The biggest car news and reviews, no BS. The 2026 Honda Civic Sport offers exceptional value, combining essential features and reliability, making it a top choice for budget-conscious buyers. We live in an expensive world—nothing’s cheap anymore, especially cars. Finding the perfect balance between purchase price and long-term value is key for making a smart purchase, and despite not being a financial advisor, I’ve gotta tell you that buying a cheap car isn’t the same as buying an inexpensive or value-packed car. They’re different things.
And having won multiple editions of The Drive Awards, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Honda Civic leads in that regard. I’ve driven many Civics over the years, but typically it’s the fully loaded Hybrids or the spicy Type Rs, rather than the more basic trims. So, when Honda offered me a Civic Sedan Sport with a price tag of $27,890 (including $1,195 destination), I jumped at the opportunity.
View Price on AmazonWhat does the sweetheart of the lineup offer that makes it such a value-packed offering in today’s segment? Let’s find out. There are two Civic body styles: Sedan and Hatchback. This is the former, obviously. There are technically four trims available for each body style, but they break down into two sets: Regular and Hybrid. The base two trims, LX and Sport, get the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 150 horsepower and 133 lb-ft of torque. The top two trims, Sport Hybrid and Sport Touring Hybrid, get the 2.0-liter engine plus two electric motors, for a combined output of 200 horsepower and 232 lb-ft of torque.
All models come with the Honda Sensing safety suite standard, LED headlights and taillights, push-button start, a seven-inch digital gauge cluster, a seven-inch infotainment touchscreen, Apple CarPlay (wired for LX and Sport), auto climate control, and a rear folding seat (60/40 split for Sport and up). The Sport trim, like my Solar Silver Metallic tester, adds noteworthy features that enhance its look and feel, like 18-inch alloy wheels (up from 16-inch steel wheels in the LX), black exterior body trim, a sporty exhaust finisher, fabric and leatherette interior, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, paddle shifters, sport pedals, eight-speaker stereo, and heated mirrors.
The jump from LX to Sport is $2,000, so just based on price alone, the features listed above are well worth the price of admission. My tester did not feature any add-ons, as there really aren’t any, so its total price came out to right under $28,000, plus applicable state taxes and dealership fees, of course. Last year, I spent a couple of months with the range-topping Civic Sport Touring Hybrid and averaged 52.1 miles per gallon over 1,800 miles.
As the Hybrid, it had a punchier driving experience that, at the time, I described as “just the right amount to have a little fun on a country road,” while also being super efficient on the highway. The Sport I drove this time around is down 50 horsepower from last year’s tester, but it’s also a good chunk lighter: 2,926 pounds versus 3,252 pounds. That 326-pound difference is noticeable, especially given the power deficit, and even more so in corners.
Source: thedrive.com
