Honda Civic Review 2025

The updated Honda Civic comes at a time of declining interest in hatchbacks as family cars, with buyers continuing to flock to SUVs. Can it still appeal against that backdrop? Find out with our full Honda Civic review. 

One of the oldest names in the car world that's still on sale, the Honda Civic has been kicking around over 50 years. The current, 11th-generation version of this five-door hatchback was been the subject of a mid-life refresh in 2025, though you'll have to look closely to notice the changes. 

To save you playing spot the difference, we'll point you in the right direction — the front bumper is new, featuring a cleaner look with the fog lights deleted, Honda reckoning they're no longer necessary thanks to new headlight technology used in the Civic's freshened clusters. 

Otherwise it's much the same as before and that's to say it's neatly proportioned, but safely styled. Given what the immediately preceding Honda Civic generation looked like when the company was trying to be a bit more out there, perhaps that's not a bad thing — its bodywork had more creases than a box of paper aeroplanes. 

There are some minor changes to the specifications and the interior trim as well, but really it's much the same as before. That includes a limited engine line-up. Well, it's not a line-up at all, because there's only one available — a full-hybrid based around a four-cylinder engine, which is smooth, powerful and economical. 

The automotive landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years . In our SUV-obsessed times, hatchbacks such as the Civic have become less popular as family cars, with one of the Honda's key rivals, the Ford Focus, soon to go out of production. Even the more upmarket Mercedes A-Class is set for the same fate, despite a short stay of execution. 

Yet the Civic still works brilliantly as a family car. It's not far off being as practical as SUVs of the same size, drives better than most of them and doesn't cost much to run. Praise is also due for Honda in managing to make its dashboard look uncluttered without binning off physical controls and moving them to a fiddly touchscreen.

It's also a plush-feeling car inside these days but then you are paying for that privilege, with a top-grade model costing over £40,000 once a few options are added. That could be a problem for the Civic, because although some rivals have dropped off the radar as mentioned, there's still plenty of competitionon sale. 

Among the closest is the Toyota Corolla, which is also exclusively available with an economical hybrid drive system. For a more practical option, there's the Skoda Octavia, or if you don't need quite that much boot space, you could consider the closely related Volkswagen Golf or the posher Audi A3.

The Honda Civic has its work cut out to convince people to come its way, but anyone who does shirk all of those alternatives and SUV-shaped rivals will be happy with their choice.

We lived with the pre-update version of the Civic for three months - find out how we get on with it in our Honda Civic e:HEV long-term review.

The Honda Civic built on the strong base of the previous generation model, which had proper independent rear suspension across the range. Its increased wheelbase and wheels positioned further apart left to right boosts stability, while a variety of suspension improvements enable it to be comfier. 

Even a short drive confirms the Civic is a thoroughly developed car. There's a tautness to the ride quality but it never gets crashy or harsh on bumpy road surfaces. The damping control is well-judged, isolating passengers from the worst ruts — it's closer to the BMW 1 Series than the SEAT Leon in this regard.

The steering feels direct and positive, with a quick turn-in boosting agility. There's a touch more body lean when changing direction than you might experience in a Ford Focus, but it's largely well-controlled, and you'll be pushing hard to run out of front-end grip.

As an overall balance between ride and handling the Honda Civic is hard to fault. 

There's even some new tech which claims to improve the driving experience, such as Honda's Winding Road Detection. This is meant to recognise when you're in the mood for fun on a twisty road and sharpens-up the engine response for the best acceleration. We couldn't notice a huge difference but there are no real issues with how the engine kicks into action anyway. 

Our only reservation is that tyre noise seems a touch more noticeable than in the VW Golf. It certainly isn't intrusive and wind noise is kept at bay well. 

The days of family hatchbacks with a huge variety of engine choices are over, although several still offer the choice of both petrol and diesel options, alongside any hybrids. Not so with the Honda Civic. 

Your only choice is a self-charging hybrid, which uses a petrol engine mated to two electric motors and a small battery pack. Unlike the Toyota Corolla, the Civic's engine doesn't ordinarily directly drive the wheels, instead acting as a generator to feed the electric motors which provide propulsion. 

Except the engine can directly drive the wheels but only at high speeds when it's more efficient to do so. Got that? 

Where the Civic moves the game on here over the Honda Jazz and HR-V is in its engineering. There's a direct injection 2.0-litre engine, which is more responsive and efficient than the indirect injection alternative, plus there's an improved e-CVT gearbox. Honda is keen to point out that it's not a traditional CVT as there are no physical gears, just electric operation. 

At low speeds it's not a revelation. It will cruise around town in electric-only mode most of the time, although it won't do this continuously for miles like a plug-in hybrid as the engine kicks into life every now and then to add more electricity to the battery pack. Get above 30mph and the engine is on most of the time but it's a quiet and smooth motor that you barely notice is running. 

Get out of town and give it the beans and you'll be pleasantly surprised with the amount of performance. With 184PS and 315Nm the Civic manages a relatively brisk 0-62mph time of 7.8 seconds, and it does so with less aural pain than most CVT hybrids.

It's actually enjoyable and works well in a sportier setting as we've since discovered with the Civic-based Honda Prelude. 

Honda has engineered simulated gears into the transmission to help reduce the constant high-rev groaning you would otherwise get. It works well here — under full throttle the revs will rise and fall almost like a normal automatic.

There's even active sound generation when the Sport driving mode is selected that makes it a bit more vocal, although we'd personally turn that off in the Individual mode. 

The Honda Civic was crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2022, receiving the full five-star rating. It scored well in all of the individual categories — 89% for adult occupants, 87% for child occupants, 82% for vulnerable road users and 83% for its safety assistance systems.

You get a full eleven airbags on every model, plus automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection — it's improved camera system even has its own heating element to ensure it works in low temperatures.

There's also an improved lane-assist system, traffic sign recognition, road-departure mitigation and intelligent speed assist. It's a pain that you can only turn off the speed warning when stationary, however. 

Adaptive cruise control is standard on every model, which isn't the case on many rivals. It comes with Traffic Jam Assist which will also steer, accelerate and brake for you in low-speed traffic. 

You can tow with the Honda Civic but only if what you're pulling has a maximum braked weight of 750kg — it certainly won't cut it if you need to tow a big caravan.

At £1285, the official detachable tow bar option is one of the more expensive we've seen. 

Like its predecessor, the Honda Civic is on the large side for a medium family hatchback with dimensions that knock on Skoda Octavia's door. Its length has grown by 9mm since its 2025 facelift to 4560mm, while its 1802mm width and 1408mm height remained unchanged.

As conservative as its styling may be, the Civic has a squat, purposeful stance for a of this type.

Thanks to its 2734mm long wheelbase — that's the distance between the centre points of the front and rear wheels — there's plenty of legroom inside the Civic both front and rear. Six-footers can sit behind front seat occupants of the same stature with kneeroom to spare, although headroom in the back isn't brilliant for tall passengers thanks to the Honda's low roofline.

Similarly, because the front seats are mounted very close to the Civic's floor there's not a lot of room for those sat in the back to slot their feet beneath them. 

There's enough width for three adult passengers in the back for short journeys, and the Civic has big windows so it's unlikely to feel claustrophobic. Storage all-round is okay but not brilliant, with a rather pokey glovebox, decent-sized door bins and a cubby beneath the central armrest. 

Boot space is 410 litres with the rear seats in place, a little smaller than the Civic this model replaced due to the hybrid system's battery taking up space under the floor. Range-topping Advance models see the capacity drop to 404 litres because of the Bose sound system. Really, you'll need the Skoda Octavia if you want more space — it can hold 600 litres with the seats in the same configuration.

Fold the Civic's rear seats over and the overall capacity expands to 1220 litres on all versions barring the Advance which measures 1187 litres.

For the most part the Honda Civic's interior is also above average among family hatchback in quality terms. Bar the Mazda 3 you'll need something with an upmarket German badge to get better fit and finish or nicer buttons, although we hoped Honda would introduce other colour choices than black-on-black as part of its 2025 facelift. 

Almost every key interior touch point has pleasant-feeling finishes, the doors close with a reassuring thud and the physical controls are well-damped — in particular the air vents with their classy click knobs to open and close them. We also like the knurled volume knob but the slightly wobbly central armrest and questionable trim around the cupholders could be better. 

Facelifted versions get some extra bits and pieces to enhance the cabin's upmarket feeling, including matte chrome detailing for the air vents and a black headlining.

The Honda Civic's 9.0-inch multimedia touchscreen display isn't dazzling in terms of its dimensions or graphics, although it's a lot easier to use on the move than the arrangement which its predecessor suffered.

Its menus are simple, the screen responds quickly and sharply to inputs and there are some shortcut buttons down the side. It's not quite as intuitive as the rotary dial setup in the Mazda 3 but it's easier to use than the fiddly system in the VW Golf. 

Integrated navigation, plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity are standard fitments, although the latter isn't wireless. It was disappointing to see this remain the case even after the car was updated.

A 7.0-inch digital dial display features on Elegance and pre-facelift Sport models, while the range-topping Advance and Sport specication after the 2025 makeover have a 10.2-inch setup. We like that Honda has avoided fitting touch-sensitive steering wheel buttons. 

Advance models get a punchy 12-speaker Bose sound system, but the standard eight-speaker setup is still decent.

Starting at £33,795 in Elegance trim, the Honda Civic isn't exactly cheap in entry-level guise. It's then £35,395 for the Civic Sport and £38,695 for the top-spec Advance version. The standard level of equipment is high across the board but there are still quite a few expensive options. 

These include colours ranging from £700 to £1000 — Seabed Blue Pearl is new for the facelifted model —,£1400 upgraded alloy wheels and £1715 for either a Nordic Silver or Patina Bronze exterior finishing pack. Get carried away and you'll be paying well over £40,000 for a Honda Civic. 

It's not quite as pricey as it might seem, given that it's only available as a hybrid. Yes you can buy the least costly Skoda Octavia for £28,490, but it will have a less advanced, less economical engine. 

The Toyota Corolla, which is also only available as a hybrid, can be bought for £30,795 but only if you're happy with the less powerful 1.8-litre model. The gap closes if you opt for the cheapest 2.0-litre option at £32,595, which is a better match for the Civic's performance. 

The hybrid-only Honda Civic is claimed to be capable of 56.5-60.1mpg depending on the trim level under official WLTP tests. That's very competitive and realistic as we were able to get near that without even trying to drive economically.

With no plugging in required and no fully depleted battery on long runs, you are likely to get well over 50mpg in every situation unless you're really hooning it. Still, it's a pity there's no over-60mpg diesel option for high mileage drivers.

In terms of tax costs it's the same £195 annual rate as non-hybrid cars, with the token £10 rate for Alternatively Fuelled Vehicles removed from 1 April 2025. Also, if you're not careful with options on the top-spec Advance, you'll end up over the £40,000 threshold for the Expensive Car Supplement of £425 annually, charged from years two to six of ownership. 

Whether you're going for a used, pre-facelifted Honda Civic or the updated version, the trim line-up is the same — Elegance, Sport and Advance.

The spec levels are only slightly different, with the main changes for the facelift being the Sport receiving a bigger digital instrument cluster and heated steering wheel which were previously only fitted to Advance models.

Other changes at the 2025 facelift include illuminated footwells on Advance versions and a wireless smartphone charging pad across the range.

The entry-level Honda Civic Elegance comes with the following items as standard: 

• Genuine leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Dual-zone climate control
• Adaptive cruise control
• Heated, electrically adjustable and folding door mirrors
• Heated front seats
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Rear parking camera
• 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• Wired Android Auto
• Dark-tinted rear side windows
• LED head and tail lights  
• Wireless smartphone charging pad
• 17-inch alloy wheels

Upgrading to the mid-spec Honda Civic Sport builds on the above with: 

• Synthetic leather and fabric upholstery
• Heated steering wheel
• Rear air conditioning outlets
• 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster
• Gloss black exterior trim
• 18-inch matte grey alloy wheels

Upgrading to the top-of-the-range Honda Civic Advance adds:

• Genuine leather upholstery
• Eight-way electrically adjustable driver's seat
• Four-way electrically adjustable front passenger seat
• 12-speaker Bose audio system
• Panoramic opening glass roof
• Front cornering lights
• Automatic adaptive main beam
• 18-inch two-tone alloy wheels
• Illuminated footwells