Unmistakable natural competition greets you with the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. These two names lock horns every year.
Both cars come from brands with stellar reputations for reliability and quality. Both models have the compact sedan build you desire. The question you’ll need to answer is “which car is right for you?” Maybe we can help you answer this question by comparing both of these impressive cars.
Which Compact Car has Better Ride Quality?
When looking for the most dynamic car in the compact sedan class, the Honda Civic is the car you want to drive. The Civic is much more confident on the road. Push hard in the corners and let the independent rear suspension do what it’s supposed to. You’ll love the way this car smooths out the road to give you the ride you desire. The Civic takes the honors with better 0-60 mph times when it comes to quickness. If you want a performance version, you’ll have to see what Honda offers with the Civic Si and Civic Type R. The Toyota Corolla doesn’t compare in the ride quality category.
Which Car Offers More Comfort in the Front Seat?
You’re going to drive your compact car, and you need to drive it every day without feeling cramped or uncomfortable. The Toyota has the most comfort for the driver and front passenger between the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. The seating has more padding, making it much easier for you to stay comfortable on long drives. If you’re going to drive your car every day, and with these two cars, that’s extremely likely, you’ll want to have the car with the most comfort for your daily commuting needs.
Honda or Toyota for the Technology Win
The technology package offered in the Corolla feels a bit dated, especially when you see what the Civic offers. This little Honda brings you a fully digital instrument cluster that is impressive and configurable. Rear passengers are greeted with two USB ports to keep their devices charged. The Corolla only has one port in the rear area. The center screen in the Honda is a nine-inch display which is an inch larger than any screen you can have in the Toyota. You’ll be glad to have the useful technology offered in the Civic when shopping for the right compact sedan.
Which Car Offers the Greatest Value?
Honda does not make a hybrid version of the Civic, but a hybrid Toyota Corolla is offered. If you want a hybrid Honda, you have to choose the Insight, a completely different car. The Insight starts at $26,225 compared to the Corolla Hybrid at $24,675. Fuel mileage for the Corolla Hybrid is 53 city/52 hwy mpg with a maximum driving range of 593 miles. You can have the efficiency you desire and pay a lower price when selecting the Toyota Corolla Hybrid.
Which Model Offers the Greatest Overall Interior Space?
You might think that the comfort of the Corolla would translate over to a more spacious cabin, but that’s not the case. The Civic has a longer wheelbase than the Corolla, giving the Honda more interior space for you and your passengers. In the Honda, front passengers have 42.3 inches of legroom while rear passengers enjoy 37.4 inches. The Corolla measures 42.0 inches in the front (coming extremely close to the Civic), but only 34.8 inches of legroom for rear passengers. The trunk space for the Honda Civic is also greater than for the Corolla, measuring 14.8 cubic feet compared to 13.1 cubic feet, respectively.
How Noisy Are These Two Compact Sedans?
Usually, the more affordable a vehicle is, the noisier it will be on the road. This is partially true of the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. These two cars are relatively noisy on the road, but you need to know which one is quieter. The Toyota is the quieter of the two models, giving you a more pleasant feeling during your drive. You might not notice the noise difference unless you drive these two cars back-to-back in a comparison test of your own.
Which Car Offers Better Safety Features?
Toyota and Honda offer excellent safety packages across the board. Both automakers give us catchy names for the safety packages with the Toyota Safety Sense and Honda Sensing packages. These names remind us of what they are made to do. The Honda Sensing is the more impressive of the two safety packages. This package has a display feature showing you all the vehicles around you in the instrument cluster display. The Honda package also provides steering assistance to keep you centered in your lane during your drive.
How Much Power Is Offered?
Toyota Corolla
Except for the hybrid model, the Toyota Corolla is offered with two different engines, both of which make use of a six-speed automatic transmission. The base engine for the L, LE, and XLE models is a 1.8-liter four-cylinder that makes 139 horsepower and 126 lb.-ft. of torque.
Choose the SE or XSE, and a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine powers the car. The SE trim comes with a six-speed manual transmission to make driving more fun. The power you’ll enjoy with either of these trims is 169 horsepower and 151 lb.-ft. of torque.
Honda Civic
Leaving the performance variants out of the mix, the Honda Civic brings two engines to the table. The LX and Sport trims use a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine mated to a CVT automatic transmission. This powertrain provides 158 horsepower and 138 lb.-ft. of torque.
Move up to the EX or Touring sedans of the Civic, and you have a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine paired with a CVT that has a larger torque converter than the base model. This powertrain gives you 180 horsepower and 177 lb.-ft. of torque for the drive.
Overall, the Honda Civic is the more powerful of these two cars, but if you don’t want a CVT, you’ll want to drive the Toyota Corolla.
Which Car Should You Drive?
The final verdict for these two compact sedans shows that you should drive the Honda Civic. The Civic is more powerful, more spacious, has better technology, and feels more mature during the drive. Even though the Toyota Corolla has a quieter drive, a hybrid option, and more comfort in the front seat, the Civic is the car you should drive every day.
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