The 2022 Honda Civic was recently revealed and with its new generation came a completely new look inside and out. Additionally, the 11^th-generation Civic has an updated chassis and tech upgrades that improve its overall driving experience. But is a manual transmission one of them?

The 2022 Honda Civic comes in four different trim levels

For the 2022 model year, the Honda Civic is now available in four different trim levels: LX, Sport, EX, and Touring. Road and Track notes that the entry-level Civic trims will be outfitted with a 2.0-liter, naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine that produces 158 hp and 138 lb-ft of torque.

Opting for the higher EX and Touring trims will give you a more potent turbocharged, 1.5-liter engine that pushes out 180 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. For anyone keeping score, these two engine choices are the same ones offered in the previous generation of Honda’s compact car, but they both have a little extra power.

Just as before, the power from both engines will be sent to the front wheels and they are both mated to a CVT transmission. Sorry, fellow enthusiasts, there is no six-speed manual transmission being offered this time around.

Honda doesn’t want to save the manuals, but the CVT is good

Despite the fact that the new Honda Civic won’t be available with a manual transmission, there are some highlights to the car’s CVT. If you’re not familiar with it, a continuously variable transmission uses two pulleys and a belt, as opposed to transmission gears like a normal automatic.

One pulley connects to the engine while the other is connected to the transmission. The belt then transfers power in between them. While a normal automatic transmission has a fixed amount of gear ratios (i.e. six speeds), a CVT has an infinite amount of ratios, which “shift” the engine into the optimal RPM range at every speed.

The result is the feeling of having a single gear, or speed, that goes up to redline when you smash the accelerator. But it also allows the engine to cruise at a comfortable RPM when you’re on the highway. And although many driving enthusiasts will frown at the fact that they shift their own gears in the new Civic, the rest of the population will enjoy the car’s smooth acceleration and reliable CVT.

Do any of the Honda Civic models offer a manual transmission?

We don’t have any official word yet from Honda, but MotorTrend thinks that the forthcoming Civic Hatchback could come with a manual transmission. There are also no details on the Civic Si and Civic Type R models yet either, but it’s safe to say that those two will come with a three-pedal setup like before.

As driving enthusiasts ourselves, we’re sad to see an omission of the manual transmission on the regular Civic. Especially since the Toyota Corolla still offers one.

However, we can’t blame Honda considering most car buyers nowadays would rather have an automatic transmission, there’s no point in spending more time and money engineering a car with a transmission that 95% of the population doesn’t care for.