2020 Honda Civic Hatchback vs 2021 Dodge Charger

Half a decade ago, Honda redesigned the Civic, positioning it against rivals like the Subaru Impreza and Toyota Corolla. For 2020, Honda made subtle tweaks to the Civic Hatchback's styling, including body-color crossbars on the air intakes, a new grille, and smoked headlights. New wheel designs also debuted. The top-of-the-line Sport Touring trim, with its Platinum White Pearl paint, garnered admiration from onlookers, who mistook it for a Type R. Inside, the Sport Touring trim featured stitched leather on the steering wheel, soft surfaces, and quality materials, though hard plastic was still present. The six-speed manual gearbox, previously reserved for Sport trim, was now available with Sport Touring trim, bringing the price to $28,980, including the destination charge.

The 2021 Dodge Charger, in its seventh generation since 2011, continued to be popular due to its numerous variants, including the top-tier SRT Hellcat Redeye. Dodge's design philosophy ensured that all Charger models shared a similar appearance, with subtle differences like Hellcat badging and widebody styling options. The Charger offered a range of tire, wheel, brake, and exterior color options, with 13 paint jobs available. The interior had been updated over the years, but still lacked some comfort and convenience features. Cloth seats were standard on most trims, with Nappa leather available on higher trims. The Charger’s fit and finish had improved, but it still featured a fair amount of hard plastic and rubberized surfaces.

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback, equipped with a turbocharged 1.5-liter 4-cylinder engine, produced 174 horsepower in LX, EX, and EX-L trims, and 180 horsepower in Sport and Sport Touring trims. Torque measured 162 lb-ft with the CVT and 177 lb-ft with the six-speed manual transmission. The front-wheel-drive Civic Hatchback offered a quiet, refined, and well-mannered engine. The transmission's clutch travel and gearbox throws were long, differentiating it from the Civic Si, which was tighter and tauter. The Civic Hatchback Sport and Sport Touring provided a softer, more compliant ride, wider seats, and a quieter cabin, making them easier to live with daily. The EPA rated the test car at 32 mpg in combined driving, and it achieved 32.7 mpg on the testing loop.

The 2021 Dodge Charger shone in performance, offering various powertrains. The SXT, SXT AWD, GT, and GT AWD were powered by a 3.6-liter V6 engine, delivering up to 300 horsepower and 264 lb-ft of torque. The Charger R/T featured a 5.7-liter HEMI V8, producing 370 hp and 395 lb-ft of torque, with a 1,000-pound towing capacity. The Charger Scat Pack models had a 6.4-liter HEMI V8, yielding 485 hp and 475 lb-ft of torque. The Charger SRT Hellcat boasted a supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V8, making 717 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. The top-tier SRT Hellcat Redeye had a supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI high-output V8, producing 797 hp and 707 lb-ft of torque. The SRT Hellcat Redeye was the least fuel-efficient, with an EPA-estimated 12 mpg in the city, 21 mpg on the highway, and 15 mpg combined. The Charger offered a connected driving experience, with configurable drive modes and Performance Pages for SRT models.

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback offered 25.2 cubic feet of cargo space, slightly more than the Honda HR-V Touring. While it couldn't match the HR-V for maximum volume, the Civic's performance and fuel efficiency made up for it. The driver's seat was low, but the Sport Touring's heated leather front seats provided ample thigh support. The center console storage area was long and deep, with a sliding armrest, tray, and cupholders. Rear seat comfort and legroom were good, but the lack of air-conditioning vents and dark tinted rear glass made it less comfortable for passengers.

The 2021 Dodge Charger functioned well as a family car, with a spacious back seat and comfortable accommodations. The instrument cluster varied by model, with different speedometer readings. The steering wheel provided easy-to-reach buttons, and paddle shifters were available on all but the base model. A 60/40 split-folding rear seat expanded the already-spacious trunk. Compared to other large cars, the Charger had about average cargo space.

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback featured a stylish dashboard with digital instrumentation and a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system in all but LX trim. The Sport Touring trim included Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, satellite radio, text-messaging support, a navigation system, a quick-charging USB port, and a 12-speaker premium sound system. Automatic climate control and Smart Entry with Walk Away Auto Lock were standard on most versions.

The 2021 Dodge Charger came with standard features like push-button start, a rearview camera, rear parking sensors, a six-speaker audio system, four USB ports, Bluetooth, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, satellite radio, keyless entry, and a 7-inch infotainment touchscreen. Available features included a sunroof, dual-zone automatic climate control, an 8.4-inch infotainment touchscreen, a six- or nine-speaker Alpine or a 19-speaker Harman Kardon audio system, HD Radio, navigation, and a WiFi hot spot. The Uconnect infotainment system was easy to navigate, but some functions were buried too deeply in menus.

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback included the Honda Sensing suite of advanced driving-assistance and collision-avoidance safety features as standard. This suite included forward-collision warning with automatic emergency braking, automatic high-beam headlights, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and Road Departure Mitigation. Adaptive cruise control was also standard. However, the Civic lacked a blind-spot monitoring system and rear cross-traffic alert. The 2020 Civic Hatchback did not earn a Top Safety Pick rating from the IIHS due to a Poor performance in the headlight category, but it received top marks for crash-test performance.

The 2021 Dodge Charger received a four-star overall safety rating from the NHTSA. Standard safety features included brake assist, electronic stability control, hill start assist, rear park assist, rain brake support, and a tire pressure monitoring system. Adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, forward-collision warning, lane-departure warning, and automatic headlights were available in some models.