Price
The 2021 Honda Civic Hatchback LX model starts at $22,000, coming with a 174-horsepower turbo-four engine and a continuously variable automatic transmission.
The 2021 Civic Sport Hatchback has a standard MSRP of $23,100, the Civic EX hatch begins at $24,500, and the Civic Sport Touring Hatch has a starting price of $28,400.
Safety
As for safety, a perfect five out of five overall safety score was earned by the 2021 Honda Civic from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Civic Hatchback model earned five stars in the side crash test, rollover crash test, and frontal crash test. From the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the 2020 Civic earned the highest score of Good in all six crash tests and the highest score for the effectiveness of its front crash prevention standard suite. The Civic’s headlights earned the lowest score of Poor for road illumination.
On top of these stellar scores, the 2021 Civic Hatchback comes standard with a rearview camera and the Honda Sensing Suite, which includes road departure mitigation, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, a collision mitigation braking system, forward collision warning, and automatic high-beam headlights.
As for upgrades, the Honda LaneWatch blind spot monitoring is available as an upgrade, as well as remote start, which can be added to the hatchback for about $400.
Reliability
The 2021 Honda Civic earned three out of five in its predicted reliability rating from J.D. Power, which is fairly average. The Civic also comes with a three-year/36,000-mile basic warranty along with a five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty.
Powertrain
The standard engine in a 2021 Honda Civic Hatchback LX is a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 174 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque paired with a continuously variable automatic transmission.
The Civic Hatchback EX, Sport, and Sport Touring higher trims come standard with a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing 180 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque. The Hatchback Sport and Sport Touring trims come standard with manual transmission for purists, although a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) is always available as an upgrade for $800, while the CVT comes standard with the hatchback EX model.
The high-performance Type R hatchback is the strongest of them all, offering 306 horsepower with manual transmission.
Fuel Economy
The 2021 Honda Civic can earn up to 32 mpg in the city and 42 mpg on the highway. With the manual transmission, the Civic’s EPA estimates are up to 29 mpg in the city and 37 mpg on the highway.
The Civic hatchback’s highest fuel economy estimates with the CVT are 31 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway – extraordinary gas mileage numbers among compact cars.
Cargo Space
The Civic Hatchback offers about 22.6 to 25.7 cubic feet of space in the trunk, and a maximum of 46.2 cubic feet with the seats folded down. That’s bigger than the Civic sedan’s trunk of about 15 cubic feet.
Exterior Style
The 2021 Honda Civic Hatchback was the only body style to receive updated exterior styling in 2020, although the Civic itself belongs to the 2016 model style generation.
The Civic has a number of additional appearance packages, as well. The Type R hatchback performance model can be equipped with the carbon fiber kit, which includes a carbon fiber rear wing, hood scoop, exterior mirror cover, and interior panel covers, for an additional $3,673. The $1,112 Type R interior package includes floor mats, a unique shift knob, red illuminated door trim and console, and red interior lighting.
For the more economical LX and EX hatchback models, the red and silver fashion accent kits are available. The red fashion kit includes red front, side and rear underbody spoilers along with a red grille accent for a starting price of $750, while the silver kit includes a silver front, side, and rear underbody spoils along with a silver grille accent starting at $1,655.
Interior Quality
When compared to other compact cars, the 2021 Honda Civic outshines most of its rivals with its contemporary interior style and quality cabin. Although there are perceptible plastic pieces, common in an economical compact car’s interior, the 2021 Civic still features many sturdy, soft-touch surfaces.
In the back seat, the two window seats have two complete sets of LATCH car-seat connectors for easy carseat wrangling.
Although cloth upholstery is standard, there are numerous upgrades available including power-adjustable front seats, heated front and rear seats, leather upholstery, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.
Interior Tech
The base Honda Civic comes standard with a 5-inch display, four speakers, one USB port, and Bluetooth – not a hugely impressive setup, but still moderately useful.
Available upgrades include a 7-inch touch screen that can be a little awkward to use, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, navigation, wireless phone charging, an extra USB port, satellite radio, HD radio, and a moonroof. Some drivers won’t mind the unwieldy touch screen if they prefer the convenient physical controls, like the volume knob.
The Competition
Motorists considering the 2021 Honda Civic may also want to check out rivals like the Toyota Corolla, Volkswagen GTI, or the Mazda3, which also offer hatchback models.
Both the Corolla and the Civic were finalists in our 2020 Best Compact Car for the Money award. The Toyota Corolla has more standard tech features like Apple CarPlay and an intuitive touch screen, as well as plenty of standard driver aids – not to mention a well-above-average predicted reliability score from J.D. Power. Compared to the Corolla, the Honda Civic has the upper hand in stronger engines, a prettier cabin, more cargo space, and sportier handling.
If you’re looking for a more captivating ride with gripping, athletic driving dynamics, the Mazda3 offers both. However, in a direct comparison, some drivers may prefer the Honda Civic to the Mazda3 for the Civic’s more affordable price tag and more spacious back seat and trunk. For the hatchback model, the Civic costs about $1, less than the Mazda3.
As for the 2020 Volkswagen GTI, this hatchback is also fun to drive, and features a spacious cabin and commodious trunk. However, the Civic is more fuel efficient than the GTI.
More Shopping Tools From U.S. News & World Report
Drivers interested in learning more about the 2021 Honda Civic Hatchback, you can check out our 2021 Honda Civic review. You can also check out other competing vehicles in our compact cars ranking.
To get the best deal on your new vehicle, be sure to use the U.S. News Best Price Program. Shoppers who use the program to buy or lease a new vehicle save an average of more than $3,000.
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Is the Honda Civic Hatchback Right For You?
For drivers considering obtaining a compact hatchback car, the 2021 Honda Civic hatchback is among the top options.
Honda manufactures Civics in Mexico, Japan, and in the United States. Civic models have a history dating back to 1973, and 2021 introduces the 11th generation of Honda’s compact car.
The 2021 Honda Civics come in two body types, a four-door hatchback or a four-door sedan. There used to be a third body style, but Honda nixed the coupe. Although there is overlap in what features are offered among the body styles and trims available, some of the features vary. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the options for the Civic hatchback.
Four trim levels are available for hatchback Civics, including the LX, EX, Sport, and Sport Touring models. The hatchback model also has a performance-oriented trim, the Type-R, which is the strongest of all, featuring a 306-horsepower engine.
All 2021 Honda Civics are front-wheel drive, as are many compact car rivals like the Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Volkswagen Golf, and Hyundai Veloster. The Civic stands out for its pairing of athletic handling and precise steering with a comfortable ride. The 2021 Honda Civic is ranked No. 3 among 12 compact cars, just behind the 2020 Mazda3 and 2020 Volkswagen GTI.
Read on to find out what else the 2021 Honda Civic hatchback model can offer you in its many different available trims.