2012 Honda Civic LX
MSRP $17,855
For years, the Honda Civic has been one of the best selling compact cars in the world. Usually, when you think of the Civic, you think of a dependable, reasonably-priced compact car that gets very good gas mileage. There are a lot of old Civics on the road for a reason. Due to increased competition, Honda redesigned the Civic for 2012. But did they do enough and is it a good enough value for this market?
The 2012 Civic LX is the second of seven trim levels. The basic level doesn’t include air conditioning or a sound system. That makes the LX the lowest trim level that offers what everyone else is offering in their base trims. It has a 1.8 liter, 4-cylinder engine that produces 140 horsepower. It has 15-inch steel wheels, front wheel drive, and a 5-speed manual transmission. It is rated at 28 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway.
The LX comes with a tilt-telescope steering wheel, power door locks and mirrors, power windows, cruise control, keyless entry, standard air conditioning, an one-piece rear fold-down seatback, a rear window defroster, auto-off headlights, and body-colored door handles. The audio system has AM/FM radio, CD/MP3 player, 4 speakers, an audio jack, and a USB/iPod port. The controls are mounted on the steering wheel.
The Civic comes with the five modern safety essentials: stability control, traction control, anti-lock brakes, front side airbags, and side curtain airbags. As of this time, no test results are available.
Conclusions and driver feedback:
The interior will please many. There are plenty of features at this trim level, and there is now a little more room in the cabin. There is plenty of headroom and legroom all around. The controls and dials are reasonably well-placed, and there is now a 5-inch information display screen. There are a lot of touch controls that will make sense to those who are fully acclimated to modern gadgetry. There is also very good cargo space for a compact.
The Civic both drives and rides well. The steering is responsive, and the engine has enough power to provide peppy acceleration when needed. Even in the non-sport models, the Civic is somewhat agile, and more fun to drive than its predecessors. The suspension is still tuned for a sedan-type ride, so potential passengers can rest easily. The Civic does a great job of getting good mileage without sacrificing performance.
That brings us to the negatives. First of all, the interior is made of cheaper materials than one would expect. In past years, that may have been enough, but the competition, especially in the US, are making nicer cars now, and are spending the extra money for better interior materials. Also, older, non tech-savvy drivers may become frustrated with the sheer number of controls in this car. These are minor quibbles, but make a big difference to many.
The verdict: still a nice car, but it could get lost in the shuffle.
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