2016 Honda Civic vs Toyota Corolla Comparison

[syncro87]

I've test driven the new civic and found it cramped compared to my corolla. The materials are cheap as well. I'm comparing a civic lx vs a base corolla. In the end, I have my fun car, and the corolla is a great appliance for commuting imo. Plus, you can't beat the cost of ownership over 10 years. I'm curious to see how all these turbo engines pan out over 10 years.

I'm a lot more concerned with long term reliability of the CVT vs. the turbo. The turbo is a lot cheaper to replace if need be. The Corolla might have had a reliability edge over the Civic before they went CVT. Now that both cars use them, I doubt there is much difference over the long haul in cost of ownership.

The Corolla is a good appliance for commuting. It struck me as offering absolutely nothing beyond that, though. Not one ounce of soul, joy, whimsy, or personality. Not a shred. The Honda Civic LX sedan, although certainly basic and imperfect, has a little bit of "we gave a crap" feel to it, as if someone on the development and engineering teams went a bit above and beyond the minimum. The Corolla lacks this. It's hard to quantify. The Toyota isn't a bad car at all. It will last a long time. It's just missing that tiny spark of joie de vivre.

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[chaidell]

I'm a lot more concerned with long term reliability of the CVT vs. the turbo. The turbo is a lot cheaper to replace if need be. The Corolla might have had a reliability edge over the Civic before they went CVT. Now that both cars use them, I doubt there is much difference over the long haul in cost of ownership.

The Corolla is a good appliance for commuting. It struck me as offering absolutely nothing beyond that, though. Not one ounce of soul, joy, whimsy, or personality. Not a shred. The Honda Civic LX sedan, although certainly basic and imperfect, has a little bit of "we gave a crap" feel to it, as if someone on the development and engineering teams went a bit above and beyond the minimum. The Corolla lacks this. It's hard to quantify. The Toyota isn't a bad car at all. It will last a long time. It's just missing that tiny spark of joie de vivre.

I have the last year of the corolla L (4spd) - 2016. It's actually a pretty decent transmission. smooth and obviously, doesn't hunt for gears. I've driven many CVT offerings from various manufacturers and I really find them laggy. I understand that the corolla lacks driver involvement compared to the civic, and if I wanted a commuter with a manual, the civic or most likely, the accord sport would be in my garage. However, my commute requires an auto, so I went with the corolla, and so far it's working out. THat being said, being an enthusiast, I wouldn't buy a corolla as my only car. The cayman has spoiled me tho, and I don't think there will ever be one car that achieve the best of both worlds.

 

[syncro87]

I have the last year of the corolla L (4spd) - 2016. It's actually a pretty decent transmission. smooth and obviously, doesn't hunt for gears. I've driven many CVT offerings from various manufacturers and I really find them laggy. I understand that the corolla lacks driver involvement compared to the civic, and if I wanted a commuter with a manual, the civic or most likely, the accord sport would be in my garage. However, my commute requires an auto, so I went with the corolla, and so far it's working out. THat being said, being an enthusiast, I wouldn't buy a corolla as my only car. The cayman has spoiled me tho, and I don't think there will ever be one car that achieve the best of both worlds.

The CVT in my 2014 non-turbo Civic was as you describe. Felt laggy. Totally different in the turbo cars. I find that CVTs work better with more powerful engines. I drove an Altima on vacation as a rental, it was fine. The less power the engine makes, the more obvious the warts of the CVT in my experience.

Yes, the antiqued 4 speed Corolla auto is a good choice for bombproof durability. Will likely be operating when giant radiated cockroaches are the only thing driving around.

The best of both worlds, i.e. no CVT and good chassis dynamics, is arguably the Mazda3. You get a real geared automatic with 6 gears, which is excellent. You get arguably slightly better handling than the Civic. There are two flies in the ointment, one-relatively low power compared to the turbo Civic, and two-rear seat isn't the most spacious. I think the case could be made, if you were turbo and CVT averse, that the Mazda3 would be the choice to go with over a Corolla.

 

[IronFusion]

Toyota needs the Celica back now, more than ever. For me, the only role for the Corolla is a decent not-too-large rental.

 

[Nexus90]

Gents I wanted to jump in on this as I own both cars now. Nvr in my life did I think I'd be the owner of a civic. Yet here I am in love with it. The biggest issue with toyota in comparison to all the other companies they are not concerned with the enthusiasts we got the frs/86 but in comparison to its brother or cousin the brz or even the similar built Genesis coupe it pales. Toyota only cares about one thing and that is their reputation among family minded buyers, now that is not to say honda isn't, but ultimately toyota has lost a lot of its fire. Look I love my corolla it has never let me down still love it, but my Civic is like a jet compared to my rolla. To make matters worse toyota made it super difficult to upgrade parts no one wants to make them, past your typical CAI, Exhaust, chip etc...upgrades there is almost nothing else you can do and at best it gets u to 180 maybe 190 HP I'm gonna tell you what brought to the "dark side" when I saw the current gen civic 4dr I was like that's a civic. Then maybe last yr august I saw the unveil of the hatch back ST in the color I have now the gun metal gray, I was like that is my next car. I was so excited just seeing it. Guys I shit you not I didn't test drive it or sit inside. I got into it the first time when it was brought from the final prep at the dealership. I was stunned by everything throttle response, the lighting, the design and of course who doesn't appreciate the turbo even if it is a small one. Look I won't lie to you if toyota just made a more aggressive corolla "sti-ify" it as an article said it would make that much of a difference in think. I didn't recognize the new generation civics as civics till I saw the logo, cause they were a legit remodel from the last gen. The corollas this gen still have a hint of the gen before them. Idk man its a damn shame cause like I said my rolla is damn work horse but that's about it. No "life" in it, fun fact toyota made the eco trim with more HP not much more but 10 more than the S trim and here I thought S stood for sport or some shit like that.

 

[Swordfish]

Does the Toyota Corolla S have more HP than a non Turbo Civic ?


I saw the Corolla S....the design is eh.....Toyota never has any fresh designs. Their style is incredibly bland.

I used to have a 2008 Toyota Corolla. I think it had as much horsepower as my Prius. Maybe even less. It was a nightmare merging on the freeway.

 

[HondaPro]

Toyota no longer makes the S. They have a SE Special Edition now and its..
Engine: 1.8L I-4 DOHC Dual VVT-i 4-cylinder 132 hp engine with 1.8-liter displacement, dual overhead cam valvetrain, variable valve timing.

Toyota Corolla =

 

[HayaiKuruma]

Toyota needs the Celica back now, more than ever. For me, the only role for the Corolla is a decent not-too-large rental.

Yes, yes, yes. The time to strike is now. Lots of auto manufacturers are getting nostalgic. Ford bringing back the Bronco and Ranger, the Civic Hatch, etc.. I had a Celica Fastback, orange, back in the day. What a fun manual tran. to drive.

If Toyota was smart, they would do it and do it right. It would fill a nice void between the Corolla and all the other small to mid Totoyta's.

 

[Nexus90]

Yes, yes, yes. The time to strike is now. Lots of auto manufacturers are getting nostalgic. Ford bringing back the Bronco and Ranger, the Civic Hatch, etc.. I had a Celica Fastback, orange, back in the day. What a fun manual tran. to drive.

If Toyota was smart, they would do it and do it right. It would fill a nice void between the Corolla and all the other small to mid Totoyta's.

Toyota needs to quit just being happy being the family oriented dealer. They keep saying they want to target the youth/younger crowd yet the cars they make that can do the job they bring them underpowered. Look I've only been with honda 2 weeks and I can say my ride is just as smooth, just as fuel efficient, and yet it's faster. I said it before how the hell did toyota make their eco trim corolla faster than the S which in most cases S stands for sport. They been teasing the FT1 since before I went to afghan so I guess that's 4 years now and still nothing. On top of thet they keep putting their focus into lexus, lexus is fine really they don't need the attention. Toyota lexus just dropped the LC500 a $92k car. No promos, no advertising just at the NY auto show this past April, and boom it's already up for grabs. I know why they did it, to compete with the nsx but in theory they don't compare the nsx has a bigger following, and is much more expensive, plus after the LFA I don't think many people want to invest in lexus super cars. So if their hope is oh ours is more affordable maybe they pull a few, but generally ppl who buy $150k cars are ppl who can afford them so idk. Hands down if toyota brought out a 2.0 celica rwd or awd and the supra they would definitely boost their own sales off of fan boys like me sitting in nostalgia world, shit I still remember my celica in need for speed underground.

 

[Swordfish]

Toyota is really skimping on their cars.

Corolla= 132 hp
Yaris= 106hp

I never realize how underpowered the Corolla was until I got my Civic. Just the few extra hp make the highway driving less problematic. I can even merge and drive on Eco with the Civic all the time.

 

[Nexus90]

Toyota is really skimping on their cars.

Corolla= 132 hp
Yaris= 106hp

I never realize how underpowered the Corolla was until I got my Civic. Just the few extra hp make the highway driving less problematic. I can even merge and drive on Eco with the Civic all the time.

Broooo no lie I need to put sport on to get on the high way during high speed high volume hrs. Even then the lag btwn me hitting the gas to actually get some power insane. I'm beyond happy with my HB ST, I will most likely still reflash with hondata and go from there.

 

[Swordfish]

There was more than one situation where i floored the pedal and nearly got in an accident b/c the acceleration was working too slow. I'd only hit the highway on sport mode after that. It wasn't a preference, it was a basic safety issue when merging.

 

[Nexus90]

There was more than one situation where i floored the pedal and nearly got in an accident b/c the acceleration was working too slow. I'd only hit the highway on sport mode after that. It wasn't a preference, it was a basic safety issue when merging.

I'm hopingredients toyota honestly catches on to this small motor turbo combo cause if not they are going to stay behind.

 

[neteng101]

They keep saying they want to target the youth/younger crowd yet the cars they make that can do the job they bring them underpowered.

If you think the Corolla is bad in this regard, consider how ridiculously underpowered the C-HR is. It looks totally perfect to target the younger crowd but comes with the performance only your grandma will be pleased with.

 

[Nexus90]

If you think the Corolla is bad in this regard, consider how ridiculously underpowered the C-HR is. It looks totally perfect to target the younger crowd but comes with the performance only your grandma will be pleased with.

The chr looks slick but it's a sub compact suv crossover. If I'm not mistaken that's toyota first crossover but it's just at this point they are concerned with putting out cars that look aggressive but no teeth to bite. Fuel economy is all. I juSt reread your comment I haven't been in one but I imagine then u have and that sucks a Suv shouldn't come with 144hp

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