Honda Civic 1.5 RS 2023 Review: Racerboy Wish Fulfilment

The Honda Civic is popular, it’s the obvious upgrade for many who are coming from the mid-range B-segment sedans and according to Honda, the 11th gen Civic held 81% of the C-segment market share in 2022 with close to 7,000 units sold in 9 months.

I drive a Saga FLX 1.6 SE (it sucks, I hate it), so any car other than the Saga FLX 1.3 is already an upgrade. Given the resale value of my car (about RM10k on Carsome), upgrading to a Civic was never an option, but it was still nice to pretend that I could. Many of my contemporaries can and do upgrade to the Civic however (or an SUV these days), and most have nothing but glowing reviews.

Also, my colleague won't shut up about how great it is. So did it live up to the hype?

Honda Civic 1.5 RS Interior and Exterior

The 10th gen Civic had very strong racerboy vibes with sharp lines and the signature ketam claw-shaped brake lights. The 11th gen however, looks more mature with fewer sharp lines weaving in and out of both the anterior and the posterior.

The front lip that connects with the grill did look like an overbite at first, but it kind of grew on me. The front profile is one of the things that it borrows from the Accord and I'm glad it did. I was afraid that after the FC, the Civic would start looking even more aggressive, like Toyota's overcorrection with the C-HR, which has been discontinued in Malaysia. You see? Go too hard on sharp lilnes and people don't like it either.

This maturity is followed up inside with the honeycomb patterns on the aircond strip, soft plastics, and leather wraps. There’s still the cheeky red leather stitching on the seats and the steering, which is welcome.

The RS version is clearly catered to racerboys with its black trims and all-black rims so being an old man, I can’t really comment on whether it looks good or not. You do you, racerboy.

Compared to the City 1.5 RS, the Civic does ride lower but once you’ve adjusted your seating, the height is not that jarring. There were some complaints about it being difficult to load kids into their chairs, but I found the lowered car actually helpful since I didn’t have to carry my children up to their seats.

There was some concern that there’s not a lot of headroom but it’s roomy back there with the seats lowered and plenty of legroom even with 2 car seats strapped in. It can almost rival some D-segment cars in terms of space for rear passengers.

If you’re upgrading from B-segment fare, the interior of the Civic is a significant bump in terms of looks and functionality. If you’re downgrading, for whatever reason, you’ll notice that this borrows plenty from premium D-segment cars, but upon closer inspection, doesn't hold up.

It borrows some of the mature elements from the Accord seen in the gear tunnel and aircon panel, but there’s no escaping that busy honeycomb middle that I, as a 36-year-old grump, can’t accept. It'll wow you the first time you see it, but the novelty quickly wears off.

Also, because I’m old, I need to mention the seats. Many reviewers seem to have glossed over this fact, but they’re not comfortable. It feels like they’ve put a piece of plywood at the base and it’s impossible to get into a comfortable position.

After driving just 30 minutes, I get aches in my tailbone and my back. Thinking I was insane, I looked online to see if there were others like me and found Reddit thread, this Lowyat forum thread, and these YouTube videos by JR Song and Autobuzz.

These seats are semi-leather and in the V spec, they're fully leather. I looked at comments on Lowyat and unfortunately the seats are equally uncomfortable on the fully leather V spec. There are solutions like these add-on cushions and JR Song suggests that maybe it will get softer over time. I'm not holding out hope for that though.

My colleague drove the Civic eHev 2.0L RS which had the same seats and mentioned it wasn’t uncomfortable for him and there are many reviews of the Honda Civic that do not mention in any way the uncomfortable seats.

So I think it really depends on the shape of your bum. If you’re blessed with the perfect posterior (like my colleague) for the car, you won’t ache. If you’re not, it’s time to get a cushion.

That said, the hard seats aren’t a dealbreaker and I’ll tell you why: the Civic is just so fun to drive.

How does the Civic 1.5 RS drive?

Many are being tempted by the siren song of the crossover or the SUV, but they don’t realise that a car can be practical and be fun to drive.

If you’re going from your B-segment car straight to an SUV, you’re missing out on the chance for a car to wow you with its drive. The Civic is the kind of car that makes you want to drive long distances and makes you realise that a car isn’t just a tool to get from A to B.

You’ll feel it in the way the car moves and how it directly responds to your inputs at the steering wheel. You’ll feel it around corners when you can turn at high speeds with assurance that the car will follow through and you’ll feel it when overtaking on a leisurely weekend drive

As a reviewer, I’m privileged to drive a wide range of cars and I do have a unique perspective that many won’t. Unless you’re wealthy and have plenty of cars in the garage, it’s hard to quantify just how much driving an SUV over a driver’s car like the Civic differs.

For example, I drove the Tiguan All-Space R-Line and while that 2.0 turbo engine brought some life back into my old bones, the act of driving was pretty sedate. I mentioned in that review that I didn’t mind driving it slow because it was just so comfortable to do so.

With the Civic 1.5 turbo engine, I wanted to push the machine and I wanted to feel it cruise on the highway. Any opportunity I saw, I’d rev it and enjoy the acceleration (safely and respectfully of course).

I think this is the reason why most people who buy the Civic slap on that cushion and stay quiet about the seats. The overall drive eclipses any issues you might have.

Now, if you’re a little more sensitive to noise like this old man, you’ll realise that at speeds of 140km/h the car does lose its composure.

Revving up to that speed is loud due to the CVT gearbox and though you’ll feel planted, wind and road noise will be noticeable at high speeds. I was quite surprised by this, but keep your spirited drives sustained at 120km/h and you’ll enjoy the ride.

How does it compare to the Civic e:HEV 2.0L RS?

I had an extremely brief ride with the Civic after I forcefully pried it kicking and screaming off my colleagues fingers and let me tell you that the e:HEV takes the drive up a huge notch.

Power delivery is direct from the electric motor and it gets up to speed without kicking up as much of a fuss as the 1.5 turbo engine brethren. On paper, the power and torque figures of the RS are slightly higher, but in practice, acceleration is clearly more linear in the RS and more immediate.

At idle, the car is completely silent and I had to fight the urge to hit the push start button. There’s also a wireless charger in the centre console, which is nice. Watch his take on the Civic below. Fare warning, he's a mega fan of the Civic so...

Watch the video review here.

An all-rounder for people who love driving

The boot is enormous (about 4 small sized travel bags), the rear and front room is great, and the modern touches like wireless phone connectivity make this an all-rounder that hits the needs of many young individuals or young families.

If you need more room for cargo, the seats fold, and as I mentioned, two baby chairs in the back still leaves plenty of room for a third passenger. Putting the car seats in also weren’t a problem space-wise which it surprisingly was in the Tiguan.

The Honda Civic 1.5 RS is yours for RM150,700 and the e:HEV 2.0L RS is RM166,500. Between the two, I’d go with the 2.0L RS for its better acceleration and fuel economy. I took the car from KL to Malacca on the weekend and clocked in 11.6km/l or 427.9km before the fuel light came on.

Maybe I was a little heavy footed and the jam from Seremban on a Sunday evening didn’t help things either, but that’s the kind of fuel economy you might expect from driving in the city with 2 jams every day.

For the price, I’d also recommend the Mazda 3 that borrows cabin features from the BMW and has an even superior driving feel. Though you’ll lose a lot of interior real estate with the Mazda 3.