Honda Civic 2020 Review: A comparison of the US-spec version with the current updated PH Civic

Even after 10 generations and after countless changes made, the Honda Civic remains one of the most popular cars not only in the Philippines but also around the world. Now currently, with the 10^th generation Honda Civic 2019 along with the incredible 2019 Civic Type R, the Honda marque offers the most smiles per kilometer as well as providing great practicality and comfort for its users.

As most Honda guys here in the Philippines know, the Civic throughout the ages has become a number of things; there was this time that it was a hatchback with the range of Honda Civic 2020 model as well as here in the Philippines in the past with the famous EK models.

>>> Related: 2021 Honda Civic: Expectations and what we know so far

2020 Honda Civic Hatchback is available for US market

There’s also that time when the Civic had dramatically grown in size which happened during the Civics’ seventh generation where it turned from a subcompact into a compact. And lastly, for the Civic 10^th generation which was released way back in 2016 where the manual variants disappeared.

For us though, the 10^th generation Honda Civic has been going strong since 2016 and now, this year, Honda Philippines gave the model a slight refresh so we’ll discuss that.

Also, for this Honda Civic 2020 Review articles from Philkotse.com, we’re going to discuss the changes made to the American Civics’ variants specifically their RS equivalent which is the 2020 Honda Civic Si and the upcoming 2020 Honda Civic Sport Touring hatchback.  Because, you know, just to see what we’re missing out on.

For the recently updated 2019 Honda Civic which is currently available in the Philippines, it has the same exterior look overall. It’s still very aggressive upfront with a set of thin headlights and at the rear; the taillights’ shape and the contours of the rear bumper appear to look the same as with the old one.

A lot of the parts are also blacked out providing a bit of contrast with the bright colors of the Civic’s body.

Here's the recently updated 2019 Honda Civic RS Turbo for the Philippines

For the Americans who also has a hatchback version, the new Honda Civic 2020 gets more exterior improvements like a set of matte-black 18-inch wheels. In comparison to our recently updated Civic’s wheels, we only get a choice of either metallic to allow wheels or shark gray for the base model’s 16-inch set and the RS does get an 18-inch set but otherwise, no matte black.

The Americans, on the other hand, are getting this, the 2020 Honda Civic Si

The rear of the 2020 Honda Civic Si looks very much like a toned-down version of the Type Rs.

Moving on to the 2020 Honda Civic Sport Touring hatchback which is also for the Yanks, it gets an all-new 18-inch design which looks very modern, a mesh type lower grille, and a new look for the fog light housing.

Another variant is the 2020 Honda Civic hatchback, a more sedate Civic suited for cruising

With regards to changes made to the interior, let’s start with the Us-spec 2020 Honda Civic.

The 2020 Honda Civic Si interior now comes with red stitching all around which is reminiscent from the Honda Civic Type R’s interior. For the 2020 Honda Civic Sport Touring hatchback, Honda went out of their way to provide a more tactile feel by providing actual buttons for the air conditioning and the infotainment system.

There’s also the steering-wheel buttons which Honda has appeared to optimized to ease of use. And lastly, the 2020 Honda Civic Sport Touring now comes with more cup holders.

The interior of the 2020 Honda Civic Si

The one on the 2020 Honda Civic Sport Touring

In comparison, our recently updated Philippine spec Honda Civic interior also comes with colored stitching which of course contrasts beautifully with the very dark interior. These can be found on the steering wheel, the seats, and on the side panels. Like the American 2020 Civic versions, our versions also get power-adjustable leather seats albeit those can only be found on the 1.5 RS Turbo.

As for its infotainment system, the 1.5 Turbo RS just like the 2020 Honda Civic Sport Touring gets physical buttons for its air-conditioning and a dial for the volume control. Aboard the 1.8 E however, you will still need to fiddle with the touchscreen to control the audio. Both Philippine spec variants do come a number of connectivity options like Bluetooth, smartphone linking, etc.

And here's the one on the facelifted 2019 Honda Civic for the Philippines

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When it comes to the stuff under the hood, the current, recently refreshed Philippine spec Honda Civic gets two engine options; a 1.8 liter than makes around 139 horsepower and 174 nm of torque, and a more powerful 1.5-liter turbo with a max output of 170 horsepower and 220 nm of torque. All variants come with a CVT and power are sent to the front wheels.

This is where the Yanks leave us in the dust. For the all-new 2020 Honda Civic Si, it’s 1.5-liter turbo inline-4 which is quite similar to the one on the current Honda Civic in the Philippines market, makes a LOT more oomph at 205 horsepower and 260 Nm.

The Si also gets a six-speed manual with the only similarity to the RS is the front-wheel-drive. The 2020 Honda Civic Sport touring’s 1.5 liter does get a similarly powered engine to the Civic RS at 180 horsepower but unlike ours, it does get a six-speed manual similar to the one found on it’s more powerful Si brother. Ouch.

Is the NEW 2020 Honda Civic Sport Hatchback the PERFECT compact car?

Just like the new American 2020 Honda Civic variants, our current Honda Civic 2019 does come up to par in terms of passive safety. Our version does get the same amount of airbags, ABS with EBD, stability control, ISOFIX, and an engine immobilizer with a security alarm.

With the updated Philippine-spec Honda Civic, it appears that we’re up now to par with the American 2020 Honda Civics’ in-terms of having the Honda Sensing safety system. The aforementioned system includes lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, road departure mitigation, forward-collision warning, which are all tied up to a very advanced collision mitigation braking system.

So yeah, we can definitely say that for now, the American 2020 Honda Civic Si and the 2020 Honda Civic Sport Touring is just as good as our currently available Honda Civic in terms of safety.

Here’s the current pricing of the Philippine, 2019 Honda Civic

>>> Refer to our Honda Civic for sale section for more affordable options

Compare that to the pricing of the American’s all-new 2020 Honda Civic variants:

Take note however that taxation and other related fees are not yet taken into consideration with the converted Philippine peso values on the table above. But regardless, it is plain to see that the Yanks are paying just about the same as us or to some degree even less when factoring in the additional new stuff that they’re getting with their 2020 Honda Civic updates which include more powerful engines, and Honda’s manual transmissions which are known to be really good.

Also, the pedals on the Si are spaced just about the same with the Honda Civic Type R’s so it’s great if you want to perform some rev-matching techniques like heel-toe shifting.  

As of now, it is logical to surmise that Honda Philippines won’t be bringing in a major update for the 2020 Civic in lieu of the recent 2019 facelift. For the Americans however, it is plain to see that American Honda Motor Co. Inc. is quick to update their Honda models and in fact, they actually need to.

Their car market over there in North America is FAR larger than ours here in the Philippines and that means that competition among car manufacturers are much more cut-throat than here. Their cars, especially in part of Japanese branded ones like Honda, also have the need to perform well on North America’s very long stretches of highways which are definitely more suited for more powerful cars.

We wouldn't mind having the 2020 Honda Civic Si here the Philippine too!

Regardless of that, we remain optimistic that sometime in 2020, we’ll get to see some improvements to our Philippine Spec Civic variants. We just hope that it isn’t another visual update and instead is something more significant like bumping up the Civic RS’s power output and/or providing a chance for Filipinos to once again bask in the glory of manual Civic.

To keep up this optimism, there’s also the confirmation that the new 2020 Honda Civic Type R is coming this year but with regards to that, we’ll have to talk about it another time. Regardless, we’re quite looking forward to that.

 As such, keep yourself posted here on Philkotse.com because whenever an update comes to our version of the 2020 Honda Civic comes because we’re definitely not missing it!

>>> Read more in-depth car reviews on Philkotse.com