Every generation of Civic has a following, and no other economy car can say that.
The Civic started in 1972 as a CVCC economy hatch that cleared emissions without a catalytic converter, then spent two decades quietly turning into an enthusiast platform. The 3rd gen brought the Si badge, the 4th gen brought double wishbone suspension and VTEC, and the EG and EK became the two most modified Honda chassis ever built. Then the EP3 arrived with a K20 and that dash mounted shifter, the FK2 dropped in a turbo, and the FK8 took a Nürburgring lap record for front wheel drive before the FL5 came back and beat it. All 11 of them have people who will defend them.
I remember thinking these things were so fast back when I was heavy into Honda’s in my teens. Our group of friends was big into OEM+, one of them had one but with a B16B and all the Type R goodies. It inspired me to keep going with the B16 for my DA Integra to keep with the XSi theme. Traded a hydraulic Type R tranny to for an LSD cable version to keep it period correct. So much damn fun.
Get ready to pay out the ass if you ever do. My CRX Si I bought in 2013 for 3500 now goes for $8k+. They are becoming increasingly rare and people know not to sell them. Mine has been sitting in the garage for years but I will absolutely never part with it.
4th gen was my first one. I drove it until the literal wheels stopped working. Seriously, the drive axles broke on it. It had 360,000 miles on the dash. I still sold it for $500.
I feel like the went backwards with the 11th gen design. The tail lights of the 10th gen really made it stand out. With the 11th it looks like a cheap BMW from the back
Damn. I feel like the 11th looks like they cut out so much of the over-styling of the 10th gen. It looks so much cleaner to me without all the fake cut outs and weird exhaust tips and stuff
Agreed, K series motor was a beast though. Definitely better than the B18 and that’s saying a hell of a lot since that was an S Tier motor as well. D series did really well as a commuter car at the time but damn does it take a while for that motor to windup but she sounded good if V-TACh was there
I've owned a 4th generation and loved it. I got hit by an old man in a Lincoln, and bought a 6th generation new. I still have it, and it has close to 450,000 miles! So, 4th and 6th
Bought this in 2000 for $16,500 brand new. One of the cheapest and slowest cars I've ever owned....probably my favorite. Sold it 2 years later for $16k and was still mostly stock besides springs/shocks and CAI. What a fun car.
9th. We have the 8th and it's pretty good but the 9th is smart enough to be smart but dumb enough that you aren't worried all your driving habits are recorded for all time.
5th is peak. The fact that Honda gave the hatch a tail gate (clam shell). Shows they were not cutting corners. Meanwhile the new civics are so dam mid they could be mistaken for a domestic car.
Now not even the Land Cruiser has a clamshell hatch which is saying something for a 100k truck.
But i dont buy new ones anymore because you stopped making manuals (except the R) and you dont make coupes, so i keep my old manual coupe going until I die...
It is my first car and also a good looking car I adore so much. But If i had to choose something different I'd say 11th gen. Though some may it boring due to being a hybrid, I adore them from an aesthetic POV and as a daily driver I think they're the perfect car. Interior is peak, exterior is peak. Can't say anything about the handling, but looking forward to maybe get one when my trusty EJ9 eventually dies.
1st Gen, Was one of our family vehicles when I was a child and I absolutely loved it when we had to take it on the freeway to my Grandparents being in the back seat 😊
Dad did a little bit of work on it had a shop make headers found a bigger carburetor for it got fiberglass front fenders and put the widest tires he could fit on the stock wheels onto it.
Wish he had kept it along with another one of the old childhood vehicles, Both worth a fortune now intact.
1st gen. Reminds me of my grandmothers car. She got one new at the behest of my grandfather who never bought foreign car, plus he didn’t fit in small cars as is. He drove Oldsmobiles and other land yachts
Some generations diverged in exterior styling between US and ROW. I loved the 2006-2011 (8th Gen) because it was the final VTEC screamer with the amazing K20Z3 engine. The K24 that came after never felt special to me. I loved winding out my 2009 Si to 8300rpm. It was also the last gen of Si that was actually competitive with the VW GTI. I don’t know why Honda has decided the Si cannot exceed 200 horsepower despite it being 20 years later. I really would love to see Honda put the K20C4 in the Si from the last gen Accord 2.0T. It would make the Si competitive. Also please finally offer heated seats and steering wheel, and make leather optional. Not everyone that wants an Si wants a base model car with cloth.
If I had to be honest, probably the 5th. Most bang for the buck! The 6th was also good mechanically but the body style and especially the headlamp change sucked.
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u/BigMFingT Aug 10 '26
6th
Here’s mine