Compare the2024 Honda CivicVS 2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid

Safety
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Model Availability
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 Hybrid 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 Hybrid 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 Hybrid 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 Hybrid’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 CVT 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 Hybrid doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

Both the Civic and the Corolla Hybrid have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front 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 Hybrid:

	Civic	Corolla Hybrid
	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 Hybrid:

	Civic	Corolla Hybrid
	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

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Civic second among compact cars in their 2023 Initial Quality Study. The Corolla Hybrid isn’t in the top three.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Honda above average in initial quality. With 4 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is rated below average.

Engine

The Civic LX/Sport’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 24 more horsepower (158 vs. 134) than the Corolla Hybrid’s 1.8 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid. The Civic EX/EX-L/Touring’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 46 more horsepower (180 vs. 134) and 21 lbs.-ft. more torque (177 vs. 156) than the Corolla Hybrid’s 1.8 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

As tested in Car and Driver the Honda Civic is faster than the Toyota Corolla Hybrid:

	Civic LX/Sport	Civic EX/EX-L/Touring	Corolla Hybrid
Zero to 60 MPH	8.8 sec	7.2 sec	9 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	9.1 sec	8 sec	9.7 sec
Passing 50 to 70 MPH	5.7 sec	5 sec	6.4 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	86 MPH	92 MPH	80 MPH
Top Speed	125 MPH	126 MPH	107 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

Both the Civic and Corolla Hybrid have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stoplights and heavy traffic. The Civic has 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 1.1 gallons more fuel capacity than the Corolla Hybrid (12.4 vs. 11.3 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

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

Environmental Friendliness

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certifies the Honda Civic as a “Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle” (SULEV). The Toyota Corolla Hybrid is only certified to “Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle” (ULEV) standards.

Brakes and Stopping

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

	Civic	Corolla Hybrid
Front Rotors	11.1 inches	10.8 inches

The Civic stops much shorter than the Corolla Hybrid:

	Civic	Corolla Hybrid
70 to 0 MPH	170 feet	181 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	114 feet	133 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	137 feet	148 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

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

The Civic has a standard space-saver spare tire so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the Corolla Hybrid; it requires you to depend on roadside assistance and your vehicle will have to be towed.

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 Hybrid 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 Hybrid (107.7 inches vs. 106.3 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Civic is .4 inches wider in the front and 1.4 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Corolla Hybrid.

The Civic Touring Sedan handles at .88 G’s, while the Corolla Hybrid LE pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Civic Touring Sedan executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2.4 seconds quicker than the Corolla Hybrid LE (26.7 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 29.1 seconds @ .54 average G’s).

Chassis

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

Passenger Space

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

The Civic has 10.4 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Corolla Hybrid (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 Hybrid.

Cargo Capacity

The Civic Sedan has a much larger trunk than the Corolla Hybrid (14.8 vs. 11.3 cubic feet).

Ergonomics

The Civic (except Manual/LX) 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 Corolla Hybrid doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

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 Hybrid’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 Hybrid’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 Hybrid 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 Hybrid doesn’t offer dual zone air conditioning.

Model Availability

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

Recommendations

The Civic was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2023 and 8 more times in the last 39 years. The Corolla Hybrid has never been chosen by Car and Driver in their “10Best” issue.

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