2026 Honda Civic Sport Hybrid sedan

[Blueprint]

Made in Canada!

For once Honda has put a cheaper trim in the press fleet. My kind of colour combo: silver over black cloth, sharp black alloys. The Sport still ... sports a sunroof and 2-zone auto a/c, plus heated seats and steering wheel, but has manual seat controls and the crappiest stereo ever. Infotainment is a dull black and white affair with no graphics, and no wireless AA (which is now std in the HR-V). Excellent driving position, and while no Type R it's still on the sporty side of things with steering and chassis. The direct drive will even simulate shifts at full throttle.

We're in full-on winter conditions up here and the presser is on snow tires. Yet, after Day 1 I'm around 4.7 l/100 km and this thing is no slug...

[Oliver]

I'm spoiled with most of the cars I've owned in the last 15 years having premium stereo options. Recently rented a base Corolla and was kinda shocked at how crappy the stereo was. Same with my buddy's base Crosstrek.

[Blueprint]

I'm spoiled with most of the cars I've owned in the last 15 years having premium stereo options. Recently rented a base Corolla and was kinda shocked at how crappy the stereo was. Same with my buddy's base Crosstrek.

Honda's base stereo is worse than those two. I could live with this car, but it would hang on an audio shop getting decent sound out of it. Or just move up to a Touring (Bose). One of the reasons I chose the Limited trim for my Crosstrek is to get the h/k stereo, which is pretty much the best I've tested in popular-brand compacts - and it has a CD player, for pure hi-def sound.

[Blueprint]

Finished the week at 6.2 l/100 km after numerous short trips in the cold. Overall, a very impressive package!

[GreatBigAbyss]

My spouse goes back to work in the spring, so we're looking for a second vehicle.  Initially in my mind, the Mazda3 GT Turbo was the one to get.  I test drove one yesterday, and it was nice.  Plenty of power, great interior, TONS of features, great styling, and AWD.  I was basically sold.  Ready to order one. 

Then I figured, what the heck, I should try the Honda Civic Hybrid Sport Touring.  It's in the same price range as the Mazda3.  I figured I'd drive it, be underwhelmed, regret the lack of AWD, and just go with the Mazda. The dealership I went to didn't have any sedans, and they had zero Touring of any type, but I was able to drive a hybrid sport hatchback, which will drive the same as the Touring sedan. 

I couldn't have been more wrong.  It was fantastic.  Somehow it felt quicker than the Mazda3, especially at lower speeds.  The transition between EV and gas power was completely seamless.  Acceleration off the line was extremely smooth.  Steering, handling and ride was excellent.  The drive was so good that I don't care that it doesn't have AWD.  It's got less features than the Mazda3, but I don't care.  The drive is just so damn good.  And even though I spent 30 minutes test-driving the Civic like a complete asshole, it still returned 4.6L/100km.  The Mazda3 Turbo was in the 11's.  At one point I was steady state driving at 50km/h and the gas engine was off, with just the EV motor propelling me along. 

I don't think I can overstate how good the Civic Hybrid is, especially in the compact car class.  For me, I think it will have to be the one. 

[RRocket]

Hybrids are no brainers....

[Tortoise]

How was the road/wind noise between the two? I've found Hondas to be a little noisier than I expected, and certainly compared to the Golf.

I think the touring model gets acoustic glass in the front, so that should help a little.

Otherwise, I agree it's a great package.

[GreatBigAbyss]

The hybrid gets active noise cancellation.  Combined with the fact that the engine is really quiet, and is often just off, it's very quiet.  The touring gets the special wheels from the Accord with a hollow channel inside that helps reduce road noise.

So, probably not Lexus silent, but it's quieter than any other Civic I've ever driven. 

[RRocket]

The hybrid gets active noise cancellation.  Combined with the fact that the engine is really quiet, and is often just off, it's very quiet.  The touring gets the special wheels from the Accord with a hollow channel inside that helps reduce road noise.

So, probably not Lexus silent, but it's quieter than any other Civic I've ever driven. 

My Prius Prime of shockingly quiet, too. Enough to notice.

I suspect the Honda is much quieter than expected..in a noticeable way as well.

[Blueprint]

My spouse goes back to work in the spring, so we're looking for a second vehicle.  Initially in my mind, the Mazda3 GT Turbo was the one to get.  I test drove one yesterday, and it was nice.  Plenty of power, great interior, TONS of features, great styling, and AWD.  I was basically sold.  Ready to order one. 

Then I figured, what the heck, I should try the Honda Civic Hybrid Sport Touring.  It's in the same price range as the Mazda3.  I figured I'd drive it, be underwhelmed, regret the lack of AWD, and just go with the Mazda. The dealership I went to didn't have any sedans, and they had zero Touring of any type, but I was able to drive a hybrid sport hatchback, which will drive the same as the Touring sedan. 

I couldn't have been more wrong.  It was fantastic.  Somehow it felt quicker than the Mazda3, especially at lower speeds.  The transition between EV and gas power was completely seamless.  Acceleration off the line was extremely smooth.  Steering, handling and ride was excellent.  The drive was so good that I don't care that it doesn't have AWD.  It's got less features than the Mazda3, but I don't care.  The drive is just so damn good.  And even though I spent 30 minutes test-driving the Civic like a complete asshole, it still returned 4.6L/100km.  The Mazda3 Turbo was in the 11's.  At one point I was steady state driving at 50km/h and the gas engine was off, with just the EV motor propelling me along. 

I don't think I can overstate how good the Civic Hybrid is, especially in the compact car class.  For me, I think it will have to be the one.

Copy, paste, translate and my review is done 

All Mazdas I've driven with the turbo felt swift, but not nearly as swift as one would expect with over 300 lbs-ft in a compact. You can feel the car trying to preserve the 6-speed auto, which is at its torque max with that engine. Add to that the midsize SUV fuel economy and tight interior and it becomes a more emotional than rational pick.

The Civic Hybrid is faster and smoother than the Si, is roomy and sips fuel like a gen-2 Prius. And then there's that baby sport sedan vibe with the cool IP and quality interfaces. Not as luxurious as the Mz3, but damn near.

I drove a Touring 1.5t before commiting to the Crosstrek, but had the Hybrid been available at the time, there's a good chance I would be in the Honda today.