2010 Honda Civic Test Drive

Honda Civic Test Drive

Not much has changed for the Civic for 2010, but still a solid car that continues to outsell the competition. The Civic is available in plenty of trim levels (sub-models) from the DX (not available in CA and most places. No A/C or stereo) DX-VP (base model for CA and most places) LX, LX-S, EX, EX w/ Navigation, EX-L, and EX-L with navigation. Each trim level adds more and more features, as you can see there is a Civic for almost every budget. Don’t forget that the Civic comes in both Manual and Automatic transmission and in a two door or four door. It is also available in the sporty Si model, but I won’t include that in this review.

The basics in all the Civics are the same. The current generation Civic has a sporty look and a sporty drive. The dash area and instrument cluster on the Civic is well laid out. The instrument panel is divided in two levels; the lower portion where most are familiar to seeing the gauges is made up of the tachometer, gear indicator, and odometer. The top section displays the speed temperature and fuel. The speedometer is digital, which is a handy feature that also makes the car feel more expensive and futuristic. The audio controls and climate controls are located in the center console where most of us are used to seeing it; these controls are simple and well placed.

The seats are comfortable and sporty. The semi bucket seat aids in holding your body in place while cornering, giving the driver more control of the car. The driver seat is height adjustable; it also reclines and of course goes back and forth. This adjustability in the seat plus the telescopic and tilting steering wheel gives a wide range of options to get you comfortable. The seat however does lack a lumbar support in all trim levels.

The Civic has plenty of passenger room. The front and back seats has lots of leg, hip, shoulder, and headroom. Despite being a small sedan, it is actually quite roomy. The two door Coupe Civic has a good amount of room in the back seat as well, just lacks a little headroom. EX and above models that have the moon roof loses only .2” of headroom, so don’t worry too much about that. In the past the space you lose was more significant, but not anymore. A family of 4 should be able to go on comfortable road trips in the Civic and a family of 5 should be comfortable for commuting and moderate distance drives. The rear seat does lack A/C vents, you can however receive enough air flow from the front vents to keep comfortable. Remember it is a smaller car.

The visibility of the road on the Civic is almost perfect, at every seat position there are no blind spots. The small windows on the sides of the dash almost look redundant, but while driving you will notice that they help. The rear window is large enough and at a good height to see other vehicles behind you.

Like I said earlier, the Civic is a fun sporty drive. The Civic is also surprisingly quiet, while driving, you can hear a small amount of road noise, and little to no engine noise. It is quiet enough to have a phone conversation easily without struggling to hear the person on the other side. The Civic hugs the road nicely. The automatic transmission seems to have a small amount of lag when stepping on the gas, but unfortunately this seems to be normal with all automatic transmissions these days. The Civics 140 Hp 1.8L 4 cylinder engine isn’t meant for power, but it still does a good job. No issues with the car going uphill. It’s definitely a car that you can commute in and have fun at the same time with.

The Civic is considered a ULEV-2 vehicle. Basically meaning, the Civic is a really clean car to drive. You can still help the environment a little without spending too much extra money going for a hybrid or electric car. The Civic is also very fuel efficient. The EPA (environmental protection agency) rates the manual transmission Civic with 26MPG city and 34MPG highway. The automatic transmission Civic receives almost the same, 25MPG city and 36MPG highway. Remember, this is the EPA rating and actual fuel economy depends on how you drive. you could easily squeeze more MPG out than the EPA says, or you could get less, depends on how you drive.

There is a Reason Honda has kept the Civic along for so long. It is a reliable and affordable pick for a commuter/ family car. Honda of course backs the car up with its standard 3 year/36k mile warranty. Also, if you are not familiar, Honda has no scheduled maintenance for the first 100,000 miles. The Civic receives top safety ratings and with Hondas ACE body structure, the Civic is a safe and fun pick

PROS

• Fun
• Fuel Economy
• Quiet
• Reliable

CONS

• No lumbar support