2012 Honda Civic Reviews

You'll find all our 2012 Honda Civic reviews right here. 2012 Honda Civic prices range from for the Civic to for the Civic Hybrid.

Our reviews offer detailed analysis of the 's features, design, practicality, fuel consumption, engine and transmission, safety, ownership and what it's like to drive.

The most recent reviews sit up the top of the page, but if you're looking for an older model year or shopping for a used car, scroll down to find Honda dating back as far as 1973.

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Honda Civic VTi-L, Sport, and Hybrid sedan 2012 review
By Ewan Kennedy · 06 Mar 2012
Forty years and 20 million cars after it was launched in 1973 Honda’s Civic is right up there with the world’s all-time best selling cars.Now the ninth generation of the small Japanese car has been launched in Australia. Civic has arrived several months late because of the horrors created by the Japanese tsunami and the Thai floods.Honda suffered more that most auto makers by the twin disasters as many of its cars, including the Civic are sourced from a factory in Thailand.Australia is fortunate in that our Civics are right-hand drive so the slack has been taken up, temporarily, by Civics built in Japan. Within a matter of months the Thai factory will be back online again.In the meantime Australian buyers of Civics may choose to opt for the prestige of getting one of the Japanese plated cars. Honda Australia assures us build quality is tightly controlled in Thailand so the cars are as good as those from Japan.But we know that prestige can be an interesting thing and, who knows, when it comes to resale time your ‘Japanese’ Civic may be fetch more than a ‘Thai’ Civic. No promises, though…This new Honda Civic is the ninth generation. All previous models have been imported to Australia as the then importers of the marque realised the importance of the car right from the start.This new Civic is larger, substantially larger, than the original models, indeed it’s significantly bigger than the earliest Honda Accords. Though a lot of the extra size is due to crash protection crush zones the new Civic can certainly be used as a family car. Many Australians downsizing from family sixes will be giving the Civic the eye when it comes time to trade in.Interior space is fine for four adults, with space in the centre-rear for another without too much discomfort. Despite the slim and sleek appearance – the new Civic almost looks as though it has been carved from a single block of metal – headroom is fine. Quality plastics are used on the trim, but we found the grey-on-grey colour scheme on the drab side.Only the four-door sedan is coming to Australia at this stage. Boot space is good and luggage is reasonably easy to load. A five-door hatch, built in Honda’s English plant, will be imported here from July this year.There’s a big emphasis on in-car entertainment and communication in the all-new Civic, with a screen in the right-centre of the dash devoted to phone, iPod and audio systems. These are controlled by buttons on the steering wheel to minimise – but obviously not eliminate – driver distraction.Honda is continuing its push on petrol-electric hybrids and has made major changes to the electric motor in the new Civic Hybrid. It now uses a lithium-ion battery in place of the nickel-metal-hydride of the previous model. However, at $35,990 the hybrid is far more expensive than its petrol-engined brothers, these are priced at a highly competitive $20,990 for a manual Civic VTi-L ($2300 more for the auto) and $27,990 for the Civic Sport.Ninth-gen Honda Civic is being sold in three models; as well as the hybrid there are the Civic VTi-L and Civic Sport. The former is powered by a 1.8-litre, 104 kW engine, the Sport by a larger unit displacing 2.0 litres and producing up to 114 kW of power and 190 Nm of torque. The Civic VTi-L has a choice between a five-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. The Sport - despite its name - only comes with the automatic.We sampled all three powertrains and it probably comes as no surprise we preferred the Sport engine - though we would have loved it with a six-speed manual gearbox - but the 1.8-litre is fine and the hybrid certainly has more oomph than in the past.Ride comfort is good as Honda has increased suspension travel and worked on recalibrating bushing compliance. We didn’t get a real chance to sample handling on the tourist-type drive route Honda chose for the media-launch of the new Civic, but it certainly doesn’t look as though there will be any surprises.Over 200,000 Australians have bought new Honda Civics in Australia since its introduction in 1973 revolutionised the design of small cars in this country. This new model certainly looks set to continue the sales success.
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Honda Civic VTi-L, Sport, and Hybrid 2012 review
By Peter Barnwell · 28 Feb 2012
Price cuts always go down well with buyers and the new Honda Civic sedan benefits from a fairly hefty price cut while gaining more kit into the bargain. How does Honda do it? The previous entry level Civic VTi started at $22,490 while the new ``entry level’’ VTi-L Civic, a much better equipped car, starts at $20,490. It must be the result of productivity improvements and we like it -- a lot.But new Civic is hardly a technology tour-de-force rather, it is a repository for fairly old-school stuff that includes a single overhead camshaft engine, a five-speed fluid automatic (no DSGs here thank you), port instead of direct fuel injection and nothing sexy like keyless entry/ignition or even satnav at this point in time. Diesel engines? Wot?Engine stop/start is only fitted to the Hybrid Civic which is perhaps the most advanced model in the new line-up, now with a lithium ion battery and a more electric-only drive bias.Civic sedan comes out of Japan for the time being with Thai production expected to resume about June this year. We get three grades starting with the well specified VTi-L, rising to the Sport in five-speed auto only for $32,990 and then up to Hybrid at $35,990 with CVT only. It is sharp pricing by anyone’s measure. And Honda has been generous with equipment with the all models scoring intelligent multi-information display, automatic climate control, cruise control, Honda’s clever ECON driving mode with drive coaching instruction, integrated Bluetooth phone and audio streaming, multi media connectivity and steering wheel mounted controls. Civic Sport adds leather upholstery, an electric sunroof, 17-inch alloys and auto wipers. The UK five door hatch arrives later this year to complete the new Civic line-up.It’s an evolution of the previous model in what Honda calls a monoform design using  a MIM (Man Maximum, Machine Minimum) philosophy. By that we deduce it’s been space-optimised inside with a compact underbonnet area and a large boot.The arcing roofline remains and the front has a distinct Honda Odyssey look . The rear looks to have been influenced by Subaru’s Impreza sedan. But it’s not offensive even though ``over conservative’’ springs to mind.The interior is in a similar vein – nothing too avant-garde here. It’s a rework of the previous model with a crescent-shaped instrument pod capped with a digital speedo. The tones are grey on grey or brown on brown, and the switches are generic Japanese.Though it’s not up with its competitor’s powertrain technology Civic sedan does have some decent stuff on board notably the audio and trip computer. It’s fully wired for connectivity and uses some sophisticated interventionist safety systems to maintain stability and a chosen line.We were surprised by the ECON drive system that was barely detectable even though it changes throttle response, auto gear changes and the airconditioning.Technology changes are more extensive on the Hybrid model which now uses the engine as a generator some of the time. Friction has been reduced in key areas including the lighter electric drive motor and there’s better harvesting of regenerative electricity. The second generation lithium ion battery has three times the capacity of the previous Hybrid Civic. Hybrid Civic also scores extensive aerodynamic enhancements to aid fuel economyThere are two petrol engines, both single cam units in 1.8-litre for VTi-L that’s good for 104kW and 174 Nm, a 2.0-litre for the Sport good for 114kW and 190Nm and the Hybrid which gets a 1.5-litre petrol four and a electric boost motor. We haven’t got our head around how hybrids are rated  but Honda says the Civic Hybrid has 82kW and 172Nm.If you want a manual it’s got to be the six-speed VTi-L – only. A five-speeed auto is offered on VTi-L and is the only choice in Sport. Hybrid has a CVT which was surprisingly good to drive.Civic sedan scores a five star ANCAP rating thanks to its six air bags, stability control, strong body/chassis construction much of which is in hi-tensile steel and neck injury mitigating seats.Pedestrian safety rates highly thanks to an energy absorbing bonnet, break away wipers, steeply raked windscreen and other devices.We got a steer of all three new Civics in mostly city and urban areas though there was a short country road stretch of a few kilometres. The Hybrid is a good drive offering smooth and strong engine response and minimal fuel consumption expected to be in the 4.5-litres/100km area. It’s not really an engaging drive but fulfils its task as a general runabout well. There’s plenty of kit inside, it has a decent boot and comfy seats though none of the new Civics has lumbar adjustment.The VTi-l is a good thing offering decent performance that’s accessible and smoothly delivered. Like other Hondas, it likes to rev and goes better when it is. Handling is best described as ``mainstream’’ – definitely not sporty but a good for mixed driving.It’s surprisingly refined inside with minimal noise intrusion or engine noise. Throttle response is good from most engine revs and the five speed auto is accurately geared for the engine’s power and torque.But we preferred the Sport because it has more of everything, leather, bigger 17-inch alloys and a sharper rasp to the exhaust. Still the same ride/handling feel though and same (electric) steering.All autos get paddle gearshift which works a treat. We really like the multi function wheel which offers controls for cruise, audio, trip computer, phone and the paddles.There’s adequate rar seat legroom for adults and even with the sunroof, plenty of head room inside the Sport. We like the ECON mode but the hard dash is disappointing though it looks OK. In the Sport we ticked over 6.4-litres/100km – impressive.
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