The Civic has been extensively redesigned this year; appearance-wise, it gets a new, more finely detailed evolution of last year's Civic design as well as a reconfigured interior. While the Civic is about the same size, overall, as the previous model, Honda has tapped into more interior space with new seats and door panels along with new instrument panel.

Honda has worked on the Civic's drivetrain to improve it in a number of ways. The new Civic HF aims to provide improved efficiency at an affordable price. Hybrid models get a slightly larger engine this year--1.5 liters--as well as an upgraded electric motor.

The Civic's powerplant lineup has been completely redesigned, with a reengineered version of the 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine powering most of the lineup and a new 2.4L engine powering the Si.

The new Civic also gets extensively updated infotainment systems--including a revised navigation system with voice recognition and live traffic updates, as well as available Bluetooth hands-free interface and a new Multi-Information Display system.