Compare the2023 Audi A3VS 2023 Honda Civic

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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The A3’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Civic doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the A3 and Civic have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A3 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Civic’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The A3 has a standard Secondary Collision Brake Assist, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Civic doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

The A3 offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Civic doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

Both the A3 and Civic offer rear cross-traffic warning, but the A3 has Automatic Brake Activation (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Civic’s Cross Traffic Monitor doesn’t automatically brake.

The A3 has a standard Audi Connect CARE, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Civic doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the A3 and the Civic have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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, available blind spot warning systems and rear parking sensors.

Warranty

The A3 comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Civic’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The A3’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the Civic’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Reliability

The Audi A3’s engine uses a cast iron block for durability, while the Civic’s engines use an aluminum block. Aluminum engine blocks are much more prone to warp and crack at high temperatures than cast iron.

Engine

The A3’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 43 more horsepower (201 vs. 158) and 83 lbs.-ft. more torque (221 vs. 138) than the Civic Sport’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder. The A3’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 21 more horsepower (201 vs. 180) and 44 lbs.-ft. more torque (221 vs. 177) than the Civic EX/EX-L/Touring’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Audi A3 is faster than the Honda Civic:

	A3	Civic Sport	Civic EX/EX-L/Touring
Zero to 60 MPH	6 sec	8.8 sec	7.5 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	6.8 sec	9.1 sec	8.1 sec
Quarter Mile	14.6 sec	16.9 sec	15.8 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	95 MPH	86 MPH	91 MPH
Top Speed	127 MPH	125 MPH	126 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

Regenerative brakes improve the A3’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Civic doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The A3 Quattro’s standard fuel tank has 2.1 gallons more fuel capacity than the Civic (14.5 vs. 12.4 gallons).

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Audi A3 higher (7 out of 10) than the Honda Civic (6 to 7). This means the A3 produces up to 1.1 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Civic every 15,000 miles.

Transmission

The A3 offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is more internally efficient than a CVT but just as easy to drive. The Civic doesn’t offer an SMG.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the A3’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Civic:

	A3	Civic
Front Rotors	12 inches	11.1 inches
Rear Rotors	10.7 inches	10.2 inches

The A3 stops shorter than the Civic:

	A3	Civic
60 to 0 MPH	120 feet	129 feet	Consumer Reports
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	129 feet	137 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the A3 has larger tires than the Civic (225/45R17 vs. 215/50R17).

The A3’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Civic EX/EX-L’s standard 50 series tires.

Suspension and Handling

The A3 has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Civic’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The A3 offers an optional driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads. The Civic’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

The A3 Premium Plus Quattro handles at .89 G’s, while the Civic Touring Sedan pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The A3 Premium Plus Quattro executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.6 seconds quicker than the Civic Sport Sedan (26.3 seconds @ .66 average G’s vs. 27.9 seconds @ .6 average G’s).

Cargo Capacity

To allow full utilization of available cargo room, the A3’s trunk lid uses concealed beam hinges that don’t intrude into the trunk. Its intrusive beam hinge reduces the Civic’s useful trunk space.

The A3’s standard folding rear seats are split to accommodate bulky cargo. The Civic Sport Sedan’s standard single piece folding rear seat is not as flexible; long cargo and a passenger can’t share the rear seat.

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the A3. The Civic doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

To make loading and unloading groceries and cargo easier, especially for short adults, the A3 has a standard power trunk, which opens and closes automatically by pressing a button, or optionally by just kicking your foot under the back bumper, completely leaving your hands free. The Civic doesn’t offer a power trunk.

Towing

The A3 has a 3500 lbs. towing capacity. The Civic has no towing capacity.

Servicing Ease

The A3 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Civic uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Honda. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 30% lower rating, Honda is ranked 25th.

Ergonomics

When different drivers share the A3, the optional memory seats and mirrors make it convenient. Each setting activates different, customized memories for the driver’s seat position and outside mirror angle. The Civic doesn’t offer a memory system.

The power windows standard on both the A3 and the Civic have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the A3 is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Civic prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The A3’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Civic’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

If the windows are left open on the A3 the driver can close them all at the outside door handle or from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can lower the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Civic can only close the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The A3’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Civic Sport’s standard fixed intermittent wipers only have one fixed delay setting, so the driver will have to manually switch them between slow and intermittent.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The A3 Prestige has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Civic doesn’t offer headlight washers.

The A3’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Honda only offers heated mirrors on the Civic EX/EX-L/Touring/Sport Touring.

When the A3 with available tilt-down mirrors is put in reverse, the passenger rearview mirror tilts from its original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirror into its original position. The Civic’s mirror doesn’t automatically adjust for backing.

The A3’s optional rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Civic offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The A3 has a 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. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Civic EX/EX-L/Touring/Sport Touring.

Both the A3 and the Civic offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the A3 has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Civic doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

The A3’s optional Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Civic doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Audi A3 and the Honda Civic, based on reliability, safety and performance.