Put simply, it costs a lot to have your automotive cake and eat it too. If you want performance, you will have to pay for it - not only in dollars but in compromises to comfort and, all too often, reliability. Economy has its price as well; inexpensive seldom coexists with loaded, and few miserly powerplants are particularly inspiring when asked to perform.
The Honda Civic family, however, is a well-rounded suite of small cars that does almost everything well. If you want to scoot along in sports-car style - as we did in our $16,250 EX coupe - it can answer your call. If you want to squeeze the last inch out of every drop of dinosaur juice, the Civic line is equally ready to perform.
It is no secret that Honda boasts a reputation for combining a variety of virtues into a single package. Since its introduction, in fact, the Civic has been a multi-personality machine, and the latest versions do nothing to tarnish that tradition.
Careful engineering is the key: A company that earned its stripes as a motorcycle manufacturer understands the need for light weight and optimum efficiency. Honda's product-planning side has been equally successful, specifying those touches, both large and small, that mark the Civic as a quality car.
Honda tends to keep its innovations hidden under conservative sheet metal, and the Civic is no exception. Our little test coupe, despite its bright Milano Red paint job, was no attention-getter. Instead, it was an exercise in good taste: unadorned and pleasing, but visually unexciting. The same can be said for the other members of this versatile family, which includes sedans and one of the few remaining hatchbacks available in America.
Even though the Civics are relatively anonymous, there are more good points than bad to relate.
First and most important are the short front and rear overhangs - not much car protruding beyond the axles at either end - which allow the driver to slot the 14.5 ft. Civic coupe into a 15 ft. parking space with ease. This tidy design also pays dividends in handling because more of the car's mass is centered between the front and rear axles.
And the Civic appears more substantial than its dimensions indicate, enough so that people who aren't comfortable in small cars won't feel trapped in this one.
Few outward signs will tell you whether the coupe you're looking at is the base DX or the fancy EX, and the same can be said for the sedan lineup (DX, LX, EX) as well as the hatchbacks (CX, DX, VX, Si). The real differences are hidden but are important enough to make you want to save up those extra pennies for an EX. Our EX test coupe, for example, had body-colored mirrors, full wheel covers and a standard sliding moonroof (the last item, unusual for a Honda, offers both tilt and slide operation).
Attractive as the coupe is, however, we are drawn toward the sportier hatchback's shape. It does not really matter though; both body styles - and their companion sedan, for that matter - can be kitted out with the same features, making all three Civics equal when it comes to fun, economy and convenience.
