2014 brought yet another update to Honda's popular small car, keeping the Civic competitive. A responsive continuously variable transmission helps boost fuel economy slightly to 30 mpg overall and 40 on the highway, while an up-level touch-screen infotainment system provides more connectivity features, although it could be more user-friendly. Despite the upgrades, the Civic only scored midpack in our Ratings.
Still, the Civic has a very comfortable ride and a spacious interior, with a roomy rear seat. Further, the CVT works very well with the spirited 1.8-liter, four-cylinder engine.
Even the base LX version has plenty of standard features, including a backup camera. EX and higher trims have a push-button start, automatic climate control, and Honda's LaneWatch blind-zone camera, which displays the area to the car's right in the dash screen.
The infotainment system is media friendly, but our testers found it unintuitive and exasperating to use. In lieu of a volume knob, for example, there's a frustrating slider on the touch screen. Also, the onboard computer is needlessly frustrating.