The 2022 Honda Civic is proof that Honda?s mojo is back with a vengeance. If you?re old enough to remember, the Civic gave Honda some proper street cred from the 1990s to the early 2000s by offering rev-happy engines, clever usage of space, brilliant ergonomics, and lasting durability ? not to mention one of the best manual transmissions in the business. And now here we are, 11 generations later.

Setting The Stage

When that VTEC kicks in, you better be holding on to something. But with the advent of i-VTEC, Honda mellowed down like an aging superstar athlete. Take the seventh-gen Civic, for example. After blowing our pants off with the fantastic sixth-gen Civic EK, we got the seventh-gen model with fish styling, a MacPherson strut front suspension instead of those magnificent double wishbones, and a subdued i-VTEC engine.
Oh, don?t get me wrong: The Civic has always been an excellent car to drive. The engineering is spot-on, but every Civic after the EK model went through an identity crisis of sort. I?m not the biggest fan of the outgoing tenth-gen Honda Civic, and it has a lot to do with its robot façade and busy styling, Type R be damned.

2022 Honda Civic Sport. Photo: Honda North America.

Channeling Some Acura Vibes

It seems crazy has left the building, specifically from Honda?s styling department. Squint hard, and it?s easy to mistake the 2022 Honda Civic for a next-gen Acura Integra, particularly the third-gen model. The refined shape is what Honda c...