2022 Honda Civic Hatchback _ One of the Best

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(upbeat cheerful music)- The brand new Civic hatchback.We've already covered the sedan.Now it's time to talk about thisand it does not look like atraditional hatchback. It's becauseit has that sportback look,whatever the hell that means.It's definitely more European in designand the previous genowners of the 10th-gen carmay absolutely hate this.Because Honda has thisthing from going fromconservative one generation,to absolutely insane and then back toa middle ground. And that's what this is.If you're over 30,you won't be embarrassed todrive this or be seen in it.And that is because they'vesmoothed every edge out.And it's also a throwbackto previous generation cars.When you look at this,rolling on the road,you almost see a little bit of that 90sand 2000s look to it. But anyway,the problem with thesport touring that I'm in,is it only comes in three colors,which would match yourappliances in your house.It's white, gray, black.The most boring colors on the planet.And I'm sure they'll change that,but that's what you get right now.If you go outside of this, you get more.All right, Billy, that's enough of that.Let's talk about the money.This starts at $23,000.This trim level, pretty much maxed out,is $29,500. And for that,you get a lot for your money.This is one of the bestexecuted interiors.Any in, in any car on the planet.And that's because Honda hasspent more time listening towhat customers want and people like us,that complain about certain materials.So when you look at this,like the center console areano longer has shiny blackplastic. They used ahigh contrast material,probably spent more money on it,but it is a combination ofmatte and glossy where you don'tsee fingerprints, you don't see scratches,it's super durable and it doesn'tlook like a cheap piece ofcrap.Now, they saved high contrastmaterials like piano black,for areas that you don't interact with,which I can live with. AndI think most people can.The upper dash hasshrunk down quite a bit.It is much smaller, so it feels more airy.It feels more open inhere. There's more glass.You can see out of this withouthaving to lean on all thesafety systems or wondering \"Holy crap,is there a semi right next to me?\"And part of this makes it why--that's why the interior feels so special.The honeycomb grill acrossthe center dashboard is metal.The vents feel highquality. All the knobs,buttons and switches feel very high-end.They're all satisfying to use.They've decluttered the steering wheel.Now, you don't see so much.You wanna go forwardand back on your track?Easy, you see it. You just push it.There's no fancy pants touchor haptic feedback or swiping.Everything is really cliquey. And again,it's matte textures on all those buttons.So you're not gonna getthem all full of your greaseor tartar sauce.The rest of the car uses andbalances physical controlsquite well. Even the infotainment here.You have a volume knob, ahome button, a back button.So it's great to use.One of the things that I really appreciateabout this car is,even though they've gone toa completely digital gauge cluster.At night,this has to have some of thebest black levels and lowerbrightness of any screen on the planet.Again, you can--you can dim this down to the point whereyou can barely see it.It's-- it's very pleasingand soft to the eye,including all the interior lighting.And these are subtle touches that you knowthat their engineers thought about.And it's why this carimpresses me so much.The thoughts of storage?The glove box is huge.The arm rest is comfortable.The padding is right onboth of your arm rests.The seats are pretty well-padded.These are one of the betterHonda seats in this price point.The driver's seat has good adjustment.Although, I wish there was morelumbar adjustment here.The passenger seat doesn'thave a height adjustment,unfortunately. But again, at this price,you're getting a lot. Theback seats are very roomy.You can be a big personand fit back there.The last thing is the hatch.Despite its weird styling,boy, do you reap thedividends of having that.Jack has used this car tomove all his girlfriendscross-country and hestill had room for hischarcuterie boards andmeats. So, the thing is,this is by far one of myfavorite cars I've been in.And I just hope thatthe driving experiencedoesn't spoil it.Let's head into the shop andtalk about all the mechanicalstuff.(upbeat aggressive music)- You know it's a special daywhen I'm wearing my ownautographed hat, Jack.- Oh, man. I'm the presence of a art god.- That's right.I only bring it out forspecialty vehicles like this,and uh, let's hit it right away.- So this is a veryimportant car for Honda.This brings in theiryoungest buying demographic.So, 25% of all Civic sales are hatchbacks.And 60% of those salesare people under 35,and 40% of all hatchback sales for Civicor Honda for that matterare new buyers to Honda.So this is a very important carin getting young people intothe vehicle. This is a carwe've already covered though.The Civic sedan carriesmost of the body structureimprovements over basically all of them.So you have new manufacturingprocess that improves thetorsional rigidity of this car by 19%.They have stiffersuspension, mounting points.They've reduced NVH with more adhesives,better building materials.- Right- And this is still a struck front,multi-link rear car.And unlike the Toyota Corolla,this is a larger vehiclethey'd managed to engineer thisplatform without havingthe compromises in spacedue to the multi-linkor unlike the Mazda 3,where it is a torsion beam rear end.- Yeah. And I thinkyou said the key thing:all these structural improvementshelp to make it a morerefined experience.Quieter, less vibration,less noise.That was what they were targeting to--to make this feel likeit's more expensive than itis without sacrificing itsinterior space, style and drivability.And that's somethingthat I really give Hondaa lot of credit for improvingthese things while not losingwhat makes it good to drive.And that's something thatMazda struggled with because ofthe cost point of it. Andthe last thing I will say,Jack, before we getthis out on the road is,you mentioned something interesting:Honda is now putting more moneyinto the hatchback segmentand they got rid of the coupe.And by getting rid of that coupe,it's freed up that moreresources to put money into this.And if you would've asked Honda15 years ago or 10 years agoto make a hatchback car, they'd be like,\"Nobody buys hatchbacks. That's trash!We're never doing it!\"And now people areactually buying it again.So it's exciting to see this--- Young people are buying it.- Yes- So actually before we get on the road,I wanna quickly talk about enginesbecause this is an interesting point.- Good point.- So, the hatchback isthe only variant of the Civic,other than the SI and theType R that are coming,they come with a manual.You get two differentengines that can bothbe paired with a manual. And the sport,you get the 2 liter, whichis naturally aspirated.Produces...like 150 horsepower,or somewhere along those lines.And you can have it as eithera CVT or a manual gearbox.When you go up the trim levels,you get the 1.5 liter turbocharged enginewhich, is essentially acarry-over from the prior gen.- With some improvements.They won't say what it was.- Yes, hopefully doesn't havethe benefit of the oil--- The oil and fuel are mixing together.- But, you get twogearboxes with this engine.You get a manual andyou get a CVT as well.But, with that said, Mark,I think it's time for usto go drive this pubby.- All right, let's check it out.(serene bright music)- Oh boy, Mark. You've spoiled me.We're in the Civic hatchbackwith my favorite transmission,the CVT, that's goingthrough the front wheels.But, all kidding aside, this is a really,really good car.(car engine revving)- Headrest feels good.- This whole car feels good, Mark.(car engine revving increases)Yeah.- This thing moves, actually.You know, I-- I(Mark exhales)This is an interestingcar. It is polarizing.We'd talked about it at theinterior/ exterior segment.When you get in here for the first time,you're like-- You came fromthe previous generation car,you may not like it, butif you're anybody else,this is something special.- This is one of my favorite new carsthat a family could buy,use as their only car,and other than-- You can argue,the CVT is a let down, but youcan get this with a manual.I have no faults with this car.It does everything it sets out to do.- Somewhere deep downinside me, I-- I just,my stomach turns because of the CBT.And it's because I grew upwith the 1st generation cars.I remember, the first time I test drovethe inside of a CBT and rememberinghow bad that was.And it forced me...not only forced me,I wanted the manual,but the-- the thing is,is now, the CBTs have gotten to the pointwhere the 80th percentile of peoplewill have no idea it's a CBT.That's how good they've gotten.And if you're that 20%that can't stand it, well,there's a manual!- Which no one's gonna buy anyway.(Both laughing)- But yeah, I guess,at least for now there's a manual.- And, look, I mean the car,like we talked about it in theoriginal Civic video we didfor this channel- it rides well,it has a tremendous interior.Not only does it look probablyfour or $5,000 more than itcosts, it is hyper-usable!This thing will substitute asmall CUV with how much rearspace you have in thetrunk. And then not--not to mention thepassenger space behind you!I'm a taller person and I cankind of fit behind myself,which is exactly what I wantin a entry-level family car.- Well, since we already talkedabout the interior, Jack,let's talk about the driving.- All right.So suspension tuning,what do you think? You and I are both--- It's amazing!(Both laughing)- It's amazing!- Yes.- This car rides tremendous.There's not a point in time,at any point in time when you'redriving this, you're like,\"Ooh, I don't like that.\"There's-- I, I've just never hita piece of pavement or any typeof pavement where it rides toorough or it rides too soft.It is like, literally theperfect balance for a small car.A car that you're gonnause every single day.The only thing I would say--- Yeah?- The only complaint I have is,it's just slightly too noisy.And I get what the price point of this is.So even that is not areal gripe. It's just,we're in and out of quietercars. So it's like, \"Oh,this is a little bit too noisy\"- But, there's a lot of glass in thisto be a counterpoint as well.And when you're in atwisty road like this,there's a little bit onto your steer,but for what this caris and not to mention,the Type R is coming,the SI is on it's way.It is kind of like that cheap,do-everything car and cheapest relative.This thing is almost $30,000.- It is, it's a lotmore than it used to be.However, you hit somethingthat really triggered me.There's a lot of glass inhere and it's one of the bestparts about this experiencebecause I think the only othercar that even comes close to this,is the Mazda 3. Andits biggest problem is,you feel claustrophobic in there.It has a much better overallaesthetic in many ways.- I agree.- It's a, it's abetter styled vehicle.It just feels special.This doesn't feel as special.However, it makes up for somuch of it in its overall--Uh, the relaxing natureof it, its openness--- And its utility.- Its visibility and utility, yes.And that's what I love about this car.It is by far one of my favoritecars I've been in this pastyear. Not only because of price,but just because it is that good.- So I guess,you and I both think thisis the best entry-level,small sedan, right?- I would say, yep.- This is number one. Mazda 3is probably number two, right?- Yeah, yeah I would say.And, and it's not so close.I mean, yeah, the Mazda 3,if you just took at it for face value,there's some amazingthings about that car.And the drive train.I would also argue as like the 2.5is better than once a year.- That's 1.5, yes.- Uh, I like the auto trans.You have a traditional auto trans,you have a manual in the hatch.But,if it's your only car,this is far superior.In terms of roominess,you actually could put peoplein here and they're not gonnafeel like, claustrophobic or tight.You can put things in here. It's just--It's the best single-purpose carprobably in America atthis, at this price,that does everything.- Yeah. I-- I don't disagree.I have-- I'm struggling really,other than the, you know,the CBT, to really comeup with anything negativeabout this car. It getsincredible fuel economy too.You and I, like I always say,drive like assholesand we still get low 30miles to the gallon, which is impressive.- I mean a normal person'sgonna get almost 40.I mean almost all the time.And the other part too,is the safety suite works well.- Yes.- Uh, the lane-keep assist,the radar cruise control.The stuff that you associatewith a much higher price pointworks extraordinarilywell for a regular person.And I mean, there's just so much positiveto say, that I think we shouldjust get in the final thoughts, Jack.- All right. All right, Mark.Let's get into the final thoughts.(bright music)- Final thoughts on the 11thgeneration Civic hatchback.And honestly,as you can probably tellin this video, Mark and Iabsolutely adore this thing.It does everything well.It's fuel efficient.It can substitute a CUV in usable space.It's relatively cost efficientand it's good to drive.It rides well, it's mostly quiet for a carin this price segment and it'snot a total snooze to drive.Not to mention the fact, youcan get a manual transmissionif you were like the 1% ofbuyers who were actuallygonna op for that. But past that,this is definitely a car thatshould be on your shortlistand is without a doubt, the best new,small car sold in theUnited States. So with that,thanks for watching andI hope to see you soon.(sentimental music)\n"