Honda Civic (FE) review: the compact sedan for people who still like driving
4.3/5motorssouq Editorial Team
Buy the RS or Touring grade if the budget allows — the extra equipment and 18-inch wheels suit a car that is genuinely fun to place through a corner, and Honda Sensing is worth having standard rather than as an option elsewhere. Skip the base LX unless price is the only variable; it loses the adaptive cruise control that makes Bahrain's highway commute meaningfully easier.
Pros
- Chassis and steering are the sharpest in the compact sedan class
- 1.5-turbo copes with Bahrain's heat without the power fade some rivals show
- Honda Sensing suite standard rather than an option
- Competitive 419-litre boot with a low load lip
- Well-documented cold-climate oil dilution issue is a non-factor in Gulf heat
Cons
- Firmer RS/Touring suspension transmits more road noise on patched Bahrain tarmac
- Rear headroom is tight for taller passengers under the sloping roofline
- Base LX grade drops adaptive cruise control
- 180 hp is modest next to some turbocharged rivals on paper
Honda took a risk with the eleventh-generation Civic sedan: instead of chasing the SUV-adjacent styling that sells in this region, it built a lower, wider car with a longer wheelbase and steering that actually talks back. In a segment dominated by Corolla and Elantra buyers who mostly want an appliance, the Civic is the one car here built for someone who still enjoys the drive to work.
The 1.5-litre VTEC Turbo makes 180 hp, which is not a big number, but the CVT is tuned with stepped ratios that mimic a conventional automatic under load, so it does not drone the way early CVTs did. Turbo lag is minor below 2,000 rpm and mostly forgotten above it.
Living with the heat and the roads
Bahrain's summer is the real test of any turbocharged four, and the Civic's cooling package handles stop-start Manama traffic at 45°C without the power fade some rivals show. The firmer suspension tune on RS and Touring grades — the trade-off for that sharper handling — does transmit more of the patched sections of the Budaiya and Sheikh Salman highways into the cabin than a Camry would, though it never crosses into uncomfortable.
Rear-seat space is average for the class, not class-leading; taller passengers notice the sloping roofline. The boot at 419 litres is competitive, and the low load lip makes it easy to use.
Ownership reality
Honda's dealer network in Bahrain services the Civic without drama, and consumables — brakes, filters, tyres — are priced in line with the segment rather than at a premium. The 1.5-turbo has a well-documented history of minor oil dilution in cold climates; that is a non-issue in the Gulf, where the engine barely gets a chance to run cold for long. Resale is solid, just behind the Corolla and Elantra on raw volume rather than on any deserved reputation issue.
This is not the cheapest way into a compact sedan, and it is not the roomiest. It is, however, the one that makes a mundane errand feel less like a chore, and in a market saturated with competent-but-numb alternatives, that is worth paying for.