Honda Civic Overview

Honda's highly practical Civic rolls into 2004 with a subtly but significantly new look. Bumpers, hood, headlights and grille are all new on the coupe and the sedan, emphasizing a baby-brother resemblance to the slick and smooth Accord. The sporty Si hatchback gets new headlamps and taillamps that update its sleek look.

Honda Civic is an icon. Honda sells more than 325,000 Civics a year in the U.S., making it one of America's best-selling compacts. Civics are notable for their excellent fuel economy and sporty handling. Front-seat comfort is superb by any measure.

The Honda Civic line is composed of a family of diverse models. Coupes and sedans are available. Up-level Civics come with powerful VTEC engines that provide brisk acceleration. The Si hatchback is the flagship performance model.

All Civics are fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly, but a couple of models take these benefits to the extreme. The Civic HX coupe gets 44 mpg on regular unleaded. More extreme is the Civic Hybrid, which gets up to 51 mpg on regular unleaded. The Hybrid's gas engine is assisted by an electric motor. Unlike an electric car, the Hybrid never needs to be plugged in. Owning and driving a Civic Hybrid is just like life with a regular Civic. Well, almost. There's also a Civic GX sedan that burns natural gas; Honda claims it's the cleanest internal combustion engine in the world.