Are you looking for a sporty hatchback but on a tight budget? Take a look at the 2017 Honda Civic Hatch Sport. It’s all-new and joins the Civic lineup for 2017.
There’s a Civic for just about every driver and budget and that’s reflected in sales numbers. The Civic is now Honda’s best-selling model, beating the Accord. It’s great to see the Civic come back as one of the best compacts available after some lackluster years.
The Civic Hatch is available in LX, Sport, EX, EX-L and Sport Touring Trim. Starting prices range from $19,700 to $28,300.
The Hatch Sport sure looks sporty on the outside with its 18” x 8” Alloy wheels, two spoilers and dual exhausts.
It’s powered by a direct injected 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that makes 174 horsepower in LX, EX and EX-L Navi trims, and 180 horsepower in the Sport and Sport Touring trims which feature a dual-outlet center-mounted exhaust.
A six-speed manual transmission is standard on the LX and Sport models, or you can have the optional continuously variable transmission. The stick is not available on the EX and higher trims.
My tester has the six-speed and it’s super smooth and easy to shift. Even folks without much practice driving a stick will find it pretty easy. If you bump up to the higher trims, you get the CVT and frankly will miss out on the fun of driving the stick.
The front-wheel-drive Civic Sport Hatch handles great. It’s quick off the line and that awesome six-speed will have you eagerly looking for stretches of highway where you can quickly accelerate. The Hatch stays glued to the road even through fairly sharp corners.
EPA mileage estimates are 30 mpg city and 39 mpg highway with a combined rating of 33 mpg. It should be noted that the Hatch needs premium gas to achieve these numbers. I got 32 mpg during my week with a mix of city and highway driving.
The interior has a lot of hard plastic, as you’d expect at this price point. But it’s still pleasant and also roomy. Controls are well laid out. Passengers will enjoy decent leg-and headroom for the class. Although it seats five passengers, it’s more suited to four adults.
There’s not a lot of tech on my tester: no push button start, no power seats and no satellite radio. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated seats, power driver and front-passenger seats, remote engine start, premium audio and more features are available in the EX, EX-L Navi and Sport Touring models.
The Hatch has 25.7 cubic feet of storage with the rear seats in place and 46.2 cubic feet with them folded, which is a little better than average for a compact hatchback. The Sport trims have about 3 cubic feet less because of the center-mounted exhaust.
The good:
A ton of fun for its 22-grand price tag
Sweet six-speed will put a smile on your face
Large cargo area
The not so good:
Little tech: no satellite radio, no power seats, no push button start.
Bottom line:
If you want an affordable and sporty small hatchback that’s good looking and a hoot to drive, you’ll want to take the Civic Hatch for a spin.
