A Road Trip Reveals Our Honda Civic Hybrid's Few Flaws

• I've now driven our Honda Civic Hybrid the length of California.
• This car deserves praise for its great driving, comfy seats and robust power.
• Excessive road noise might make me pick another road-tripper next time.

This is weird because the Civic has a 12.4-gallon tank, meaning that the fuel gauge and computer were leaving a good 2 to 3 gallons of gas on the table. This wasn't a one-off but a pattern that repeated throughout the trip. The Nervous Nellie fuel gauge would indicate low fuel, but no subsequent fill-up took more than 9 gallons. 

Fuel gauges are often not particularly accurate, especially as the level drops. But it's unusual for a car to have 3 gallons in the tank — a quarter of its total capacity, mind you — and indicate it was nearly empty. I guess it's better than the opposite; the gauge telling you there's more gas than you actually have. But it does make me wonder what the heck is going on there.

As for my average fuel economy, it worked out to around 42 mpg for the round trip, which is below the EPA estimate. I blame the blistering pace set by my fellow drivers on Interstate 5 — I don't want to be the slowpoke after all — and the hilly terrain on Highway 101 when you get north of San Francisco. Speaking of which …

Driving dynamics

Fuel economy questions aside, there's no doubt this is a wonderful car to drive. On the interstate, the Civic largely drove itself thanks to Honda's nicely calibrated driver assists. But in the northern reaches of California, Highway 101 snakes through mountains, narrowing to two lanes and widening again over and over as you pass through small towns and try not to let the majesty of the redwood forests distract you. 

Honda nailed the Civic's suspension tuning, providing plenty of comfort but with a surprising amount of responsiveness and control on a winding road. The responsive and accurate steering never makes the car feel twitchy. As for the hybrid engine, there's 200 horsepower and 232 lb-ft of torque on tap. Put it together and you have a car that isn't just competent, it's downright fun. It's almost like the car was encouraging me to explore a more adventurous route — a suggestion I passed up simply because 11 hours behind the wheel was quite enough, thank you very much. 

I did, however, make a quick detour to drive the Civic through a tree. Wouldn't you?

Tire selection matters

Honda made a big deal about sound deadening when this generation of Civic came out a few years ago, using in-wheel resonators and foam-filled pillars among other things to quiet noise. 

On my trip, things played out a little differently. Granted, the Civic is an inexpensive car, so I wasn't expecting Lexus LS levels of isolation. But when I pulled off the highway and discovered I had the stereo cranked, it was clear something was amiss. 

I turned off the stereo for a bit and realized road noise was an omnipresent companion. Not only that, the Civic was also exceptionally sensitive to different pavement textures. Any car will be noisier over rough pavement versus smooth, but the Civic would go from "acceptable" to "I CAN'T HEAR MYSELF THINK" over seemingly minor surface changes. 

I think two things are at work here. First, hatchbacks like the Civic admit more sound from the cargo area into the cabin, and our test numbers bear this out. Generally speaking, Civic hatchbacks we've tested come in a decibel or so higher than Civic sedans. 

The other factor could be the Goodyear Assurance tires on our Civic. Previous Civics we've tested for sound have worn Continental ProContact RX tires, a touring tire that's generally well known for being quiet. The Assurance all-seasons on the other hand are on the louder side of things. A tire swap would make an interesting data point. 

Would I pick it again?

Driving dynamics win the day with the Civic, and it makes it easy to overlook things like the interior, which is on the dated side next to cars like the Hyundai Elantra or Kia K4. The Civic is nicely executed and high-quality of course, but the iPad-glued-to-the-dash look of the touchscreen feels very 2010s. No complaints about the seating position, or the seats themselves, as I was perfectly comfortable for the length of the trip.

Would I take this Civic on another long road trip? I kind of already did, driving it to and from San Diego not long after completing my journey north. It was a nice refresher, reminding me of what I like so much about the car. If it were my personal car, though, I'd look into a quieter tire. 

Photos by Keith Buglewicz