The lineup still consists of front-wheel-drive, four-door sedans and hatchbacks, with each body style available in three or four trim levels. Entry-level LX (sedan only) and volume-selling Sport (the entry-level hatchback) trims get the new gas engine, while the top two levels, Sport Hybrid and Sport Touring Hybrid, as you’d probably already guessed, get the new hybrid setup.

The Civic remains a good deal, too, with a $25,345 base price for the LX sedan. The Sport tested here starts at $27,345 and adds a fold-down rear armrest, more audio speakers, black 18-inch wheels, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob. The hybrids are more expensive—starting at $29,845—but come with more amenities, sound dampening, and that superb powertrain.

A power play, not merely an efficiency gambit, the hybrid’s engine and a two-motor hybrid system combine for 200 hp and 232 lb-ft and are perfectly matched for seamless acceleration and plenty of passing power. The Hybrid is quicker than the also-200-hp turbocharged Civic Si model, while squeaking out 50/47/49 mpg city/highway/combined; hatchbacks lose an mpg or two. We adore it.

2025 Honda Civic COTY Review: To Hybrid or Not to Hybrid

Finalist: Can a hybrid variant take the Civic sedan and hatchback to new heights?Alisa PriddleWriterDarren MartinPhotographer

Nov 19, 2024

Pros

• Excellent hybrid powertrain
• Refined ride and handling
• Great build quality and value

Cons

• Gas version underpowered
• Small screens
• Mediocre backup camera quality

Honda’s storied Civic compact car, a 2022 Car of the Year finalist, is back with consequential changes that are not immediately noticeable from the curb. The 2025 Civic drops its available turbocharged engine in favor of a gas-electric hybrid powertrain, while its entry-level engine is swapped for a new, leaner-burning Atkinson-cycle 2.0-liter four-cylinder.

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The lineup still consists of front-wheel-drive, four-door sedans and hatchbacks, with each body style available in three or four trim levels. Entry-level LX (sedan only) and volume-selling Sport (the entry-level hatchback) trims get the new gas engine, while the top two levels, Sport Hybrid and Sport Touring Hybrid, as you’d probably already guessed, get the new hybrid setup.

The Civic remains a good deal, too, with a $25,345 base price for the LX sedan. The Sport tested here starts at $27,345 and adds a fold-down rear armrest, more audio speakers, black 18-inch wheels, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob. The hybrids are more expensive—starting at $29,845—but come with more amenities, sound dampening, and that superb powertrain.

A power play, not merely an efficiency gambit, the hybrid’s engine and a two-motor hybrid system combine for 200 hp and 232 lb-ft and are perfectly matched for seamless acceleration and plenty of passing power. The Hybrid is quicker than the also-200-hp turbocharged Civic Si model, while squeaking out 50/47/49 mpg city/highway/combined; hatchbacks lose an mpg or two. We adore it.

“The hybrid is such a well-engineered car,” features editor Christian Seabaugh said. “There’s really a cohesiveness to how everything responds. The weighting to the steering is about perfect, and it pairs so wonderfully with the hint of body roll in the suspension when going into a corner. Those, in turn, work perfectly with the car’s great brake feel and great-for-the-segment power delivery. It’s rare to find a car—especially at this price point—that is so well-tuned. This is normally the kind of engineering you find in BMWs or Porsches.”

Hybrids enjoy more sound deadening, too, something the Civic lineup has desperately needed overall. Adaptive cruise control holds speeds well downhill but is slow to hold or return to set speeds when going up hills. Lane keep works well most of the time, but others do a better job. Still, both features are standard across the lineup, as is automatic climate control and a half-digitized gauge cluster.

Exterior styling is barely changed, with some taillight tint here, new faux intakes there, and a new wheel design. Ditto the cabin’s look, which still wows, with its metal honeycomb trim spanning the dashboard and hiding the air vents, but it’s otherwise subdued, especially in black. (A lighter off-white pops better; it’s available for the door panels and seats with certain exterior paint colors.) There is even a standard gearshift, even on the hybrid, with a drive mode switch nearby on the center console.

The screens are tiny (7.0 inches on lower trims, 9.0 inches on hybrids) and tacked onto the dash like afterthoughts. They aren’t curved or face the driver, and they look dated. The digital clusters have small screens, even the version with an all-digital readout, but both are easily configurable and legible. There is no satellite radio, so bring your phone. Another glaring omission? The back seat’s utter lack of amenities: No Civic offers rear air vents, USB or power outlets, or storage pouches on seat backs.

If those demerits placed creeping doubts in the minds of COTY judges, the entry-level engine powering half the Civic lineup sealed its fate. With only 150 hp and 133 lb-ft of torque, the new 2.0-liter gas engine is less powerful than the version it replaces, and although it’s improved, it still delivers a loud, occasionally buzzy experience and definitely makes the Civic feel underpowered. The continuously variable automatic transmission does not help. “This is the competent Civic we all know: capable but not exceptional,” guest judge Chris Theodore said.

The base Civic still stands as a good entry-level car, but the addition of the stellar hybrid, which is more powerful, quieter, better handling, and better to drive in every aspect for only a few thousand dollars more, casts a long shadow over it. Every Civic drives better than you’d expect, but against our criteria, that (and that amazing hybrid) puts the Golden Calipers in question, given how Honda still hasn’t solved existing bugaboos such as the base car’s cabin noise levels and meager feature set.

This review was conducted as part of our 2025 Car of the Year (COTY) testing, where each vehicle is evaluated on our six key criteria: efficiency, design, safety, engineering excellence, value, and performance of intended function. Eligible vehicles must be all-new or significantly revised.