Compare the2023 Honda Civic SiVS 2023 Toyota Corolla

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda Civic Si 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 Si 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 Si 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 Si 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 Si’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.

The Civic Si has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Corolla’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Civic Si has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the Corolla.

Both the Civic Si 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 and driver alert monitors.

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

The Civic Si’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 31 more horsepower (200 vs. 169) and 41 lbs.-ft. more torque (192 vs. 151) than the Corolla’s 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Honda Civic Si is faster than the Toyota Corolla (manual transmissions tested):

The Civic Si 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.

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

The Civic Si stops much shorter than the Corolla:

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

The Civic Si’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 40 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 Si has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 16-inch wheels are standard on the Corolla.

The Civic Si 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 Si’s wheelbase is 1.4 inches longer than on the Corolla (107.7 inches vs. 106.3 inches).

The Civic Si handles at .97 G’s, while the Corolla XSE pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Civic Si executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.8 seconds quicker than the Corolla XSE (26.3 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

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

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

The Civic Si has 8 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Corolla (96.6 vs. 88.6).

The Civic Si has .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.

The Civic Si has a much larger trunk than the Corolla (14.4 vs. 13.2 cubic feet).

The Civic Si’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 Si’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Corolla’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

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

The Civic Si’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Toyota charges extra for heated mirrors on the Corolla.

The Civic Sport was chosen as one of Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2 of the last 5 years. The Corolla has never been a Car and Driver “Top Ten” pick.

The Civic Si was chosen as one of Automobile Magazine’s “All Stars” for 2 of the last 26 years. The Corolla has never been an “All Star.”

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

The Honda Civic outsold the Toyota Corolla by 6% during 2021.