Hondacivic Opinions ?

I know I can't afford to change my corolla for a new civic.

And my corolla has been very reliable, although very poor

ergonimically for the driver position.

But the new civic is a beauty from outside and inside.

Any opionions by anyone that has test driven.owned it ??

thanks.

Personally, I like the 9th gen. Corolla's looks way better than ANY Civic, even the '06 model. The Civic is just too low to the ground for me, it looks like you're driving a street sweeper. I've heard that the Civics do better on legroom, so, if you're tall -- over 6 feet, I'd say that's going to be an important issue for you. I wonder if the 10th generation Corolla will have the driving position figured out? More importantly, will they introduce a diesel engine for the US market?

I checked out the new Civic when I was at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. I thought it was very nice. It's making me think twice about what I'm going to buy to replace my current corolla.

I test drove one and as far as refinement, handling, sporty feel and fun to drive it's much better than the Corolla. I also prefer the seating positon and shape of Honda seats over Toyota. But the Corolla is lighter, cheaper, has better midrange power, bigger back seat and trunk, and slightly better fuel economy. The Civic is a better freeway car, wuieter, and not tossed around by crosswinds. the COrolla is very tall and very tiring to drive in crosswinds.

Overall if you want a 5 speed manual, the Corolla is the best option. IF you want an automatic sedan, I think the Civic beats it out. If you want the Sports version, the Civic Si blows away the Corolla XRS and beats everything else in it's class.

Also I'm not sure about the Civic, but my Corolla was always poor in the snow, even with a better set of all season tires. It seemed even worse than my '91 Toyota Tercel in most cases.

I have an '04 Corolla LE. It's my first Corolla. I am a "drive all you can, squeeze every bit of life possible out of a car" kind of guy. And I am still not completely certain if I like the Corolla enough to keep it for the long term. In the past, I had the '85 model Nissan Sentra, then '96 Honda Civic. The Sentra was by far the most comfortable to drive with perfect seat/steering/pedals position. The Civic was just okay. It's like a go-cart.... it's as close to the road as one can get without touching the pavement.

And this Corolla, well............I cannot seem to get comfortable. The steering is quite a reach when the seat is comfortable to pedal position. And on the other side of that coin, when the steering wheel to seat position is comfortable, my legs are cramped, as the seat is too close to the pedals. I am an average height fellow at 5' 10" ... The Sentra was the best for longevity.. It had 321,000 miles before the auto transmission collapsed from exhaustion. And the Civic didn't come close. It's auto tranny gave out at 228,000 and that was with tranny oil changes every 65,000.

I think the Hondas and the Toyotas are comparable and it may be a matter of personal preference and tastes to determine which is best for you. I have never owned one, but if I was not driving Corollas, a Civic would be my next choice.

We have an '04 Corolla and an '01 Honda Odyssey.

I like the Civic. A lot. But we've had problems with our Honda. Replaced steering pump. Looks like we're going to need a new transmission (per the dealer).

Luckily, I have an exended warranty.

But a busted power steering pump and transmission at under 60k? Please. That level of suckness reaches the worst of what Detroit used to offer.

For me, the shine is definitely off of Honda for me. Almost across the board I'd prefer the Honda to the Toyota (Accord to Camry, Civic to Corolla, Odyssey to Sienna, and Pilot to Highlander), but for my money I think I'll stick with Toyota.

I'd go for the new Civic over my '05 LE.

Much nicer modern styling and the seating had got to better than the very poor driver's seat position in the Corolla.

The Corolla needs a telescopic wheel option badly.

I wholeheartedly agree with most of what you guys wrote. And I test drove 2 automatic '06 Civics and 1 manual '06 Acura CSX. The Acura is a tarted up Canada only Civic with a 155 HP RSX 2.0 liter engine. See it here;

http://www.acura.ca/AcuraEng/Models/CSX/InfoNav.htm

I'll add that the 06 Civic's new 5 speed auto works great and the engine spins only 2000 rpm at 100 km/hr (62 mph), whereas the manual spins at 2700 rpm at the same speed (2800 for the CSX). So the auto box Civic should be very economical on the highway.

I loved the Acura but it costs about as much as an Accord. I was leaning more toward the Civic for my GF's purchase but she finally bought a '06 Matrix XR.

Now, let's see what Toyota has in it's corporate sleeve when they release the 10th gen Corolla in about a year from now.

Looks great in the pictures. What does one of those cars run?

Its' too bad that automobile manufacturers continue to totally modify the style of their cars. I know it is part of their planned obsolescence and progress with technology, but it is usually right after I start accepting the old styles. It is ironic that the PT cruiser which is so retro has become so popular. I have seen replicas of cars and motorcycles that look like older cars but are made with modern methods and materials. Remember the cars our grandparents and parents drove?? They don't make 'em like that anymore!!