Video: 2012 Honda Civic HF

Now, the outgoing Civic is still a very good car. It has aged well for something that hasn't been redesigned in many years. So when it came time to redesign it, Honda didn't go too far. The front end looks pretty similar. Some people say a little bland, but bear in mind that this is the HF version, it's a high efficiency version. And because of that, the bumper is much smoother. There's not a lot of detail. That's for aerodynamics. The rear end is where they start to lose me though. The car used to have a very distinctive Civic look to it. Now, cover this up, and this could be anything. The seats, manual seat height adjustment for the driver. Now the materials are actually updated from what they were in the previous generation. They're better, but I do think that they're going to look outdated pretty soon within a year or so. Other than that, really comfortable seats. We also liked the simplicity of design things like the simple radio here in this model and the ventilation controls, very easy to tell how to use at a glance. Some people say that the quality has actually taken a step backward here in the 2012. There are a lot of hard surfaces. Now we're not feeling the car the whole time we're driving, but they also don't look so great either. There's this kind of sparkly, gray plastic here, strange mix of material. There used to be a woven headliner, which is a kind of a richer approach. Now it's this fuzzy stuff. It's a little bit like what we used to call mouse fur. Overall, if not a step back, certainly not a step forward at a time when the industry is getting much, much nicer in a compact car. In terms of back seat space, the Civic, it's among the best in this segment. I've got the driver's seat all the way back. My knees are clear, raised a bit. One of the things we like a lot is the floor is almost perfectly flat. There's no big hump in the center. So that makes the center seat a lot more usable. At 12.5 cubic feet of volume the trunk is pretty good. It's not particularly large for this class. A couple of things I noticed though, the seat in this trim level is a one-piece folding seat. It's not split 60/40 some cars in this segment do offer that standard. Also, a couple other signs of cost-cutting. There's no treatment here, the underside of the trunk lid on the lower trim levels, and the same is true for the underside of the hood. What does that do? Eh, it can lead to a little bit more noise. It certainly doesn't look as good. Once again, if you look at some of the other vehicles in this class, they all come a lot more finished than this. One improvement that could save you money is the mileage is up to 39 miles per gallon highway with the automatic, over 36 in the previous generation. Actually, this HF is up to 41 miles per gallon on the highway. And if you want more than that, there's a Civic Hybrid too. As I said, still a good car, but there's never been a better time to cross shop competitors. If you're looking in this class, look at the Chevy, look at the Hyundai, look at the Ford. Maybe even look beyond that. (upbeat music) <v Narrator>For more car related news, go to cars.com or our blog, KickingTires.net.