Why the Honda Civic?

Honda Civics are part of the American driver's lexicon. Save for the Toyota Corolla, no other car has branded our psyches as the go-to choice for cheap, fun, and utterly dependable transportation.

My high school track coach drove a 1970s-era Civic hatch (in the year 2002), young and old keep them past 200,000 miles, and there's no shortage of loud, street racer-type Civics crawling through every city. Thieves adore them, too. A friend at work had his Civic stolen, twice (the third time, all the seats went missing). These cars don't die.

 

Like most early Japanese cars, the first Civics rusted soon after they hit our shores in 1972. But plenty of good memories — the 50-mpg CRX, the hot Si, the del Sol roadster of the 1990s — were enough to keep Americans coming back, again and again. Millions upon millions have been sold, and they continually outsell every American passenger car each year, big or small.

 

The Civic placed second, scoring points for having the highest mileage of 36.8 mpg in the test, good acceleration and comfortable seats. It lost points for bland styling, so-so interior quality and a rough, noisy ride.

 

In the Shootout, the Elantra had a six-speed automatic transmission and higher EPA-estimated fuel-economy ratings of 29/40 mpg city/highway, while the 2012 Civic had a five-speed automatic and an EPA-estimated 28/39 mpg. On the road, however, the Civic proved stingier with gas, underscoring that you can’t depend on specs alone.