It's hard to find a more competitive new car market than the compact class. And it's more than just price, as the number of entries has skyrocketed in recent years.

Honda once led the class, in every measure that mattered, from performance to price to quality to pizzazz. And just as important image-wise, Honda led the hot, sport compact niche. In fact, many credit Honda with unknowingly creating the sport compact craze with the Civic CRX.

In recent years, however, the four-door Civic, the sedan that carried the water for the company, has been more bland than beautiful, more efficient than exciting.

No more. With the redesigned, restyled, rejuvenated 2006 Honda Civic models, the company has returned to the fray with renewed energy.

Across the line, there's more power, improved ride and handling, and better people packaging. There are more choices as well: a sporty new Civic Si coupe, a fully populated tier of coupes and sedans with new engines and transmissions, and a more efficient and effective Hybrid sedan. The jury's still out on some of the more ambitious styling ventures, but overall, the new swoopy look turns heads and generates smiles.

Prices start at $14,560 MSRP for the base coupe with a 140-horsepower four-cylinder engine and five-speed manual transmission and top out at $22,150 for the gas/electric Hybrid sedan. In between there's a sedan listing at $15,560 with the new five-speed automatic. The Si starts at $20,290. There are other cars in the class that undercut these figures, but the Civic includes important safety features, including antilock brakes and side-impact airbags as standard equipment, that many others leave on the option list.