Compare the2023 Honda CivicVS 2023 Toyota Corolla

Safety
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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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 Corolla doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Civic are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Corolla doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

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 Corolla 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 Corolla’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Civic Touring/Sport Touring has a standard Low Speed Braking Control that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Corolla doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

Both the Civic and the Corolla 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, plastic fuel tanks, 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.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Honda Civic is safer than the Toyota Corolla:

	Civic	Corolla
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Neck Stress	241 lbs.	243 lbs.
Neck Compression	23 lbs.	50 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	189/372 lbs.	330/310 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Honda Civic is safer than the Toyota Corolla:

	Civic	Corolla
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	.7 inches	.9 inches
Hip Force	286 lbs.	330 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	12 inches

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Reliability

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Civic has a standard 500-amp battery. The Corolla’s standard 295-amp battery and largest (SE/XSE) 360 amp battery aren’t as powerful.

Engine

The Civic EX/EX-L/Touring’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 11 more horsepower (180 vs. 169) and 26 lbs.-ft. more torque (177 vs. 151) than the Corolla’s 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Civic EX/EX-L/Touring 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Toyota Corolla:

	Civic	Corolla
Zero to 60 MPH	7.7 sec	7.8 sec
Quarter Mile	15.7 sec	16.1 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	88.9 MPH	87.5 MPH

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

	Civic	Corolla
Zero to 60 MPH	7.2 sec	8.2 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	18.6 sec	22.8 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	8 sec	8.8 sec
Passing 30 to 50 MPH	4 sec	4.3 sec
Passing 50 to 70 MPH	5 sec	5.4 sec
Quarter Mile	15.6 sec	16.4 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	92 MPH	87 MPH
Top Speed	126 MPH	118 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Civic Sedan gets better mileage than the Corolla:

			MPG
Civic Sedan
	Auto	EX 1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	33 city/42 hwy
Corolla
	Auto	LE 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	31 city/40 hwy
		SE/XSE 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	31 city/40 hwy

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Civic’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Corolla doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

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 Corolla doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Brakes and Stopping

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

	Civic	Corolla
Front Rotors	11.1 inches	10.8 inches

The Civic stops much shorter than the Corolla:

	Civic	Corolla
70 to 0 MPH	170 feet	179 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	114 feet	128 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	137 feet	143 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Civic has larger standard tires than the Corolla (215/50R17 vs. 205/55R16). The Civic Sport/Touring’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Corolla (235/40R18 vs. 225/40R18).

The Civic EX/EX-L’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 50 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Corolla’s standard 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Civic EX/EX-L has standard 17-inch wheels. Smaller 16-inch wheels are standard on the Corolla.

Suspension and Handling

The Civic has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Corolla doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

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

The Civic Touring Sedan handles at .88 G’s, while the Corolla XSE pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Civic Touring Sedan executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.4 seconds quicker than the Corolla XSE (26.7 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

Chassis

The Civic Sedan is 3.5 inches shorter than the Corolla, making the Civic easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

To almost totally eliminate engine vibration in the passenger area, the Civic has a liquid-filled front engine mount. The liquid helps further dampen engine harshness. The Corolla uses conventional solid rubber engine mounts.

As tested by Car and Driver, the interior of the Civic Touring Sedan is quieter than the Corolla:

	Civic	Corolla
At idle	36 dB	42 dB
Full-Throttle	75 dB	77 dB
70 MPH Cruising	69 dB	71 dB

Passenger Space

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Civic a Mid-size car, while the Corolla is rated a Compact.

The Civic has 10.4 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Corolla (99 vs. 88.6).

The Civic has 1 inch more front headroom, .3 inches more front legroom, .4 inches more front hip room, 3 inches more front shoulder room, 2.6 inches more rear legroom and 4.3 inches more rear shoulder room than the Corolla.

Cargo Capacity

The Civic Sedan has a much larger trunk than the Corolla (14.8 vs. 13.2 cubic feet).

Ergonomics

The Civic’s driver power window, power lock and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The Corolla’s power window (except driver window) and power lock switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The Civic EX/EX-L’s standard wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers and the Civic Touring/Sport Touring’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield. The Corolla’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Consumer Reports rated the Civic’s headlight performance “Good,” a higher rating than the Corolla’s headlights, which were rated “Fair.”

The Civic’s optional rear view mirror has an automatic dimming feature. This mirror can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on it, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Corolla doesn’t offer the luxury of an automatic dimming rear view mirror.

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 Corolla doesn’t offer dual zone air conditioning.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla, based on reliability, safety and performance.

Car and Driver performed a comparison test in its October 2021 issue and they ranked the Honda Civic Touring Sedan first. They ranked the Toyota Corolla sixth.

A group of representative automotive journalists from North America selected the Civic as the 2022 North American Car of the Year. The Corolla has never been chosen.

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