The current lineup of new Hondas is more technologically advanced than ever before while maintaining the accessibility, thriftiness, and reliability the capable yet humble Japanese brand has always been known for. Now available at your local Honda dealer, these vehicles all showcase the unique philosophy of elegant simplicity that Honda has championed from the company’s inception. The same philosophy that over time took the little automaker in post-war Japan to multiple IndyCar and Formula One wins at the highest levels of international racing, not to mention the respect and admiration of car enthusiasts and everyday drivers across the globe.
Practical and Fun Cars
The name that really put Honda on the map globally is still very much alive, with the extremely long-lived compact car model now thriving well into its tenth generation. This is the Civic, a car that has stayed true to its honest and simple people’s car roots, despite growing in size and sophistication. The current Civic comes in several configurations, including a four-door sedan, a practical hatchback, and a sleek two-door coupe. The Civic remains cheap to buy and maintain while gaining the ability to be optioned to any owner’s tastes. Whether the buyer needs the thrills of a sport compact or the prodigious storage space of a hatchback, the Civic can be ordered to suit.
While the Civic platform hosts just about anything one could want from a car in the full breadth of its trim list, the most common and notable Civic lineups are fourfold. The Civic Sedan offers the most frugal variant, with fuel-sipping naturally aspirated engines included in the LX and Sport trims. Lightweight and efficient turbocharged engines power the rest of the range, including the EX and EX-L trims of the Civic Sedan and all available trims of the Civic Hatchback. The Hatchback offers even more space with it’s raised rear roofline, not to mention a futuristically stylish rear end.
The Si and Type R variants are designed to thrill, all while retaining the practicality and reliability of their more standard siblings. The Si takes the already capable turbocharged engine of the mainline Civic and cranks up the boost, giving appropriate oomph to a light and nimble chassis. The Si is perfect for darting around town, especially considering how inexpensive it is. While the Si will surprise one’s friends, the Type R will embarrass much larger and more expensive sports cars. The current Type R is the first generation made available in North America, as well as the fastest and most powerful Civic ever to reach mass production.
For those looking for a more spacious and mature vehicle than the plucky Civic, the midsized Accord provides both style and plush comfort in spades. The Accord also features an array of modern technology to make cruising the highway easier and safer than ever before. From standard Honda Sensing to advanced infotainment, the Accord makes driving safer and more comfortable. It also makes driving more efficient, with an EPA estimated gas mileage ratings of 48 MPG combined for the available hybrid variant.
Comfortable Crossovers and Minivans
The cars of Honda’s modern lineup are impressive, but the bread and butter of Honda sales are the family haulers. These machines can whisk groups of people to and from their destination in comfort and legendary Honda safety, all at an impressive Honda price.
The first generation CR-V was one of the very first crossovers, which have SUV-like bodies built on top of car chassis. This combination offers the supple handling and ease of use that people have become familiar with in cars, with much of the cargo and passenger hauling utility of earlier body-on-frame SUVs. The current CR-V continues this tradition of making a vehicle capable of heavy lifting plush to drive, retaining the ability to pack in both people and things while remaining surprisingly lightweight to bolster efficiency.
The HR-V is Honda’s new small crossover – a light and nimble vehicle that is easy to park and easy to thread between tight city streets. Fitted with a 1.8-liter engine and available with all-wheel-drive, the HR-V can handle just about anything thrown at it. Cargo volume is an impressive 23.2 cubic feet with the rear seats upright when AWD is optioned, and that number only expands when the FWD model is chosen. With the rear seats folded down, a cavernous volume of up to 58.8 cubic feet is opened up.
That amount of cargo space is very impressive for a compact crossover, but when practicality and space are paramount, only a minivan will do. The Odyssey is Honda’s long-running minivan contender, packing a capable 3.5 liter V6 under the hood that provides more than enough punch to move all the people and things that fit quite comfortably in the cavernous and comfortable interior of the Honda Odyssey.
Capable SUVs and Trucks
Honda is mostly known for its small and medium-sized vehicles, which have historically emphasized lightweight solutions and efficient, simple engineering. This contrasts dramatically against the stereotypical SUVs and pickup trucks of the world, brimming with power and hulking frames.
Perhaps as would be expected, Honda took a different approach with its truck lineup. Honda’s SUVs and pickups are built like crossovers, on a lightweight and minimalist unibody architecture that cuts out the unnecessary weight and allows for much better gas mileage. This strategy can literally pay dividends at the gas station for those not using their truck for serious off-roading or heavy work.
The Passport still offers surprising amounts of off-road capability, thanks to optional all-wheel-drive and an intelligent traction management system. This system has settings for snow, sand, or mud and can help the Passport navigate out of situations that might otherwise get the vehicle stuck. As the adventurous SUV in the Honda lineup, its all-wheel-drive system is highly advanced, but it also includes features like a 9-speed paddle-shifted transmission.
The closely related Pilot has three rows of seats for getting people around town while also having more than enough space to load any cargo that needs to be moved in daily life. Like the Passport, it has a fuel-sipping yet stout 3.5-liter V6 engine under the hood that makes passing slow traffic on the highway happen in moments.
Finally, the current generation Ridgeline offers the utility of a pickup bed and tailgate without the excessive weight of mainstream pickups. This allows light-duty work to get done far more efficiently than would otherwise be possible and also provides unbeatable ride quality and handling. With a roomy interior and exterior dimensions that are much easier to fit in a parking space than other crew cab pickups, the Ridgeline is one of the most useful vehicles on the market today.
Honda Has it All
Honda has been building innovative and elegantly engineered vehicles for the better part of a century now, and most of them have not only been of commendable quality but of commendable affordability as well. These days the Honda lineup covers the full breadth of everyday needs as well as weekend thrills. Comfort, safety, reliability, and utility are all common threads that have given Honda vehicles their excellent reputation, and the same themes have led so many drivers to their local Honda dealer.
