2016 Honda Civic

Here’s a question we don’t ask ourselves very often: Is more power better? Yet that’s something we pondered during the launch of the all-new, 10th-generation Honda Civic, at which we drove both the new base 2.0-liter engine and the more powerful 1.5-liter turbocharged four. At the end of the day, there was no clear-cut answer as to which version is best. What was abundantly clear, however, is that the base engine isn’t bad.

Nor is the rest of the 2016 Civic, but we’ll get to that. The all-new 2.0-liter engine is offered only in the entry-level LX model and in the one-rung-up EX. It is said by Honda to both weigh less and have reduced internal friction compared with last year’s 1.8-liter, while kicking out an additional 15 horsepower and 9 lb-ft of torque. The totals are now 158 horsepower at 6500 rpm and 138 lb-ft at 4200 rpm. In true Honda i-VTEC fashion, power builds in a linear crescendo, with no lumpiness or lag. Just as sweet is the 2.0-liter’s rorty Honda sound—that’s pure sound, without synthesizing or amplification—which permeates the Civic’s well-insulated cabin with every full-tilt run up to the engine’s 6700-rpm redline.

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