Compare the2022 Honda CivicVS 2022 Toyota Prius

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda Civic have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Toyota Prius doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.

The Honda Civic has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Prius doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the Civic deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The Civic’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Prius’ airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

Compared to metal, the Civic’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Toyota Prius has a metal gas tank.

Both the Civic and the Prius have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Civic its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2021, a rating granted to only 72 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Prius last would have qualified as only a standard “Top Pick” for 2019.

The Civic LX/Sport’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 37 more horsepower (158 vs. 121) and 33 lbs.-ft. more torque (138 vs. 105) than the Prius’ 1.8 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid. The Civic EX/EX-L/Touring’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 59 more horsepower (180 vs. 121) and 72 lbs.-ft. more torque (177 vs. 105) than the Prius’ 1.8 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

As tested in Car and Driver the Civic EX/EX-L/Touring 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Toyota Prius:

Both the Civic and the Prius have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stop lights and heavy traffic. All Civics have a standard disable switch for the system, so a driver can keep the engine from shutting off when the vehicle stops temporarily.

The Civic has 1.8 gallons more fuel capacity than the Prius AWD-e’s standard fuel tank (12.4 vs. 10.6 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Civic has 1.1 gallons more fuel capacity than the Prius FWD’s standard fuel tank (12.4 vs. 11.3 gallons).

The Civic has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Prius doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

For better stopping power the Civic’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Prius:

The Civic stops shorter than the Prius:

For better traction, the Civic has larger standard tires than the Prius (215/55R16 vs. 195/65R15). The Civic Sport/Touring’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Prius (235/40R18 vs. 215/45R17).

The Civic LX’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Prius’ standard 65 series tires. The Civic Sport/Touring’s tires have a lower 40 series profile than the Prius XLE FWD/Limited’s 45 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Civic LX has standard 16-inch wheels. Smaller 15-inch wheels are standard on the Prius. The Civic Sport/Touring’s 18-inch wheels are larger than the 17-inch wheels on the Prius XLE FWD/Limited.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Civic’s wheelbase is 1.4 inches longer than on the Prius (107.7 inches vs. 106.3 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Civic is .9 inches wider in the front and 1.6 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Prius.

The Civic Touring Sedan handles at .88 G’s, while the Prius L Eco pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Civic Touring Sedan executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2.2 seconds quicker than the Prius L Eco (26.7 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 28.9 seconds @ .55 average G’s).

As tested by Car and Driver while cruising at 70 MPH, the interior of the Civic Touring Sedan is quieter than the Prius (69 vs. 72 dB).

The Civic has 5.9 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Prius (99 vs. 93.1).

The Civic Hatchback has .9 inches more front hip room, 2 inches more front shoulder room, 4 inches more rear legroom and 3 inches more rear shoulder room than the Prius.

The Civic (except LX/Manual) has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Prius doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The Civic’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Prius’ parking brake has to released manually.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Civic’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Prius’ headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

The Civic has a standard automatic headlight on/off feature. When the ignition is on, the headlights automatically turn on at dusk and off after dawn. The Prius has an automatic headlight on/off feature standard only on the XLE/Limited.

The Civic EX/EX-L/Touring/Sport Touring’s standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. The Prius doesn’t offer dual zone air conditioning.

The Honda Civic comes in sedan and four door hatchback bodystyles; the Toyota Prius isn’t available as a sedan.

The Civic Sport was chosen as one of Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2 of the last 4 years. The Prius has never been a Car and Driver “Top Ten” pick.

The Civic was chosen as one of Automobile Magazine’s “All Stars” for 2 of the last 25 years. The Prius has never been an “All Star.”

A group of representative automotive journalists from North America selected the Civic as the 2016 North American Car of the Year. The Prius has never been chosen.