The 2025 Honda Civic four-door Hybrid Sport Touring model – it’s a midcycle refresh, and it is bigger, stronger, better and, when delivered for my efforts, tied a 47.5-miles-per-gallon performance to a $32,000 sticker price.

The new one is 3 inches longer and 300 pounds heavier than the ’24 model. Featured is a new 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder engine with two electric motors producing 200 horsepower and 232 lb.-ft. of torque, replacing the old 180-hp, 1.5-liter engine.

With the hybrid in place, the ’25 model is rated at 50 miles per gallon in city driving and 47 mpg for the highway, with combined average of 49. I gave the Civic a good testing, with highway drives on three separate days, one of which was very windy.

Beginning on a Thursday, we left Reflections Salon in Eaton, drove north to Colo. 14, then east all the way to Sterling for a visit with Norma Wagner, Dave, Jana. In the wind all the way and back, I switched Drive Mode from Eco to Normal to Sport; it didn’t matter the mode, the wind was in control and held the mpg average to 43.9.

Destination the next day was Longmont, then over east to Colorado Boulevard and back through Johnstown and on to Greeley. An easy drive at relatively low highway speeds, some of which were 55-mpg limit, resulting in a remarkable 53.2 mpg.

Monday of the following week, the Civic showed its superb handling capabilities in a run into the mountains and onto the “peak-to-peak” road toward Nederland. That Colo. 7 stretch from Lyons to Peaceful Valley is a climb full of curve after curve after curve; the new-generation Civic retained an extremely solid feel, was well-planted in and out of the twists with barely a lean. The torque boost from the dual electric motors is an able assist to the 2.0-liter engine in getting up the hills. In 137 miles, it averaged 48.6.

Combining the three drives totaling 440 miles, the overall average was 47.5 miles per gallon.

Strong performance comes from the engine/electric motors combo. It is quick off-the-line, transfers power smoothly  between the engine and battery, while a linear-shift control system lends a feeling of shift points for the continuously variable transmission.

The four-door sedan has a structurally firm feel and rides very comfortably. The interior, with an upscale finish, is roomy. An attractive mesh band, housing the air vents, runs the width of the dash. Trunk space is 14.8 cubic feet.

The upper-level Sport Touring trim, including adaptive cruise and lane-keeping assist, carried a sticker price of $32,845. That is the least-expensive model I’ve driven this year; the Nissan Rogue a month ago was listed at $37,610.

Other features of the Honda for that price included 9-inch color touchscreen, Bose premium audio, power moonroof and heated front seats.

Four levels of regenerative braking are controlled by paddleshifters at the steering wheel.