2011 Honda Civic GX natural gas
Witness the 2011 Honda Civic. As far as the aforementioned flavors, there's something here for everyone from the fuel-sipping Civic Hybrid and clean-burning natural-gas Civic GX to the high-performance Civic Si.
The sporty Mazda 3 is the Civic's strongest rival, offering performance that only the Civic Si can top, along with greater sophistication and the convenience of a hatchback model.
Body Styles, Trim Levels, and Options
The 2011 Honda Civic is a compact car available as a sedan or coupe. For both, there are five main trim levels: DX, LX, EX, EX-L and Si. On the Civic sedan, Honda also offers the DX Value package, the LX-S, the Hybrid and the GX.
The LX adds 16-inch steel wheels, keyless entry, cruise control, full power accessories, center console with a sliding armrest, a folding rear seatback and cruise control. The LX-S sedan tacks on alloy wheels, a chrome exhaust outlet, a rear spoiler, front sport seats and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.
The sporty Civic Si has most of the EX's features plus a more powerful engine, a sport-tuned suspension, 17-inch alloy wheels with high-performance tires, foglights, sport seats and special interior trim.
It's available only on Si, EX, EX-L and Hybrid models. The front-wheel-drive 2011 Honda Civic lineup offers a variety of available engines and transmissions. Manual-transmission models are notably quicker.
The Civic Hybrid uses a gasoline/electric hybrid powertrain to maximize fuel economy. For the Civic Si, Honda installs a 197-hp 2.0-liter engine and a limited-slip front differential; a six-speed manual is the only available transmission. The Civic Si zips from zero to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds.
Nearly all Civic models boast above-average fuel efficiency. The Hybrid tops the Civic lineup with fuel mileage of 40 city/45 highway and 42 combined. Civic Si models have 21/29/24 mpg estimates.
Safety
Every Civic comes with front-seat side airbags, full-length side curtain airbags and active front head restraints. In government crash testing, the 2011 Honda Civic earned a perfect five stars for its protection of occupants in frontal impacts. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave the Civic sedan its top rating of "Good" for the car's performance in frontal-offset and side-impact tests, but the Civic coupe drops to "Acceptable" (second best) in side impacts.
The Civic's dash features an unusual gauge layout. Regular Civic sedans have 12 cubic feet of trunk space, but it drops to about 10 for the Hybrid and 6 for the GX.
The Civic Hybrid and natural-gas GX are quite slow; we're inclined to forgive the uniquely powered GX but not the Hybrid, as the Toyota Prius is quicker and cheaper.
Second, you also lose about two-thirds of the trunk space offered in a standard Civic sedan, because the high-pressure natural-gas tank is located at the rear of the trunk.
Driving: indistinguishable
Other than that, natural gas may be the easiest alternative fuel to use--if there's a public fueling station nearby.
Only one test car nationwide
The Civic will be entirely redesigned for the 2012 model year, when Honda says it will make the GX natural-gas model available in all 50 states.
