Honda's highly practical Civic rolls into 2004 with a subtly but significantly new look. Bumpers, hood, headlights, and grille are all new on the coupe and the sedan, emphasizing a baby-brother resemblance to the slick and smooth Accord. The sporty Si hatchback gets new headlamps and taillamps that update its sleek look.

Honda Civic is an icon. Honda sells more than 325,000 Civics a year in the U.S., making it one of America's best-selling compacts. Civics are notable for their excellent fuel economy and sporty handling. Front-seat comfort is superb by any measure.

The Honda Civic line is composed of a family of diverse models. Coupes and sedans are available. Up-level Civics come with powerful VTEC engines that provide brisk acceleration. The Si hatchback is the flagship performance model.
All Civics are fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly, but a couple of models take these benefits to the extreme. The Civic HX coupe gets 44 mpg on regular unleaded. More extreme is the Civic Hybrid, which gets up to 51 mpg on regular unleaded. The Hybrid's gas engine is assisted by an electric motor. Unlike an electric car, the Hybrid never needs to be plugged in. Owning and driving a Civic Hybrid is just like life with a regular Civic. Well, almost. There's also a Civic GX sedan that burns natural gas; Honda claims it's the cleanest internal combustion engine in the world.

Honda Civics come in three body styles: four-door sedan, two-door coupe, and the Si three-door hatchback. Sedans and coupes are available in DX, LX, and EX trim. A five-speed manual transmission is standard on all models. A four-speed automatic transmission ($800) is optional on the LX and EX models.

Civic DX and LX are powered by a 1.7-liter four-cylinder engine rated 115 horsepower. The DX has wind-up windows and manual locks; it lacks air conditioning and comes only as a four-door sedan. A new Value Package (VP) for the DX adds air conditioning, CD player, power locks, and center console. LX adds air conditioning, 15-inch (rather than 14-inch) steel wheels, anti-roll bars front and rear, power-operated controls, a height-adjustable driver's seat, remote keyless entry, a CD player, and other luxury features. Civic EX models get more power from a 127-horsepower VTEC version of the 1.7-liter engine. EX also gets 15-inch aluminum wheels, body-colored power mirrors, upgraded audio with six speakers, and a tilt-and-slide glass sunroof.
Civic Si is only available as a hatchback and the hatchback is only available as an Si. Civic Si comes with a high-output 2.0-liter engine with i-VTEC (for variable valve timing with intelligence) rated 160 horsepower. Si comes with a five-speed manual and is not available with an automatic.

Prices range from $13,010 for a DX sedan to $15,160 for an LX coupe to $17,260 for an EX sedan to $19,000 for the Si.

Specialty Civics are available as well. The HX coupe ($13,710) comes with highly fuel-efficient lean-burn engine that gets up to 44 mpg and achieves an impressive 117 horsepower. Civic HX comes standard with a five-speed manual transmission,but a continuously variable automatic transmission, or CVT, is optional ($1,000). The Civic Hybrid represents the ultimate in environmental respon-sibility, using a small gas engine and a big electric motor to achieve up to 51 mpg. The Hybrid ($19,650) is equipped comparably to the EX sedan with a five-speed manual transmission. It's also available with a CVT automatic ($20,650).
The Civic GX sedan comes with natural gas-powered engine, which the government rates as a SULEV, or super ultra low-emissions vehicle. It produces 100 horsepower.

books

sponsored links

Options are limited. Side-impact air bags ($250) are optional on all models and standard on the Hybrid. Anti-lock brakes (ABS) are standard on EX, Si, and Hybrid, optional on GX, and unavailable on other models.

The Honda Civic sedan and coupe get subtle styling revisions for 2004 that give them a bolder look. Up front, the bumper, grille, engine hood, and headlights are all new. Most immediately noticeable is the new grille: The horizontal bar is gone, leaving just a blacked-out opening, framed by a character line that flows smoothly into the new hood. The opening under the grille has been re-shaped into a shark-like smile and now incorporates two downward-slashing struts. The headlights are still triangular, but stretch out more diagonally as they flow around the car's front corners. These changes are small, really, but subtly suggestive of the total re-style received last year by big brother Accord. The Civic's rear bumper is reshaped as well, a little crisper now than before.
Unchanged is the Civic's wedge-shaped profile, with a high, curt tail and low, abbreviated prow. The hood sits amazingly low. Relatively flat flanks are interrupted only by a single crease that dashes from the front wheel opening to the taillight; there are no body-side moldings. Windshield pillars arch into the rolled roof to meet the narrow C-pillars. Bold tail lamps dominate the blunt rear panel. Overall, both the sedan and the coupe remain conservative in appearance, but contemporary in design.

While they look like they're from the same family, the sedan and coupe differ in appearance. In fact, more than three-fourths of their body panels are not interchangeable. The coupe features a more aggressive windshield rake for a sportier look, and its tail lamps light up in a signature pattern. The sedan and coupe do share the same wheelbase and inner structure.

The appearance of the Civic Hybrid sedan is also subtly different, with a deeper spoiler under the front bumper, a small spoiler on the lip of the trunk lid, and unique, lightweight aluminum-alloy wheels.