2020 Honda Civic Hatchback vs 2021 Nissan Maxima

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback, redesigned half a decade ago, continued to evolve with subtle tweaks in 2020. The new styling included body-color crossbars on the air intakes, a refreshed grille, and smoked headlights. New wheel designs also made their debut. The top-of-the-line Sport Touring trim, with its Platinum White Pearl paint, garnered admiration for its striking contrast against glossy black detailing. Inside, the Sport Touring trim featured stitched leather on the steering wheel, soft surfaces, and quality materials, although hard plastics were still present. The six-speed manual gearbox, previously exclusive to the Sport trim, was now available with the Sport Touring trim, bringing the price to $28,980, including the destination charge.

The 2021 Nissan Maxima, as a flagship sedan, set the tone for other Nissan models with its bold styling elements like the “floating” roofline and “V-Motion” grille. The Maxima distinguished itself with a steeply-angled front end and massive grille, giving it an Art Deco locomotive appearance. The 40th Anniversary Edition featured a two-tone exterior, model-specific 19-inch gloss-black alloy wheels, and red semi-aniline leather upholstery. The interior was dressed up with dark-red leather seats and white gauge faces, adding a stylish and functional touch. The Maxima's design emphasized a driver-centric cabin, although rear-seat passengers experienced a cramped feeling due to the inboard positioning of the seats.

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 pound-feet with the CVT and 177 lb-ft with the 6-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 the driving experience from the Civic Si. The Civic Hatchback provided a softer and more compliant ride, wider seats, and a quieter cabin, making it easier to live with on a daily basis. The EPA rated the test car at 32 mpg in combined driving, and it achieved 32.7 mpg on the testing loop.

The 2021 Nissan Maxima featured a 3.5-liter V6 engine producing 300 horsepower and 261 pound-feet of torque, paired with a CVT and front-wheel drive. The Maxima felt quick and the V6 engine sounded great. The CVT responded quickly, meting out power effectively. The Maxima was agile for a big sedan, but the steering lacked feel and precision, and the front end lacked grip, leading to torque steer under heavy throttle. Despite these limitations, the Maxima felt rock-solid during highway cruising, with a quiet cabin and comfortable ride. The Maxima's stiff suspension improved handling, but the ride remained comfortable over most road imperfections.

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback offered 25.2 cubic feet of cargo space, slightly more than the Honda HR-V Touring. While the Civic Hatchback couldn't match the HR-V for maximum volume, it provided better acceleration and fuel efficiency. The driver's seat offered ample thigh support, but the passenger seat lacked a height adjuster. 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 passengers uncomfortable on hot days.

The 2021 Nissan Maxima provided generous front headroom and legroom, but rear headroom and legroom were limited. The inboard positioning of the seats created a cramped feeling, despite the generous front space. The Maxima featured Nissan's “Zero Gravity” front seats, designed for optimum support with eight-way power adjustment for the driver and four-way power adjustment for the passenger. The Maxima had 14.3 cubic feet of cargo space, the least among its competitors. The sedan's conventional trunk was less practical compared to the hatchbacks of the Kia Stinger and Volkswagen Arteon.

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback featured a stylish dashboard with digital instrumentation and a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system in all but the 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. The Civic Hatchback also offered automatic climate control and Smart Entry with Walk Away Auto Lock, providing keyless entry and automatic door locking.

The 2021 Nissan Maxima came standard with an 8-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and a built-in WiFi hotspot. USB-A and USB-C ports were located in a cubbyhole for convenient phone storage. An 11-speaker Bose audio system was available. However, the Maxima's infotainment system had dated graphics and small icons, making it difficult to navigate menus while driving. The notification sounds were also confusing. Nissan provided analog controls, including shortcut buttons for most touchscreen menus and knobs for climate control and audio volume/tuning.

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback included the Honda Sensing suite of advanced driving-assistance and collision-avoidance safety features as standard equipment. This suite included forward-collision warning with automatic emergency braking, automatic high-beam headlights, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and a Road Departure Mitigation system. Adaptive cruise control was also standard. However, the lane-keeping assist lacked smoothness, and the adaptive cruise control occasionally braked for no apparent reason. The Civic Hatchback did not have a blind-spot monitoring system or rear cross-traffic alert, relying on LaneWatch for the right-side blind spot. The 2020 Civic Hatchback did not earn a Top Safety Pick rating from the IIHS due to Poor performance in the headlight category, but it received top marks for crash-test performance.

The 2021 Nissan Maxima received an IIHS “Top Safety Pick+” rating, with top scores in all crash tests and a “Superior” rating for front crash prevention tech. The NHTSA gave the Maxima a five-star overall safety rating. Standard safety features included automatic emergency braking, forward-collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-departure warning, automatic high beams, and rear automatic emergency braking. Optional features included adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, a driver-alertness monitor, and a 360-degree camera system. The Maxima did not have the ProPilot Assist system available in other Nissan models.