The Better Compact Sedan

Being popular doesn't always mean being cool. Take the Honda Civic, for example. They've been around for quite a while. Those buggers are economical, affordable, and reliable. Then they were cool thanks to the tuner crowd. However, these days, the only cool NEW civic is the factory Civic Si. With each generation, the Civic design seem to change radically, unlike the Toyota Corolla. The change in design this time around is much more sleeker and futuristic looking.

My mom owned a previous generation Civic (1999), which got totaled in an accident. She is now looking for a new car to replace it. So the new Civic better than the old one my mom owned?

Exterior
As far as looks go, the 2008 Honda Civic is sleek and stylish. It looks so completely different than any other previous Civic designs that it could be mistaken as a different car. It looks more future looking - almost like a space ship. In fact, I believe they took some of the styling cues from their hydrogen car, the Honda Fusion. It is a very exciting look that keeps my head still turning, even though the design hasn't changed from last year.

The hood is short and stout, and looks as if the engine doesn't even live there. The windshield is large, but doesn't make the car look tall. Instead, the large glass slopes back, giving it a sleek profile.

From the side, the sleek future theme continues, with a smooth roof line that seem to have been formed on paper with a single pen stroke.

The overall size of the new Civic seem to have grown a bit longer, but not so much so as the 99 Civic my mom had wasn't that much smaller.

Interior
Inside, the interior was radically redesigned as well. It has a dash that looked as if was inspired by the Starship Enterprise. From the dual-split gauge that uses a digital readout for the speedo, to the floating look of the steering wheel.

Despite this, the control layout is typical of Honda, which is good if you've owned any Honda cars within the last decade. They are intuitive and do not require you to refer to the manual.

The stereo is where things changed a lot. Unlike the previous Civic we've had, the stereo seem more integrated into the dash. It no longer look like a standard DIN head unit that can be easily replaced. The display is much larger, and is a pleasure to look at. It is as large as the one found on the new Corolla, but is much cooler to look at since it is back lit with blue. It is a single disc MP3 and WMA player, which is great alternative to CD changers. It was easy to operate without a peep into the manual, and sounds pretty good for a stock unit. Bass, treble, and mids were blended very well. Sure there is not hard thumping bass, but I didn't expect any for a factory stock system.

The gauges of the Civic is just crazy looking. You'll either love it or hate it. My mom didn't get used to it during the test drive. The split gauges allow the vitals such as your speed, fuel, and water temperature within sight, much like a heads-up display. You don't have to move your line of sight too far from the road to get this kind of important information. The lower part of the gauges are located in the more familiar area and consist of an over-sized tachometer (great for stick shift drivers), as well as those idiot lights that indicate your seat belt, emergency brakes, and more. Your odometer and trip meter is located just below the large tach. While my mom wasn't fond of this, I was quite enamored with this arrangement.

Seating is comfortable for 4, but can be cramped in the rear if you decide to stuff one more person. It is surprisingly roomy in the rear, even with the front seats pushed back. It is an aspect of a compact car neither my mom or I expected. In the front, it was comfortable, but with my mom's small stature, she found herself pulling the seat forward. This gave the rear seat just behind her cavernous leg room.

It may be the low roof line that gives this Civic a sleek look, but it doesn't seem to impact the headroom all that much. I was still able to sit in the back without feeling claustrophobic. Visibility is pretty good, thanks to a lower belt line compared to the new Corolla. Rear windows were large enough to peer through, as well as the one on the rear deck.

The glove compartment was pretty big, but not as impressive as the Corolla's dual-decker design. You can hide more of your stuff in the Corolla than the Civic. The dash seem to float above the floor, giving you more room to place things behind the shifter.

Still, my mom felt that the Corolla felt more spacious than the Honda Civic, despite what others have said in published reviews (Civic have more room than the Corolla, they say).

The trunk space is just as spacious as the previous Civic, but not as much as the new Corolla. The folding 60/40 rear seats adds the flexibility for longer items. The pass through from the truck to the rear interior isn't as large as I would like, however.

Ride and Handling
With a 1.8 liter 4 cylinder engine that pushes out 140 hp and 128 lb/ft of torque, the Civic LX we tested feels about right. From a stop, it was able to push us into the back of the seat on hard accelerations, and seem to hold it's own when merging with traffic. It feels powerful enough to make you feel safe, as if you can hold your own and not be run over by other more powerful cars on the road. This is comforting to know for drivers in the city trying to get on a busy expressway. The small power output also surprised us since it was able to whisk the larger and heavier chassis while giving a 27 city, 36 hwy fuel economy rating, which is 1 MPG higher than the Corolla.

The automatic transmission was good enough not to hunt gears on slight grades, but living here in the flat lands of the Midwest doesn't really give us the opportunity to test this at speed like our west coast friends. It changes gear very smoothly and without notice, unlike our previous Civic.

Brake feel was solid and allow the driver to feel confident enough to haul the sleek body down to a quick stop. The body does dive a bit, but that is to be expected in an economy compact sedan. Pedal feel is much better than the Corolla, as it feels less numb and transfer more road feel. In a way, the Civic feels alive while the Corolla doesn't really give you any feelings at all.

The suspension here is the best for a daily driven car. It's soft enough to absorb mild bumps and disturbances on the road. Turn ins were much sportier in feel than the Corolla. While there still some body roll in hard cornering, it felt very composed and confident inspiring. You can feel the chassis communicate with the driver better than the Corolla. Still, on bumpy roads, it absorbs them pretty well. You can feel more of the bumps compared to the Corolla, however.

Steering feel is crisp and responsive for a economy compact. It was a refreshing feel after test driving the Corolla. The Corolla's steering was less eager by comparison. This wasn't noticed by my mom, as she commented that it felt the same. You probably should test drive the car yourself to see if you find any difference between the Civic and the Corolla.

To me, they feel completely different considering that they are vying for the same market.

Conclusion
In my opinion, the Civic felt much better than the Corolla in the test drive. Overall, I would pick it. however, the asking price for the Civic LX was a strict sticker price based off the MSRP. They did not want to budge on the price as they explained that cars like the Civic and Fit were "hot items". The MSRP for the Civic LX with an automatic transmission, power locks and windows, keyless entry, and not much else (ABS included) seem to edge the $18,550 mark. After taxes, doc fees, and whatever the dealer tacks on, it would be north of $20k.

The price of the new Corolla was about the same, but the dealer we were working with allowed for the price to go down to $17k, which allowed us to take the car home at the same MSRP price of the Civic (OTD price). The difference in price was about $2000. Even though our Honda salesperson was made aware of this, he claim the price of the Civic and Fit could not be negotiated. He even told us to go get the Corolla instead! Perhaps he didn't believe us.

Since my mom didn't care about the feel of the drive (she is more of function over form), and the "numb" Corolla to her meant a quiet and more luxurious ride (too floaty for me though), she decided to go with the 2009 Corolla.

Overall, I personally felt the Civic was the better car. My mom felt the Corolla was the better car. The lesson here is that one person's pick may not be yours, so drive for yourself and decide!

Oh, I do agree with my mom still - despite the fact that I like the Civic more, with a $2000 savings, I'd go with the Corolla, too.