Road Beat: 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring, A Double Wow

I continue to remark in several recent Road Beats, that Honda is on a roll, after testing this new Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring, I have to report that the roll is still accelerating and rather quickly, including its price. Here is a car with loads of utility, outstanding performance, great fuel economy, superb handling and good comfort for a sticker price not $22,380 with the boat ride from Swindon, Wiltshire, England, but $29,780. That’s right a price bump of about 30 percent for the Touring model.

And what do you get for the extra dough, not much pizza. This new model has a CVT instead of a manual six speed and it has a leather interior. As for trick equipment, it has a GPS, but not much else. And because it’s a CVT automatic, you lose a bit of power, but not performance. The 1.5L turbo mill, while it still achieves 180 hp, it does so at a slightly higher rpm, 6,000, instead of the manual’s 5,500 rpm. But peak torque is down by 15 pounds, now 162 pounds of twist between 1,700-5,500 rpm.

Civic’s two-year-old design remains its best yet, sleek and stylish with a long character line emphasizing its muscle and strong flanks. The grille is a little big, but the car’s substantial width of 71 inches not only improves handling, but enhances its aggressive stance.

Powering up this Hatchback Sport Touring is one of the smoothest and quietest four bangers ever created. And in its drive that newfound quiet becomes quite evident. More on that later.

Performance for the Hatch Sport Touring with the CVT suffers little, if any. While 0-60 mph time suffered by a couple of tenths to 7.15 seconds, passing times because of the CVT actually improved significantly with 50-70 mph times on a level highway and up a six percent grade down to 3.21 and 4.99 seconds respectively. Manual Sport times were 6.99/3.80/5.07 seconds. But here is where it gets interesting, the 180 hp CVT tranny in the coupe model did a little better as it posted times of 6.48, 3.42 and 4.63 seconds. The engine is incredibly smooth and quiet, at least on the inside as it has, centered under the rear bumper, a set of menacing paired exhausts. But there is more.

Civic sips fuel and through a narrow straw at that. EPA rates the Sport Touring at an EPA rated 29/35/32 mpg city/highway/combined. As usual, those numbers are very conservative as in 502 miles of driving, including all performance testing, it averaged 32.9 mpg! On a level highway with the cruise set at 70 mph its two-way average was 44.3 mpg. Fuel capacity for the new Civic is smaller at 12.4 gallons, but even with that small tank, highway range is a comfortable 500 miles, when most people need a pit stop anyway. Unless you crave right arm, left foot exercise, spend the $800 for the CVT. My test numbers clearly demonstrate the efficiency of new Honda CVT tranny. Best CVT in the business and it has paddle shifters.

Civic Hatch Sport Touring gets big meats, 235/40 mounted on some good looking 18 inch blacked out alloys. Suspension is small car state of the art MacPherson Struts up front and a multilink system in the rear with stab bars at both ends. Track is a wide 61 inches front and rear while the steering is a go-kart like 2.1 turns lock to lock. And yes, it goes around corners and changes directions like water in a hose. Civic Hatch Sport Touring tips the scales at 3,012 pounds which also helps in all aspects of handling. Feedback and feel are near perfect with a very crisp turn-in and great off and on center feel. It definitely rivals the Mazda 3 and then some.

But yet the ride is very smooth, quiet and supple. You could do some serious traveling in this ride, like an easy 10-12 hours in the saddle in a day. The CVT brings another advantage, lower rpms at cruise as the manual spins 2,700 at 60 mph and the CVT spins a low 2,100 which makes the CVT perhaps a skooch quieter.

Safety is standard on the Hatch Sport Touring as in all Hondas with four-wheel disc brakes, ABS and all the other acronyms, plenty of airbags, backup camera, LED DRLs and more. But things like lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, auto high beams which were not available in the straight Sport are now standard in the Sport Touring. This is a driver’s car and a pleasure to drive.

Inside are some comfortable, leather seats (with some neat trim pieces and inserts) and a surprising amount of room. The trunk of the hatchback has a volume of over 22 cubic feet and with the second row folded flat that volume more than doubles. In fact, when you combine the 97.2 cubic feet of passenger volume, this Civic is less than a half a cubic foot shy of a large car volume as defined by the EPA.

Instruments are all business, big tach, with a digital speedo inset, flanking graphic ancillary gauges and a trip computer. Perfect. Materials are all first rate as you would expect from Honda and the rear seating is good with the four doors.

But the Civic Hatch Sport Touring is more than basic. It has everything you need and then some with some luxury touches. Power windows and mirrors are standard of course as is the AM/FM fine sounding stereo with media connections and Bluetooth with steering wheel controls. Sirius/XM, and Nav, too. This Hatch Sport Touring is geared more to the enthusiast driver who is looking for a more all-around car with a few added touches.

With its hatchback design and copious room, this Civic Sport Touring as well as the other four door hatchback Civics offer great utility. It’s almost as big as a small CUV in the width and length of the cargo area. Civic Hatch Sport does it all while being very entertaining in the drive, offering good comfort, great performance, fabulous fuel economy and its utility and roominess.

Pricing for the Civic Hatchback Sport Touring CVT is $28,850 (the CVT adds $800) plus $930 for the Atlantic crossing. Floor mats and a full tank of gas are part of the deal. You can ask for less, but you don’t need more. This Civic moves (quickly at that) to the top of the class.

Specifications

Engine

1.5L turbocharged, direct injected, DOHC, 16 valve inline four cylinder 180 hp @ 6.000 rpm

162 lb.-ft. of torque @ 1,700-5,500 rpm

Redline 6,500 rpm

Fuel requirement both engines regular unleaded

Transmission

Six speed manual

CVT

Configuration

Transverse mounted front engine/front wheel drive

Dimensions

Wheelbase 106.3 inches

Length 177.9 inches

Width 70.8 inches

Height 56.3 inches

Track (f/r) 60.5/61.1 inches

Weight3,012

Weight distribution (f/r) 60/40

Fuel capacity 12.39 gallons

Trunk capacity 22.6 cubic feet

Passenger volume 97.2 cubic feet

Wheels 18X7.5-inch alloys

Tires 235/40X18W

Steering lock to lock 2.11 turns

Turning circle 37.8 feet

Performance

0-60 mph 7.15 seconds

50-70 mph 3.21 seconds

50-70 mph up a 6-7 % grade 4.99 seconds

Top speed 130 mph easy

Fuel economy EPA rated at 29/35/32 mpg city/highway/combined. Expect 33-34 mpg overall and 44 plus mpg on the highway at legal speeds.