Corolla and Civic rentals

[Quattro Pete]

Just had a chance to drive a rental (late model) Corolla and Civic. I found the fit&finish and the material quality much better on the Civic. The handling was also much better on the Civic - it actually felt really tight - something I was pleasantly surprised with. I owned an Accord a while back and it did not handle anywhere near as well. The Corolla on the other hand felt very floaty with the typical Toyota overboosted powersteering - no surprise there. The only advantage of the Corolla was that it felt slightly quieter at speed. Road noise was very noticeable in the Civic.

If I had to choose between these two, it would be Civic hands down, although I'm not a big fan of blue-lit dashboard and center console. It looks nice, but it's not the easiest on the eyes on longer drives.

All in all, the Civic has gone a long way since 2000 which is when I drove it the last time.

 

[JHZR2]

I had a toyota yaris and then a honda civic as back-to-back rentals this past fall. Greatly preferred the yaris over the civic for a multitude of reasons, which I posted on in the vehicles section.

To each their own... the civic did have its virtues, and without even going to styling, had a lot of faults that made the yaris a far better appliance in my opinion.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Well, yeah, neither of them felt sporty, but to me, the Corolla felt more like an appliance. The Civic felt like you could have some fun with it in the twisties, although I'd prefer one with a stick shift.

 

[rationull]

You can definitely have some fun in the twisties with an MT current model Civic I have a coupe and the suspension is just about as tight as my GF's Mazda3, which is about as sporty as you can get in an econo-compact (not counting sport versions like the Civic SI, MazdaSpeed3, and GTI). The 3 has a little less body roll.

As to the dash lights, I definitely prefer the blue over the red that some cars have these days (red dash light should indicate error, IMO) but on long drives I've found it helps to turn the brightness way down.

 

[Dave Hess]

For the money a Civic is a pretty good deal, especially if you get a 5 speed. I have a 2007 Civic EX and its been a great car for the past 60K miles. Very smooth even at 117 miles per hour.

I keep seeing the commercial 'Civic Musical Road' on TV about 10 times a day. OK the car drives over the strips in the road and the plays the Lone Ranger theme song. How is this commercial going to attract people to want to buy a Civic ?

 

[smokey1]

we picked the 2009 4 door liftback with auto over the '09 COROLLA due to it's ride , handling , interior , and exterior . The '09 Corolla seemed to have more engine noise than the YARIS , especially on acceleration . Possibly due to the 5w-20 motor oil . The COROLLA's electronic steering seemed to wander ( too much play ) on the interstate , as the YARIS did not . The plastics and design of the interior for COROLLA felt / looked cheesier too . That's just our take on it . To each their own .