Ace of Base: 2018 Honda Civic LX

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

There’s a good argument to be made that Honda has its mojo back, at least when it comes to the Civic. The ninth-generation car landed on the market with all the appeal of a wet fart, yet sales remained relatively strong, proving – once again – that no one listens to auto journos.

The latest Civic is leagues ahead of the old model, so much so that it has a very good chance of ousting the Camry from its perch atop America’s passenger car pyramid. Can the cheapest Civic, the LX, capture some of the luminescence cast by its more expensive brothers, particularly the Type R? Let’s find out.

Base Civic sedans start at $18,840, about the same price as a Corolla L but a full two grand more dear than the Elantra SE. Shedding two doors and turning the Civic into a coupe will add $410 to the note.

At this price point, Civics are powered by the naturally-aspirated 2.0-liter inline-four, making 158 horsepower and 138 lb-ft of torque. The smaller displacement turbocharged mill doesn’t show up until the EX-T trim, bringing with it an extra 16 horses, 30 pounds of twist, and an extra $2,760 on its Monroney. That’s an extra $172.50 per horse, for those keeping track at home.

The LX trim comes standard with a, um, standard. It is a six-cog box with hill-start assist to help new drivers avoid a sojourn into the front bumper of the commuter on their six. Four disc brakes (*ahem Corolla ahem*), 16-inch steelies, and reasonably sized rubber are all present and accounted for. Every color offered is $0.

Economies of scale are the buyer’s best friend at this end of the automotive food chain, proven here again in the 2018 Civic LX. Power windows (one-touch for the driver and passenger), cruise control, and a tilt/telescope wheel are all on deck. Not only is air conditioning included, but it is of the automatic climate control variety, a feature once touted as cutting edge on the snazziest of luxury sedans.

However, I’ll freely confess to shutting the auto systems off immediately upon startup, no matter what car I’m in. I find the system rarely gets it right, either blasting the floor with air hot enough to melt the gumboots right off my feet or piping feeble amounts of conditioned air through the dash vents as if an asthmatic was wheezing at me through a straw. Anyone else feel that way? No? Only me? Very good, then.

Year-to-date, the Civic has sold 284,380 copies through to the end of September, compared to 282,507 Camry sedans. Of course they’re sedans, with the wagon and coupe both having been parked in death’s nursery for the last 20 years. If there’s one model that deserves a comeback, it’s the Camry coupe. Corey Lewis may have something to say about that later today.

Bluetooth, a 5-inch color LCD screen, and a USB port show up on the LX trim. Missing in action are satellite radio, Apple CarPlay, and a push button start system. Can’t expect economies of scale to take care of everything, I suppose. Whether one can live without those items is up to you. The absence of satellite radio would give me pause, but that’s because I hail from a part of the world where a clear FM radio frequency is more rare than caution-free NASCAR race.

The Type R is clearly the best Civic, but in terms of commuter car status, the LX trim makes a good case for itself in the model range — especially compared to the next-level EX, which is a full $2,400 adrift from the base model. If you’re spending that kind of money on a Civic, loosen the purse strings for another $360 and jump to the EX-T and its 1.5-liter turbo.

[Images: Honda]

Not every base model has aced it. The ones that have? They help make the automotive landscape a lot better. Any others you can think of, B&B? Let us know in the comments. Naturally, feel free to eviscerate our selections.

The model above is shown with American options, sans destination fee, and is priced in Freedom Dollars. As always, your dealer may sell for less.

Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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  • VoxMortis VoxMortis on Mar 17, 2018

    Picked up a 2018 Civic Coupe for $16,800 (before tax, tag etc) for my daughter. Pretty nice ride at that price. Only thing that would have been nice is push button start. Other than that nice little commuter with 39 MPG highway.

  • Harryc Harryc on May 01, 2018

    Came here to say I bought this exact car last week. Blue, 6MT, steel wheels and all. Zero frills. Regular cruise control, no HondaSense, doesn't have that execrable touch screen or "blind spot camera" that's both useless and distracting. Thus far I'm getting equivalent real-world mileage to my 1st Gen Ford Fusion Hybrid (35 mpg mixed) and it's a ball to drive. The K20C2 reminds me of the SR20 Sentra I had back in the 1990's. I'm hoping to drive it until the wheels fall off or I give it to one of my kids as a first car.

  • Joe This is called a man in the middle attack and has been around for years. You can fall for this in a Starbucks as easily as when you’re charging your car. Nothing new here…
  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
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