For 2022, Honda does a Civic comeback and retains the crown

The title of Canada’s best-selling car is not as impressive nor as valuable as it was a quarter century ago, when Honda’s Civic first took the crown – a tiara this stolid compact of numerous trim levels and body styles (sedan, hatchback) has worn for the duration.

Front head and legroom is more generous than the current Accord, both sunroof-equipped.

For 2022, Honda has given the Civic a re-think, but what might surprise the casual car shopper is the pricing. If you think Honda’s starter runabout is a $15,000 or $16,000 economy car, let me disabuse you of your naivete. The cheapest Civic you can get in Canada: $25,370.

Yes, yes, Honda says this car is the “modern expression of Honda’s human-centered design philosophy,” but still: TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND AND CHANGE?

I like this car a lot and the tens of thousands of Canadians who buy one this year most assuredly will, too. It has a composed ride, mature styling, loads of safety and technology features, good seats, first-rate fuel efficiency, an excellent safety story and a sterling record for reliability and resale value. Alas, I’d like this car much, much more if I could get one for $20,000 or so.

And as you climb up the Civic line, the Si sedan hits $33,750, the hatchback begins at $27,650 and the Type R startles at $46,200. A 2023 Type R is coming and will likely cost more, still. Whew!

Analog and digital readouts are available.

Civic defenders and apologists will point to the excellent remake of the 2022 cabin and they’d have a point. For instance, the lower-priced Civics have a delightful analog gauge cluster which is more than enough for me in terms of clarity and simplicity. Up the line, Honda goes digital, which allows options: dial in something that looks weirdly analog, or go for the video-game readouts.

Honda also appears to have cleaned up and figured out how to do an infotainment interface properly, one that’s easy to manage and quick to respond. In the recent past, the Civic was plagued by buggy infotainment technology, but the newest offering is quick to respond and beautifully simple to manage through a screen mounted on the dash, atop the centre stack and just in the driver’s right eyeline. My ears were also quite satisfied with the Bose sound system.

Honda appears to have sorted out its infotainment system.

The cabin overall is huge and airy for a so-called economy car, if you call a $25,000-plus grocery-getter such a thing. This generation of the Civic has more head and front legroom than the current Accord, sunroof-equipped. The seats are well-formed, too, though in keeping with the comparison, I like the Accord’s more. Keep in mind, the Civic is a car, which means you climb down into it, not across the threshold at hip height as in, say, a CR-V crossover.

In driving, the Civic is a bit livelier, somewhat more entertaining than, say, a CR-V, but you surrender practical advantages like a big cargo area easily accessed through a rear door, not to mention a slightly higher ride height. Moreover, you cannot buy a Civic with a manual gearbox, either; do-it-yourself shifting is gone.

A place for your smartphone.

Instead, whichever four-banger you choose is mated to a continuously variable transmission (CVT) which is efficient and unemotional. You can also switch drive modes from ECON, Sport and Normal with the toggle of a switch. The differences are marginal, though noticeable. The starter engine is a 2.0-litre four (158 horsepower), but the better choice is the 1.5-litre turbocharged gem, direct-injected and rated at 180 hp.

This Civic has won a bunch of awards for the ’22 model year. The applause surely is for Honda’s back-to-basics approach to the redesign. This is a very, very pleasant car, but it’s not particularly sporty and it’s not exactly inexpensive.