The predicted acceleration of the Civic automatic compared to other compacts is erroneous. All direct comparisons between automatic compacts indicate that the Civic automatic is more amongst the slower to 100 Km/h than among the faster, but the transmission downshifts eagerly and is well geared to help passing maneuvers. Consumer Reports says they tested a Civic automatic that did 0-60 mph in 10,1 seconds, the same as the Focus automatic and the Elantra automatic and a tad slower than an automatic Corolla. The Mazda 3, the Lancer, the Cobalt and the Sentra all are half a second faster to 100 Km/h or more. Motortrend's comparison also indicated that automatic Lancers and Sentras are up to one second faster than the Civic to 60 mph.
For the Civic fans, they can seek consolation in the fact that it was faster than a Caliber automatic... though the Caliber accelerated faster after 30 mph. In Consumer Reports' testing, it took 6,5 additional seconds for the Civic to reach 60 mph after reaching 30 mph, versus 6,2 seconds for the Caliber.