2018 Honda Civic Sedan

Test Drive & Review

In Honda’s robust family of Civics, the sedan delivers dramatic exterior styling, interior creature comforts, great fuel economy, horsepower, and performance. And all that is before even getting to the technology and safety features. iDriveSoCal’s very own Professor, Clinton Quan, picked one up from our friends at Rock Honda in the Los Angeles suburb of Fontana, CA for this test drive and review.

[xyz-ihs snippet="rockhonda"]

***Transcript***

Recording date – May 1, 2018 in Los Angeles, CA

 

Clinton Quan: This is definitely the most dramatic Civic that Honda has ever produced in terms of exterior styling. It still has a trunk, but it's got that fastback styling. This car has so much space it's almost as big as some midsize sedans. Really, really good gas mileage. It's about 42 on the highway; 32 in the city, it's turbocharged, so you're getting a lot of horsepower for a compact car, but you're also getting a car that's so fuel efficient.

Tom Smith: Welcome to iDriveSoCal, the podcast all about mobility, from the automotive capital of the United States, Southern California. I'm Tom Smith and joining us for another vehicle review is our good friend, The Professor, Mr Clinton Quan. Say hello, Clinton.

Clinton Quan: Hi, Tom. It's great to be back for another automotive review.

Tom Smith: Always happy to have you my friend. Today, we are talking about our good friends out in the Los Angeles suburb of Fontana, California, Rock Honda, and you drove the 2018 Honda Civic Sedan. How'd that go?

Clinton Quan: Well, I drove the top of line trim, which is the Touring. There are five trims in the Civic Sedan line up. The base trim is the LX, and that starts at about $19,000. Then you move up to the EX, that's about $21,000. You've got the EX-T at about $22,000. Then you've got the EX-L at about $24,000, and then the top line Touring trim, which I drove, at about $27,000.

Tom Smith: And this is the 10th generation Honda Civic. 10th generation.

Clinton Quan: Yes.

Tom Smith: Hard to believe it. 10th generation. That's deep, isn't it?

Clinton Quan: Yes.

Tom Smith: I mean, I remember one of my buddy's girlfriends had a Civic. I want to say they used to do a two door Civic SI when we were in college in the 90s-

Clinton Quan: I remember that.

Tom Smith: ... and that little car was fun. That was a lot of fun, but I say little, and I know we've covered this before; they've gotten bigger, right? The Civic overall has gotten bigger, and also, not too long ago, I wanted to ... I hit up our friend, the General Manager out there at Rock Honda, David Latif, to let me test drive the Type R, and that's a little too hot of a car right now, still. It's a phenomenal car, but I didn't get to test drive it. Actually, most people don't get to test drive them before they buy them.

Clinton Quan: Yeah. I saw one in the showroom, and it was completely roped off.

Tom Smith: Yeah. Yeah, they got stanchions around them. That's nice, but boy those cars are cool looking. So, I drove the Civic SI instead, and that was I think my first solo vehicle review, and I asked you for some pointers on them, you being The Professor and all. But let's talk a little bit big picture about the Civic. You have the Civic Sedan in all the trims that you just rattled off with the Touring that you drove being the top of the line. We're gonna get to that in just a second. But so that's the sedan, then they have the coupe, and then they also have the-

Clinton Quan: Hatchback.

Tom Smith: The hatchback.

Clinton Quan: Yeah. There's also a hatchback. So, the Sedan, with its fastback profile, some people may think it's a hatchback,