body styles of Civic gets the second highest rating of "Acceptable" from the IIHS.

What's the performance and fuel economy?

The Honda Civic coupe and sedan in LX and Sport trims get a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter inline-four making 158 horsepower and 138 pound-feet of torque. It's paired with either a six-speed manual transmission or a continuously variable automatic (CVT). Those numbers are on par with a number of compact cars, including the Hyundai Elantra and Subaru Impreza. It's not a particularly exciting engine, but it is extremely smooth and refined. Despite packing the least power, the 2.0-liter Civics are not the most efficient. The manual versions get 29 mpg in combined driving, the Sport CVT gets 32 mpg and the LX CVT gets 33 mpg.

The most-efficient Civics are those with the 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that produces 174 hp and 162 lb-ft (the Sport hatchback produces a little more at 180 hp and 177 lb-ft). In the sedan, it gets 36 mpg in combined driving. The equivalent coupe gets 35 mpg, while the equivalent hatch gets 34 mpg. Note that fuel economy dips a little lower in the Touring trim levels and manual-equipped Sports.

Besides its superior power and fuel economy, the Civic's 1.5-liter is smooth with extra torque that makes it feel even quicker than the numbers suggest. It's one of the most potent normal compacts falling behind only the Mazda3 in both power and torque, but beating the Jetta in the power department.

Now, the Civic is one of the few compact cars to offer a high-performance variant. Actually, it offers two. The Honda Civic Si, which you can read about fully in our first drive review, makes 205 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque from its turbocharged 1.5-liter engine. It still manages to get a strong 32 mpg in combined driving . The Honda Civic Type R, which we covered in this driver's notes review, gets a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine that makes 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. Its fuel economy falls to 25 mpg combined.

What's it like to drive?

The average Honda Civic, regardless of whether you pick the sedan, coupe or hatchback, is a thoroughly well-rounded car to drive. The ride is comfortable and well-damped. The car feels light and nimble, cornering eagerly with little body roll. Steering is light but responsive and precise. The Civic also has a reasonably quiet and refined cabin, though it isn't best in class in this regard.

These normal Honda Civics come with either a naturally aspirated four-cylinder or a turbocharged one. Both are smooth and quiet, but the turbo engine provides both better fuel economy and lots of torque. Both engines can be had with a manual transmission, and in Honda tradition, the stick is slick. The other transmission option is a CVT, which cause some drone during acceleration and makes both engines feel considerably different since they spend more of their time at lower rpm. Still, it's smooth and responsive enough, and unlike some other CVTs, isn't objectionable.

The hotter Si and Type R are the clear enthusiast choices. The Honda Civic Si has a hotter version of the basic turbo 1.5-liter engine, and it suitably feels incrementally gutsier – although most rivals are considerably more powerful. It makes up for that with sharper steering, a mechanical limited-slip differential that aids traction on corner exit, and even an adjustable suspension. This provides a ride that is definitely firmer than the regular model in all modes, but never punishing. Really, the Si is one of the best performance bargains around.

The Civic Type R, on the other hand, is a superlative hot hatch. It's turbocharged 2.0-liter engine provides loads of power and torque, and it's delivered in a shockingly smooth and civilized manner. It dives for corners and and the steering feels millimeter precise. This is a car that's easy to drive fast and feels rewarding when you do so. Surprisingly, ride quality can almost be described as comfortable. It's a very livable hot hatch that belies its absurd styling.

Where can I read more about the Honda Civic?

2016 Honda Civic First Drive

The 2019 Honda Civic is part of a generation first introduced for 2016. In this review, you can find In-depth information about the Civic's design and engineering from that first year.

2016 Honda Civic Coupe First Drive

Our first drive review of the current-generation Honda Civic coupe with the naturally aspirated engine and manual transmission.

Hot or not? | 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback First Drive

Our first drive review of the Honda Civic hatchback.

What features are available and what's the price?

The base Honda Civic is the LX, which starts at $20,370 as a sedan (all prices include the $920 destination charge). The LX coupe starts at $21,570, and the LX hatchback starts at $22,370, but both of those come standard with the CVT, whereas it's an option on the LX sedan. These base Civic models come standard with automatic climate control, adaptive cruise control, and Bluetooth and USB connectivity. They also come with a slew of standard safety features you can find farther down in this guide.

For information on other trims, you can check out the breakdown of their features, specs and local pricing here at Autoblog. We also have features, specs and local pricing specifically for the Honda Civic Si and the Honda Civic Type R.

Honda Civic Sedan

• LX: $20,370
• Sport: $22,070
• EX: $24,320
• Si: $25,220
• EX-L: $25,520
• Touring: $28,220

Honda Civic Coupe

• LX: $21,570
• Sport: $22,370
• EX: $24,120
• Si: $25,220
• Touring: $27,770

Honda Civic Hatchback (pictured below)

• LX: $22,370
• Sport: $23,170
• EX: $24,670
• EX-L: $27,170
• Sport Touring: $29,670
• Type R: $36,620

What's its safety equipment and crash ratings?

All Honda Civics but Si and Type R come standard with forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, and lane-keeping assist. Automatic high-beams are standard on the Civic coupe and sedan, but are optional on the hatchback. The only other real safety option is LaneWatch (standard on EX and higher), which is Honda's alternative to blind-spot monitoring. It features a camera on the passenger-side mirror that displays what's in the driver's blind spot on the center stack. We don't find it particularly helpful, and much prefer conventional blind-spot warning or a blind-spot mirror.

In Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash testing, the sedan and coupe earned the highest "Good" rating in every crash test. The hatchback crashed just as well, though the IIHS hasn't tested it for passenger small-overlap crashes. All models with the automatic emergency braking features earned top marks as well. Headlight performance was rated the lowest as "Poor" in all models with either projector lights or LED lights. Child seat LATCH anchor access was rated the second-highest "Acceptable" in all models.

The government gave the Honda Civic sedan and hatchback five stars for all crash tests including front, side and rollover. The coupe only got four stars for the front crash test and five for side and rollover tests.