The Civic Hatchback Mates Honda’s New 1.5-Liter Engine to a Manual Gearbox

2017 Honda Civic Hatchback

The 10th-generation Honda Civic has been the talk of the town with its more spacious cabin, sexy new look, and new turbocharged engine. In addition to these changes, the new Civic lineup will bring about the reintroduction of the hatchback model. Sadly, Honda made us wait a full model year before releasing the hatchback variant, but now we have all the major deals on the more cargo-friendly Civic.

The looks of the Civic Hatchback were already well known, so there is no surprise here. But the juicy details, like powertrain and cargo-hauling capabilities, are what we’ve been patiently waiting for.

The 2017 Civic Hatchback will be available in four trim levels—LX, EX, EX-L, and new Sport Touring—not including the wild Type R that it’ll be the basis for. In all four trims, it will come standard with the new 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine—no base 2.0-liter engine here. This engine packs decent power at 174 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque, but the Sport Touring trim ups the ante a bit with 182 horsepower, a high-flow center-mounted exhaust, LED headlights, heated rear seats, Honda Sensing, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and more.

2017 Honda Civic Hatchback (Credit: © Honda)

What’s even more exciting is that, unlike the 2016 coupes and sedans with the 1.5-liter engine, the 2017 hatchback will have an available six-speed manual transmission for the LX, EX, and Sport Touring trims. The EX-L will come standard with the existing CVT, which will also be an option on the three lower trims. With the CVT in place, Honda expects fuel economy ratings of 31 mpg city, 40 mpg highway, and 34 mpg combined.

As a hatchback, this new version of the Civic will also offer a roomier interior with a total of 122 cubic feet—the Civic Sedan only has 98 cubic feet of total interior space. Oddly enough, the hatchback’s 36 inches of rear-seat legroom is a good bit less than the Civic Sedan’s 37.4 inches. Then again, the real reason for buying a hatchback is cargo room, and I am confident the Civic Hatchback easily bests the sedan’s 15 cubic feet of cargo room.

Full details, including pricing, will come as we near the fall release of the first-ever five-door Civic Hatchback in the U.S. Stay tuned for updates.