Arriving at the Hertz facility in Atlanta for the first time ever, I was somewhat dismayed to see that it was not that well-endowed with cars, as unlike most of my US rentals, the car I picked here was the one I was going to keep for an entire trip heading up across Georgia, and through Tennessee and well into Kentucky, and back, a distance of several hundred miles. When I looked at the area beyond President’s Circle cars a rather brusque Hertz agent told me in no uncertain terms that I was confined to choosing a car from the President’s Circle area, even when I suggested I would be prepared to pay for an upgrade. Not an auspicious start. What was left had clearly been picked over and none of the cars constituted any form of the “guaranteed upgrade” from a mid-size, so it was indeed slim pickings. The best choice, as well as being one of the few cars that I had not driven before, was a bright red Honda Civic. Disappointed that this was smaller and less well equipped than I had been hoping for, I decided to take it. It turned out to be a 2022 model and was in Sport trim, though as is generally the case, of “Sport” there is no visual or mechanical evidence.

The current Civic is the eleventh to bear the name, having launched in 2021 for the 2022 US model year. Unlike the larger Accord, which whilst the car was still available in Europe had diverged into completely different looking cars for different markets, the Civic is a global product, made in factories in Japan and the US. Europeans generally favour the hatchback model, which is also offered in North America, but here the market preference is still for a four door sedan and so the majority of Civic models come in this guise,, though as has been the case for the last three generations, the design is such that you could easily think this is going to turn out to be a hatchback. After the somewhat controversial appearance of the tenth generation car, Honda played it much safer with this one, producing something that you either think looks neat or perhaps a bit generic, but which is certainly more elegant and lacking the over-fussy features of its predecessor. Under the skin, the Civic has always played it safe relying on excellence of engineering to win the day. Beside the new look, the most significant changes were the introduction of more safety and technology features, with the core of the car carried forward from what was still a well-regarded car. Successive generations of the car have grown to provide more space for what Is now one of the larger cars in its class. The Civic is highly rated by the American press, and although it is no longer generally in the Top 10 best Sellers, it still sells strongly, beaten only the Toyota Corolla among the mid-sized sedans. I sampled a current Corolla only a few weeks ago, so was particularly interested to see how the Civic would compare.

Despite the use of the name Sport, this is the least powerful version of the Civic that is available, with 158 bhp generated by the four cylinder 2.0 engine. It comes coupled to a continuously variable automatic transmission. This is absolutely fine in normal driving, with sufficient acceleration available to allow for burst of acceleration when required, but you will find the need to push it quite hard and the CVT can prove sluggish in reacting to movements in the accelerator pedal. More importantly, perhaps, it is smooth and refined. Saly, this is somewhat undermined by significant road noise on some surfaces over 3000 rpm, so there were times when the Civic was not as restful as I would have liked. I had the car for several days, driving up to Bowling Green, KY from Atlanta, and covered 900 miles during which time it consumed 25.9 gallons, which works out at 34.79 mpg US or 41.54 mpg Imperial, a good but not startling result. There is a Stop/Start system, which I left switched on.

All previous Civic generation cars have been better than average to drive, and this one is no exception. Whilst the steering is quite light, there is some feel and it does gain a bit more weight as you move away from dead centre, so whilst it is not as sharp to drive as a Mazda, it is better than rivals such as the Corolla or Sentra. There is a nice fluidity about the handling, so this is car which is quite fun on twisty roads, the noise levels notwithstanding, and the ride, whilst reasonably firm, on the relatively large 225/40 R19 wheels is also good. There were no concerns with the brakes which worked well. Visibility is about as good as you get these days, with the rear-view camera proving particularly useful for judging the back end which you cannot see thanks to the steeply angled rear window. There is a full complement of electronic safety systems included. Thankfully, the Lane Keep Assist was easy to turn off, and it needed to be.

Honda have clearly made an effort to try to make the Civic little a look different from what are increasingly homogenised interiors of family cars and they have probably succeeded. The choices are certainly unusual, with a herringbone ridged inlay and mesh that extends over the width of the car interrupted just by the air vents. There are also plenty of the common-place black inlays. Cloth is used on the armrests and there is a leather-wrapped steering wheel. Overall, the results are pretty decent, with good levels of fit and finish and a feeling that the materials were chosen not just because they are cheap. The instrument cluster comprises digital dials, with a central bar chart style fuel, gauge and trip area. There are twin column stalks, with lights, which include an auto function on the left hand one. Steering wheel buttons provide for cruise control and audio repeater functions. The relatively small 7” touchscreen is mounted in the centre of the dash and is pretty basic in this trim of the Civic, lacking both XM Satellite radio and navigation, both of which I was rather hoping for given the length of journey I was going to undertake in the car. You do get Apple Car Play and Android Auto but in both cases these need a wired connection. There are eight speakers for the audio system, and sound quality was more than acceptable. Whilst there is a touch interface, you still get knobs and buttons to operate the unit which makes it easy to use.  There are three rotary dials used for climate control. Console buttons include one for the Driving Mode and also an electronic handbrake.

In Sport trim, the seats are upholstered in the sort of generic cloth that you find pretty much everywhere these days. Seat adjustment is all manual, and the front seat passenger does not get the ability to alter the height of their seat. You do feel to see up quite high, even with the seat set to its lowest position, but there was still ample headroom. There are height adjustable belts and the steering column telescopes in/out as well as up/down. I found the seat to be not just supportive but also comfortable, which was welcome given the amount of time I spent sitting there.

The rear seat area of the Civic is quite spacious, a consequence of the car’s continued growth in size over the generations. Even with the front seats set well back, there is sufficient legroom and despite the shape of the car with a plunging roof line, headroom was adequate for me. Things feel a bit basic here, though, with just tiny door bins, no map pockets and no central armrest

The boot is a good size, among the largest in it class. There is minimal intrusion from wheel arches or boot lid hinges, so the space you get is regular and readily usable. The capacity can be increased by dropping down the asymmetrically split rear seat backrests. Pleasingly, there is an external release, something not found on many of the Civic’s rivals. Inside the passenger compartment, there is a modestly-sized glovebox, a deep armrest cubby, a recess in front of the gearlever and there are door pockets which should mean that occupants have ample place for their odds and ends.

The 2022 Civic is available in sedan and hatchback form. You can find the sedan in LX, Sport, EX, Touring and Si flavours and the hatchback in LX, Sport, EX-L and Sport Touring trims. The test car was a Sport. Available as either a sedan or hatchback, the Civic LX comes with a 158 bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine mated to a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) and front-wheel drive. Standard features include cloth upholstery, automatic climate control, a 7-inch driver information display and a 7-inch touch-screen infotainment system with wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth, a USB port and a four-speaker stereo. The Civic also comes with the Honda Sensing suite of driver-assistance technologies, which consists of forward collision warning, forward automatic emergency braking, road departure mitigation, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, traffic-jam assist and traffic-sign recognition. Automatic high-beam headlights, a rearview camera and a rear-seat alert also come standard. Hatchback models also come with a split-folding rear seat. The Civic Sport sedan and hatchback feature unique exterior accents, paddle shifters, an eight-speaker stereo, proximity keyless entry, remote start and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob. The hatchback is available with a six-speed manual transmission. The Civic EX sedan upgrades to the 180 bhp turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine and adds heated front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, a split-folding rear seat, a moonroof, blind-spot monitoring, a rear centre armrest and heated side mirrors. The Civic EX-L hatchback has all of the EX trim’s features as well as genuine leather upholstery and an eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat. The Touring sedan gains a 9-inch touch screen, a 12-speaker Bose premium stereo, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, wireless device charging, an additional front USB port, two rear USB ports, navigation, a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster, satellite radio, HD Radio and voice recognition. Other standard features include a four-way power-adjustable front passenger seat, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, a universal garage door opener, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, rain-sensing windshield wipers and LED fog lights. Reverse automatic emergency braking is available. The Sport Touring hatchback has all of the Touring sedan’s features. You may find models with a manual transmission. The sedan-only performance-oriented Civic Si employs a 200 bhp version of the turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder paired with a six-speed manual transmission. Other upgrades include a sport-tuned suspension with thicker anti-roll bars, unique exterior accents, sport seats, sport pedals, an aluminium-and-leather shift knob and red interior accents. The Si is available with summer performance tyres in place of the standard all-seasons.

The Civic always does well in US Group tests, with its combination of overall quality, a refined engine, decent driving dynamics, ample space and good levels of finish proving to be that bit better than most of its rivals, which these days are from the other Japanese and Korean brands, the Americans having largely vacated the sector and moved over to crossovers. Based on my experience with this car for several days and a longer test mileage over more varied routes than is often the case in the US, I would largely agree. Only the fact that there is a rival from Mazda that I have yet to drive in its latest iteration, but which I suspect is as good behind the wheel as it is to look at, stops me from recommending the Civic as a class winner. I do think that Sport trim is a bit lacking in standard features , so a model from slightly up the range would be probably feel like extra money well spent. With a rental, though, you don’t usually get the choice, as rental car companies tend not to buy the plusher models, so you get what you get, And if it is a case of getting a Honda Civic or a Corolla or Sentra or Elantra, then I would still pick the Civic.