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The Honda Civic line is very broad and appeals to so many buyers no single body style and trim is the perfect one for all shoppers. However, we can offer our opinion on the one we feel is best overall for the majority of buyers, if their budget permits the purchase. Based on having tested a lot of Civics, including the top trims of the sedan and hatchback, our opinion is that the $31K Hatchback Sport Touring is the one to look most closely at.
Related Story: 2022 Honda Civic Touring Review and Photojournal - Still Fun at 50
2022 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring - What Is It?
The new Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring is a roomy five-passenger, midsized, four-door with a hatchback. It’s hard to overstate how big this car is. No longer is the Civic a compact. If you have been out of the shopping mindset for a while, this is the size you may remember the Accord being not long ago. The Civic has 99 cubic feet of passenger volume, the current Accord 105. Making things more interesting is that the Civic Hatchback has a 25.5 cubic foot volume cargo area. The Accord has a 16.7 cu ft trunk and the Civic Sedan just 14.8. Depending upon how you look at it, the Civic Hatchback may be the “Largest” vehicle of the three.
Related Story: 2022 Honda Civic Tops Tesla Model 3 In IIHS Safety Testing In Three Ways
2022 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring - What Powers It?
The Civic line now uses two engines. The base has just 158 hp. The up-powered turbo trims, like the Sport Touring have 180, but the torque is much higher and comes at lower RPMs. Get the turbo. It’s the same engine the Accord has in most of its trims.
2022 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring - Pricing, Fuel Economy, Value
The 2022 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring we tested had a price including destination and delivery, but less dealer Doc fees and market adjustments of $30,810. You can drop that price down by $395 by getting silver instead of white.
The EPA Combined fuel mileage estimate is 35 MPG. We observed exactly that number in our testing over about 300 miles on rural roads and highways. If you plan to do a lot of city driving, check out the Insight. It’s similar to the Civic in most ways but has a $400 lower annual fuel cost. Over the life of that vehicle an owner would save about $8,000.
Honda has a warranty ending in just five years, contrasted with Hyundai, Kia, and Mitsubishi which have a warranty for the first owner running ten years. The Civic also comes with no included maintenance. Hyundai includes three years, and Toyota two.
2022 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring - How’s the Infotainantent and Interior?
The interior of the new 22 Civic is very good overall. The seats of our tester were heated leather. The dash vents are nifty honeycomb that jazzes up the otherwise conservative styling.
The Infotainment system features wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and a wireless charging tray. We used all three of those features and found that Honda is now on par with the best in the segment in this regard. The volume knob is back, and the steering wheel controls are perfect. In addition to the large center screen, Honda’s gauge display is modern and shows Google Maps turns and even album art in two large displays.
The seats felt large and very comfortable. While the power controls are pretty basic, they work extremely well. What’s missing at this $31K price point? Optional AWD, a heated steering wheel, a head-up display, and ventilated seats. We’re not saying those things should be here for this price, just letting buyers know that to get them you need to be in a different Honda/Acura model.
2022 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring - How’s It Drive?
We took the Civic on a weekend road trip to rural New England. The Civic is mature and composed on the highway, and Honda’s driver-assist system remains one of our favorites. Twisty back roads were fun to navigate, and the Civic feels fun, but the better word is refined. It’s not a raw-edge sporty car. Honda does have a Civic Si model if that’s what you want.
We found the turbocharged engine worked very well with the CVT transmission. Honda offers a throwback stick shift in this car if you want to kick it old-school. Why you would, we have no idea. It makes sense in an Si or Type R, but not in this large front-wheel drive sedan.
The only area for improvement we found with this hatchback is noise. We tried to listen to books on tape in the Civic and it was hard to do so. There is more road noise in the Hatchback than we remember there being in other sedans we have tested from Honda recently. Perhaps foam-layered tires would cure this? Or maybe selecting an Acura model this size would?
2022 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring - The Big Advantage Over the Sedan
The big plus to the hatchback is space in the cargo section. It’s massive by comparison to even larger sedans like the Accord. And with the rear seats dropped, the space becomes super long and wide. We picked up a traveler at the airport during our time with the Civic, and without the ability to drop one seat and jam in large luggage cases we would have had to take a different vehicle. We could not have made the trip in a Civic sedan.
2022 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring - A Note About Sporty Civics
If you want a zippy, quick, sport Civic, Honda will make you one. We look forward to testing a new Si soon. This hatchback is more about refinement and driving satisfaction than juvenile hijinks on public roads. (For the record I owned an Si, and I am not against fun affordable Honda cars).
2022 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring - Our Conclusion
If your budget can accommodate a $31K five-door hatchback this is the one to buy. We would be hard-pressed to recommend an Accord over this Civic. The new Civic that good. And the size is just so much bigger than the iconic name suggests that even this multi-Honda owner needed to reset his mind to the fact that this is a good-sized car now.
2022 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring - Alternatives
We give the Civic Sport Touring Hatchback two thumbs up. Those looking for alternatives may consider the following options:
All Wheel Drive - The Subaru Impreza and Legacy fall within this price range and would be our choice in snowy climates.
Smaller, Sportier, AWD, Premium - We’d look closely at the Mazda3. It offers almost double the torque and has some features we like to see in a car priced above $30K like a head-up display and AWD.
Value - Check out the Elantra line if you plan to keep your car for more than 5 years and are trying to sharpen the pencil a bit to keep the budget closer to $25K. You get less car, but arguably more value.
Green Powertrains - The Honda Insight, Elantra Hybrid, Prius Hybrid, and Corolla Hybrid all offer much greener powertrains than the Civic line does. You can even combine a Prius with AWD now.
John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. John's interest in EVs goes back to 1990 when he designed the thermal control system for an EV battery as part of an academic team. After earning his mechanical engineering degree, John completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers, in the semiconductor industry, and in biotech. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American news outlets and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on TikTok @ToknCars, on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin
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Civic images courtesy of Honda. MPG display image by the author.
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