The 2023 Honda Civic: sophisticated style, tasteful interior and plenty of performance options, plus the ferocious type R is back

The 2023 Honda Civic is a well-rounded compact car that does just about everything right. It looks good, drives well, and has a proven track record of exceptional reliability and resale value. For these reasons and many more, it’s KBB’s Compact Car Best Buy of 2023. Available in traditional sedan and flexible hatchback body styles, the Honda
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+1.25%
Civic competes primarily with the Toyota
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Corolla, Mazda3, Kia Forte, and Hyundai Elantra.

Also see: The cars, trucks and SUVs with the best resale value

2023 Honda Civic pricing

The 2023 Honda Civic sedan starts at $23,750. The popular Sport trim starts at $25,350, mid-range EX trim starts at $26,200, and the Touring model begins at $30,350. Civic Hatchback variants are slightly more expensive.

These are the manufacturer’s suggested retail prices and don’t include the $1,095 factory-to-dealer delivery fee. The Honda Civic has a diverse model range, and every trim is appealing in its own way. The performance-oriented Civic Si starts at $28,800, and the race-ready Civic Type R begins at $43,795.

Class-leading resale value

The Honda Civic earns KBB’s Best Resale Value award for compact cars. When it comes time to sell, the Civic might fetch an extra $2,000 or more than some competitors. And who wouldn’t want an extra $2,000 toward their next down payment?

What’s new for 2023

Having just been redesigned for 2022, there aren’t many changes for 2023. The high-performance Civic Type R returns for 2023, but that’s a different animal altogether.

Driving the 2023 Honda Civic

The 2023 Honda Civic is a pleasure to drive for several reasons. The upper half of the Civic trims come with a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that strikes an excellent balance of performance and efficiency. This has always been a specialty of the Civic nameplate, and the 2023 model upholds that reputation. This is a fun car to drive with the turbo, and you’ll never feel guilty about wasting gas when enjoying the drive.

The base LX and Sport trims come with a naturally aspirated (non-turbo) 4-cylinder engine with less power, less torque, and slightly worse fuel economy than the available turbo engine. The base engine isn’t bad, but the turbo is worth the price bump because it’s more powerful and efficient.

As for driving comfort, there’s very little reason for complaint, regardless of the engine. In our testing, we enjoyed the smooth, comfortable, and reasonably quiet ride of the Civic.

The athletic driving character of the Honda Civic is comparable to the Mazda3
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which is another practical compact car that’s fun to drive.

See: The stylish 2023 Mazda3: one of the most enjoyable cars in its class, and starts at just $22,550

High-quality interior

The interior of the Honda Civic has a tasteful simplicity. The understated design uses clean lines and a handsome honeycomb metal mesh strip through the dash. We found the infotainment screen and climate controls to be well-placed and easy to reach from the driver’s seat.

The interior materials are impressive for a car in this price range. Everything we touch from the driver’s seat feels nice, and we love the loaded Touring trim. The Touring model treats the driver to premium features like leather-trimmed seats, a wireless phone charger, a 9-inch infotainment system, and a Bose audio system, while keeping the starting price around $30,000.

The front seats are plenty roomy, even for taller adults. We climbed into the back, and there’s plenty of room back there for children and adults alike.

The trunk of the Civic sedan is big for a car this size, and we love the wide opening making it easy to load and unload. The Civic hatchback has almost 10 extra cubic feet of cargo space compared to the sedan, and you get even more space if you fold down the back seats. For example, in our long-term hatchback test model, we can fit a mountain bike in the back without having to remove the front wheel.

Check out: It’s faster, more powerful, sleek and sculpted: It’s the 2023 Toyota Prius, transformed

Sophisticated style

Like so many timeless designs, the newest Civic, which was just redesigned in 2022, keeps getting more and more attractive. Its pleasing proportions and clean lines come together in a sophisticated design.

The Civic hatchback offers the flexibility to hold more and bigger cargo than the sedan, but with a sleeker, sloping roofline than a traditional, boxy hatchback.

The Civic’s dimensions are in line with other compact cars like the Mazda3, Toyota Corolla, and Nissan
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Sentra.

Our favorite features and tech

Two body styles
The Honda Civic is available as a sensible sedan or a more adventurous hatchback with the cargo flexibility to swallow a bicycle, for instance.

Honda Sensing
Every Honda Civic comes standard with the Honda Sensing safety tech suite. Honda Sensing bundles driver assistance features like automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, and traffic sign recognition.

Drive modes
Normal, Sport, and Econ driving modes let you choose the driving character that suits your personality, or the moment.

Android Auto and Apple CarPlay
Android Auto and Apple
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CarPlay are handy smartphone connectivity features that let you bring your maps, music, and more to the screen in your car. They both come standard on every Civic, but if you get the available 9-inch infotainment system, you can connect your phone to the car wirelessly.

Bose audio system
The Touring, Sport Touring, and Si trims come with an immersive Bose 12-speaker premium audio system that made us feel like we were in a more expensive car. It not only upgrades the sound with high-quality speakers, but Bose Centerpoint technology creates a surround-sound effect for a concert-like experience.

Multiple performance models
Every Honda Civic is enjoyable to drive, but the sporty Civic Si and ferocious Civic Type R turn up the adrenaline. The Civic Si is a blast to drive at any speed while retaining an affordable price tag, and the Type R is a track-ready beast.

Also read: In a tough car market, more Americans are turning toward this Goldilocks option

Engine and transmission

The Civic Sport is the most popular trim, and it features an excellent 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine good for 158 horsepower and up to 37 mpg on the highway. The base Civic LX also uses this engine. Higher trims are outfitted with a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that’s both more powerful and more efficient. Most Civics are equipped with a continuously variable automatic transmission, but a 6-speed manual remains available.

Best-selling engine

2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine
158 horsepower @ 6,500 rpm
138 lb-ft of torque @ 4,200 rpm
EPA city/highway fuel economy: 31/40 mpg (LX sedan), 30/38 mpg (LX hatchback), 30/37 mpg (Sport sedan), 26/36 mpg (Sport hatchback manual), 29/37 mpg (Sport hatchback auto)

Upgrade engine

1.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine
180 horsepower @ 6,000 rpm
177 lb-ft of torque @ 1,700-4,500 rpm
EPA city/highway fuel economy: 33/42 mpg (EX sedan), 31/38 mpg (Touring sedan), 31/39 mpg (EX-L hatchback), 28/37 mpg (Sport hatchback manual), 30/37 mpg (Sport hatchback CVT)

More Civic fuel economy information is available on the EPA’s website.

Performance options

The Civic Si features a version of the turbocharged engine above, but tuned to deliver about 10% more horsepower and torque (200 hp, 195 lb-ft). The all-new Civic Type R is the most powerful Civic of all time, boasting 315 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque.

Excellent safety ratings

The 2023 Honda Civic is an IIHS Top Safety Pick and it earns a 5-Star overall safety rating from the NHTSA. The Civic gets even safer when you add optional features like blind-spot monitoring and parking sensors.

Also see:The 2024 Honda Prologue: Honda’s new electric SUV is attractive and spacious. When can you get one?

3-year/36,000-mile warranty

The 2023 Honda Civic is backed by a 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty and a 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty. This warranty is pretty average for a compact car, but the Hyundai Elantra and Kia Forte have longer warranties.

KBB’s car review methodology.

This story originally ran on KBB.com.