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If you’re old enough to remember life before the internet, you might recall that Hondas used to be premium.
Fifty years ago, it was the original Civic that really started all that. Intelligently designed and engineered to be a better Mini, it was the first Japanese car to transcend class as well as price. What followed made the brand the ‘fear of Europe’, as one journalist put it in the late ‘80s.
But by the mid 2000s, Honda seemed to prioritise quantity not quality, subsequently making good rather than great cars, with the GD/GE Jazzes, Accord Euro, pre-2015 Odyssey and last Civic Type R proving to be the rare exceptions.
Happily, Honda seems to have had an about face, with the eleventh-gen Civic launched in late 2021 being a real return to form in many ways. But even then, the lone VTi LX grade at $47,200 drive-away suffers from some glaring equipment omissions, undermining its value against cheaper quality alternatives like, say, the Mazda3.
Now, adding an even more-expensive hybrid version would seem self-defeating. What we’ve instead discovered is something utterly brilliant.
Read on to find out why.
| Honda Civic 2023: E:hev LX | |
|---|---|
| Safety rating | |
| Engine Type | 2.0L |
| Fuel Type | Hybrid with Regular Unleaded |
| Fuel Efficiency | 4.2L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
| Price from | $51,040 |
The petrol-electric Civic might cost $7800 more than the VTi LX at a hefty $55,000 drive-away, putting it into (albeit base) BMW 118i (from $49,900 – though this is before on-road costs), Audi A3 35 TFSI (from $47,100 BOC) and Mercedes-Benz A180 ($51,400 BOC) territory.
But the Japanese hybrid hatchback – snappily badged e:HEV (for electric/hybrid EV – more on that later) LX is fiercely well specified.
For your $55,000 drive-away, you get features others regularly charge extra for, including digital instrumentation, a panoramic sunroof, leather upholstery, heated and powered adjustable front seats, a heated steering wheel and active noise control.
You won’t find the Germans offering these at those prices.
Nor does the regular Civic, for that matter. It also lacks the e:HEV’s front and rear parking sensors, broader-view camera system, better pedestrian and cyclist detection tech, traffic-sign recognition with electronic speed-limiter tech and 11 airbags, including front-centre and rear outboard seat-cushion items. It must do with just eight.
The e:HEV also introduces 'Honda Connect', an app-based telematics subscription service that can locate the car, remotely operate the central locking, lights and climate control, contact emergency services with co-ordinates if airbag deployment occurs and alert the owner if the Civic strays beyond a pre-set area thanks to a geo-fencing feature. It’s free for the first five years, too.
All these build on the regular Civic’s safety specs, which includes AEB (Autonomous Emergency Braking), blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, traffic-jam assist as part of the adaptive cruise control system and driver fatigue monitor.
The e:HEV also boasts a 9.0-inch central touchscreen, as well as the regular Civic’s Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay, smartphone charger, DAB+ digital radio, Bluetooth telephony and audio streaming, 12-speaker Bose premium audio system, satellite navigation, noise-reducing acoustic windscreen, heated auto-fold electric mirrors, ambient lighting and 18-inch alloys.
Note, however, that there is no spare wheel. Just a tyre repair kit. Good luck with that.
Still, that’s a lot of extra kit for $7800 – and that’s before you consider the hybrid powertrain that makes the e:HEV the most powerful Civic ever sold in Australia… after the legendary Type R, of course.
So, yes, $55,000 drive-away is a lot for a Honda small car. But – fun fact – it’s not even the most expensive non-Type R Civic sold in Australia. The hugely popular EK GLi auto from 25 years ago at around $28,000 adjusted for inflation comes to… about $53K today – and that’s not drive-away! With one airbag, no ABS, hubcaps and an AM/FM radio/tape player. Like we said, the brand was premium back then.
And, don’t forget, the Civic hybrid’s heaving with equipment, and as you’ll find out, has the body, the spirit and the style to match.
Now in its 11th generation and hatch-only for Australia (a sedan version continues in most other markets), the Civic is longer, wider, sleeker and smoother than before. It’s meant to reflect a stronger road stance, as well as the increased platform rigidity going on underneath.
Compared to the previous model released in 2016, the bonnet line is lower, the A-pillars are thinner and the windscreen more upright, to give it a blockier, less curvaceous and more cab-backward look. Honda says it was inspired by the angular Civic bread-van look of the mid-’80s. The exterior mirrors are also now door-mounted, for better vision.
Over the petrol version, the hybrid is hard to spot. You might notice it loses the twin tailpipes out back, or the subtle blue highlights and e:HEV badges as the car accelerates away from you faster than you might have expected. More on that later.
But, most gratefully, you should appreciate that Honda has given this Civic newfound visual restraint, to better take on its long-established premium competitors. You need class to social climb.
More elegant than before, it’s arguably the most refined to wear the half-century-old badge since that EK series of the 1990s.
Except, of course, today’s Civic is a hell of a lot larger and roomier all round. Let’s check that out in more detail.
Just like the exterior, the interior has become a lot more elegant and lot less fussy than before.
The first thing many people first notice is the amount of space for a so-called small car. The Civic is no longer a city runabout, but a roomy vehicle with enough clearance up front for most heads, legs and shoulders.
Comfort is a high point, with excellent sports seats keeping their occupants firmly in place, offering a wide range of adjustability to help the driver find the ideal driving position.
Those thin pillars and low bonnet line help make for excellent forward vision, and deeper side windows (with an extra glass behind the rear door) do improve the over-shoulder glance when parking, but the latter’s still not great, as per most modern cars. That’s what cameras are for, and the Honda’s works fine.
The climate control system, thankfully, doesn’t fall into the same trap as many of the Civic’s rivals, in that it has big, simple knobs that you can access without having to take your eyes off the road while stabbing a touchscreen with your index finger on the move. Honda has also made an aesthetic feature of the full-length honeycomb vents, which serves to emphasise the small car’s sense of spaciousness.
And the standard sunroof showers the interior with natural light, which is all the better for showing off the exceptional build and material quality that is evident all over this car.
It’s all about relaxing and not intimidating the person operating the vehicle. In this day and age, that’s a refreshing change.
Other highlights worth mentioning include the classy and concise new digital instrumentation, which is understated yet user-friendly; plenty of thought has gone into providing storage, with plenty of places to keep things in; and the multimedia system that’s one of the simplest yet most effective around. A current VW Golf owner could only dream of such ease and response.
The hybrid scores some items exclusively, such as this drive-by-wire gear selector, as well as a centre airbag and a rear-seat airbag that lives in the outer cushion area for extra occupant impact protection.
Speaking of the back, the e:HEV is alone amongst Civics with rear USB outlets, and also includes face-level air vents, a fold-down centre armrest with cupholders, door bottle storage, overhead grab handles, coat hooks and map pockets.
And, more importantly, and this absolutely underlines the fact that this has a longer wheelbase and wider tracks than the old Civic, you get plenty of legroom – your 178cm-tall tester can comfortably sit behind a same-sized adult, with adequate headroom as well despite the intrusive sunroof.
In other words, the Civic can definitely double up as a family car. Even, as a hybrid, you do lose some boot capacity.
As with the petrol version, the floor-to-cargo-cover area is an above-average 404 litres (VDA), but underneath that, where the missing spare wheel would live, the e:HEV loses the 45L extra that the petrol-only Civic gains because of the electrification gubbins below.
Still, it’s a minor compromise, as the 60/40 split-fold backrests drop flat and the loading lip is low to aid loading and unloading bulky items.
We’d still like the option of a spare wheel, though.
Otherwise, the Civic’s cabin is striking for its restrained elegance, exceptional trim and material quality, and overall practicality. This is a difficult interior to fault.
Compared to the regular Civic’s 131kW/240Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo VTEC petrol engine, the e:HEV employs an all-new 1993cc 2.0L non-turbo direct-injection Atkinson Cycle unit.
It makes 105kW of power and 186Nm of torque on its own, but is combined with an 135kW/315Nm permanent magnet electric motor and 1.05kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
Weighing just 132kg over the regular petrol version, the hybrid delivers a system total of 135kW at 5000-6000rpm and 315Nm from 0-2000rpm to the front wheels, via an electronic CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission).
Tipping the scales at 1497kg, the e:HEV LX offers a power-to-weight ratio of 90.2kW/tonne.
Now, unlike, say, Toyota’s series-parallel hybrid set-up – Honda’s system can drive in purely electric mode for long periods of time, especially at slower speeds around town. In these situations, the petrol engine acts like an electricity generator, keeping the battery topped up as the electric motor does all the driving.
However, when you need more acceleration, the petrol engine seamlessly takes over, with the electric motor now providing extra power, to help save fuel.
It’s a three-way balancing act between EV, hybrid and petrol motivation, as dictated by the driving conditions.
Honda says the hybrid sprints to 100km/h from standstill in 7.8 seconds officially… But that figure seems to be a very conservative estimate, with independent tests as well as our seat-of-our-pants feel suggesting that it’s at least a second quicker.
Speaking of feel, the front suspension consists of MacPherson-style struts up front and an independent multi-link design out back, just like in the regular petrol model.
The Civic hybrid manages a combined fuel-consumption figure of 4.2 litres per 100 kilometres.
Fitted with a 40L tank, that equates to 952km of range between refills.
Now, there are two things to keep in mind here. Firstly, that’s a whole 40 per cent less than the 6.3L/100km that the regular VTi model returns; and secondly, the e:HEV is tuned to run on regular 91 RON unleaded. Yep, no fancy expensive fuel for this miser.
By the way, the Honda’s average carbon dioxide emissions average is just 96 grams per kilometre – or almost 43 per cent less than the normal turbo petrol Civic.
On our driving program, our car displayed 4.7L/100km – not bad given how hard the Civic was driven at times, with the air-con on and two people on board.
Note that the standard steering wheel paddles are there to increase the amount of regenerative braking, to slow the e:HEV down as it would in an electric vehicle (but not bring it to a full stop), to continuously top up the battery that – by the way – never needs to be plugged in.
Australian crash-test assessment specialists ANCAP hasn’t yet published a rating for the latest Civic, but over at Euro NCAP, they’ve awarded the hybrid a maximum five-star result.
As mentioned earlier, the e:HEV ups the safety ante compared to the regular Civic VTi on a number of fronts, including with 11 rather than eight airbags – including a front-centre item to stop occupants colliding into each other during a side impact, as well as one fitted into the outboard cushions in the rear seat area – and improved driver-assist safety tech.
They build on the built-in active safety like great forward vision afforded by the thinner windscreen pillars and low dash design.
Standard safety systems include AEB, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, 'Forward Collision Warning', lane departure warning, lane keep assist, 'Road Departure Mitigation System', traffic-jam assist as part of the adaptive cruise control system, a driver fatigue monitor, auto high beam, traffic sign recognition with an intelligent speed limiter, front/rear parking sensors, anti-lock braking system with brake assist, Electronic Brake-force Distribution, hill-start assist, stability control, traction control and a pop-up bonnet to mitigate pedestrian-strike injury.
The Civic also features ISOFIX child-seat latches fitted to outboard rear seat positions, while a trio of top tethers for straps are included across the rear bench.
Note that Honda’s AEB system is operational from 5.0-180km/h according to Euro NCAP, the lane support systems work between 65-180km/h and the traffic-jam assist tech works between 0-72km/h.
Basic Warranty
5 years / unlimited km warranty
ANCAP Safety Rating
Honda offers an industry-standard five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, with servicing pegged at every 12-months or 10,000km.
There’s an engine monitor light to alert the driver when that’s due, as every car is driven differently and some may need mechanical attention earlier than others.
From October 1, 2022, Honda Australia has dropped the price of dealer scheduled servicing to just $199 per visit for the first five years.
This involves an oil change, brake fluid and filter changes, along with detailed mechanical checks and inspections.
So, what’s the new Civic hybrid like to drive?
If you’re familiar with the previous Civic Hybrid sedan from 2006 to about 2015, well, this is nothing like it.
That dull old thing was all about eco goodness and not much else really. This car is a grand tourer that also happens to be an eco-warrior.
Now, that means the e:HEV is not only amazingly frugal at 4.2L/100km combined – which by the way is only 1.0L/100km more than the ultra-economical Insight that was the first hybrid vehicle sold in Australia in 2001 – it’s also fast.
In fact, the Civic hybrid is practically hot-hatch fast in the way it accelerates.
There’s just always torque available, and that’s because that electric motor is always working in the background to give you that extra punch when you need it, instantly and effortlessly.
Around town, the e:HEV is mostly in electric mode, and that’s perfect for just tootling around. But when you need extra muscle, the petrol engine kicks in seamlessly, aided by the smooth and unobtrusive CVT that’s always in the right gear ratio. The result is a fantastically brisk car.
There are three self-explanatory modes: 'Eco', 'Normal' and 'Sport'. The latter features a fake induction noise fed through the audio system that is reminiscent of the classic screaming Civic VTECs, S2000 and even the NSX of the 1990s. Honda’s greatest hits, in other words. Fabulous.
It adds another layer of enjoyment to a car that is already so dynamically sorted. The steering is light yet has feel, offering beautifully poised and controlled handling that allows the Civic to just flow along at the whim of the driver, helped out by a rear end that tucks in at speed to help push the car through tight turns.
We’re talking about a hybrid EV here, remember!
Plus, the Civic absorbs big bumps pretty well, though over coarse chip or craggy surfaces, there’s a fair bit of road noise at times. Overall, however, the suspension seems a notch up from the standard passive damper set-ups as found on bigger-wheeled A-Class, A3 and 1 Series alternatives.
All-in-all, Honda seems to have progressed the evolution of the hybrid from a driving and dynamics point of view. If you’re after of hot hatch and cannot stretch to the very promising Type R, maybe you should consider the Civic e:HEV, since it offers the best of both worlds.
Whatever, Honda’s engineering prowess is well and truly back!
Didn’t see this coming.
The Civic e:HEV represents a huge step forward and a welcome return to past glories for the Japanese small-car series, restoring Honda as one of the great mainstream carmakers.
Rousingly rapid yet fantastically frugal, this might be the best hybrid ever offered in a mainstream passenger car in Australia.
Factor in the good-looking design, roomy practicality and high-quality interior, and that $55,000-drive-away price tag seems like a bargain when compared to its European premium rivals. It’s that good.
And one more thing. Perhaps Honda should have called this the Civic Euro e:HEV, because in more ways than one, it feels like the spiritual replacement for the late and lamented Accord Euro.
That’s huge praise.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.
| Vehicle | Specs | Price* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| E:hev LX | 2.0L, Hyb/ULP | $51,040 – 58,630 | 2023 Honda Civic 2023 E:hev LX Pricing and Specs |
| Type R | 2.0L, PULP, 6 SP MAN | $67,320 – 77,330 | 2023 Honda Civic 2023 Type R Pricing and Specs |
| VTi-LX | 1.5L, ULP, CVT AUTO | $43,230 – 50,270 | 2023 Honda Civic 2023 VTi-LX Pricing and Specs |
| Price and features | 9 |
|---|---|
| Design | 9 |
| Practicality | 9 |
| Under the bonnet | 9 |
| Efficiency | 9 |
| Safety | 10 |
| Ownership | 9 |
| Driving | 9 |
$66,990
Lowest price, based on 18 car listings in the last 6 months
