5 reasons why the 2016 Honda Civic is named overall 'Best Buy' [price, release date, review, features]

The guys behind Kelley Blue Book has named the 2016 Honda Civic the overall Best Buy winner besting 300 other vehicles including some of the newest cars and trucks in the U.S. market today.

The automotive company headquartered in Irvine, California, which primarily provides research and valuation data of new and used vehicle prices, analyzed extensive values and conducted vehicle testing and evaluation to come up with this year's Best Buy Awardees in 12 categories.

"'Game-changing' isn't a term we use lightly, but it's apt for the 2016 Honda Civic. All-new and now in its 10th generation, Honda's venerable compact car has thrown down the gauntlet for the rest of the segment. Thanks to a top-to-bottom revamp, Honda's latest Civic is the most sophisticated yet -- and will leave competitors scrambling to catch up," wrote KBB on their website.

The Honda Civic also took home the award for the small car category in a pool which also includes the 2016 Toyota Corolla, 2016 Subaru Impreza, 2016 Scion iM and 2016 Hyundai Elantra. Last year, the 2015 Honda Civic also bagged the same award. KBB lauded the new Civic for being stylish, refined and tech-savvy, while sporting a powerful and efficient new powertrain in a price that comes just under $20,000.

1. The new Honda Civic is larger than its predecessor. Kelly Blue Book even said that it could pass for a mid-size car in terms of comfort and convenience despite its price as a compact car. The interior offers enough space for its adult passengers and provide snuggeries for storing stuff, and it also has a big trunk.

2. While the dimensions were stretch by around one to three inches for the wheelbase, length and width to make the 2016 Civic bigger, the engineering team from Honda also designed it to be lighter. This will ensure that the vehicle will be more fuel-efficient.

3. One of the valuation company's complaints on the previous Honda Civic was also addressed in this latest installment. The busy two-tier dash layout was replaced with a simpler touchscreen display featuring state-of-the-art applications like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

4. The Japanese automaker has also laid out some active safety features for the new Civic. This includes the LaneWatch system that eliminates the blind spot for drivers giving them better view of the road, wrote Gospel Herald.

Also, available is Honda's driver assist features called Honda Sensing, which includes lane departure prevention, adaptive cruise control and automated braking function to prevent collision with other cars or pedestrians.

5. The performance will also be better with the Civic base models to be powered by a 2.0-liter double-overhead-cam, 16-valve, four-cylinder engine delivering 158 horsepower and 138 pound-feet of torque, while the more premium models by the turbocharged 1.5-liter double-overhead-cam, direct-injected four-cylinder engine for 174 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque. It also comes with the sporty continuously variable transmission or CVT.

And, best of all, you can have all the goodness from the 2016 Honda Civic at a starting price of $18,640. The touring models can cost up to $26,500, Tucson.com wrote.