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Sedans Honda Civic Honda Civic vs Toyota Corolla vs Mazda3
879 messages, Last post on Nov 25, 2008 at 2:57 PM
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Replying to: jcturbo (Dec 19, 2006 7:15 pm) |
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Replying to: jcturbo (Dec 19, 2006 2:01 pm) The new civic would hold up fairly well against a corolla xrs. The si would 'destroy' it. 
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Replying to: jcturbo (Dec 19, 2006 2:01 pm) Well, the XRS is no longer made, and the Mazda3 in that comparo was an automatic, not manual like the others. The XRS also had a solid rear axle, I do not know how it handled better. I have never seen anything anywhere else that a Corolla handled better then a Civic or Mazda3. |
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I don't understand why everyone is bringing in the XRS and SI into this; at this rate, we might as well include the speed3 huh? So to make this simple, I'm just going to compare the base models w/ no options (those you can add yourself hence 'options' ^^) Engine wise, the mazda3 has my vote, its the biggest and hence has the best torque to it, but it does have lower mpg (I don't care what ads say theres no way a larger pistoned combustion engine can have lower mpg than a smaller one). Too bad under hard revving the engine sorta just simmers down, while the civic revs nicely and evenly. The corolla just makes alot of noise; I had 3 other sit in the car w/ me for all 3 cars and the corolla did the worst at accelerating. (all were manual) Even when holding the low gears the car would not go, even the civic and mazda3 went along nicely. FYI: the corolla has 4 doors, but those are really just for looks, the car really does struggle when you put 4 people in it. This is probably why most ppl complain about not getting the advertised mileage on their corollas b/c they are constantly pushing the engine just to keep up w/ traffic. Interior the mazda3 looks nice and all, but it really is kinda tacky. The plastic parts seem cheaper when compared to the civic and corolla, but the sound for all three cars were pretty good. The seats for the mazda3 had a somewhat wannabe racey feel in that they grip your body, but comfortably, which is not something I'm used, 'racing' seats aren't supposed to be THAT comfy. Also the mazda3's seat adjustment used the turning knob thingies. I sat only in the driver's seat so interior room I can't say much, I'm not some 7 ft tall monster so I can't say much about interior head/leg room. The gauges for all the cars are sufficient, all I need to do is be able to see them, but if you want sporty the mazda3 and corollaS has decent gauges, while the civic has innovative/quirky gauges. The instrument panel is easy to use on all cars though I'm not sure if it was me, but the mazda3 had a bit too many buttons for my taste, while the civic looks weird w/ the empty panel where the GPS is supposed to be. In the handling dept. the mazda3 is very good for zipping around traffic, the steering is quick and responsive, though feedback is quite close to nill. On freeways this could get annoying, during my test drive it was kind of windy and I had to constantly readjust the steering against winds and road bumps. The civic and corolla feel less nimble, but on the freeway they make for easier drives. All cars handle about the same to me under normal driving conditions, but under hard cornering the mazda3's engine showed its draw back in having the heaviest engine of the 3 cars. But nobody is going to be driving any of these cars hard... right? You can go try it on your own I personally preferred civic in this dept. Price wise the cars were off by $1000 or so, and that didn't bug me horribly. Honda and Toyota's reliability are pretty solid in my book, but I've had a couple of bad experiences w/ mazdas in the past, although you do get a bit more w/ the mazda3 for the price, but that just tells me something about quality in the car. Looks is a personal preference hence I will stay off the subject. W/ these cars what I tend to see are people either liking it, or hating it.
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Replying to: ezpilze (Jan 30, 2007 9:03 pm) What do you currently drive? How important is fuel economy in your choice? How long did you spend test driving each car? Did you use a similar "track"? had a couple of bad experiences w/ mazdas Which Mazdas had issues? you do get a bit more w/ the mazda3 for the price, but that just tells me something about quality in the car. Do you mean that the quality is related to the price (i.e. higher price equals higher quality)?
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Replying to: autonomous (Jan 31, 2007 8:29 am) My brother was going to college so of course I kept fuel economy in mind, I even noted that the mazda3 despite having better torque would yield lower mpg's. MPG really does depend on the driver, the corolla boasts higher mpg ratings than the civic, but if you were to drive the corolla so that it would keep up w/ the civic under normal driving conditions, then the numbers would be about the same. I don't go by the number provided online or what not, I go by my own judgment based how the cars run, so I can't really give you numbers. Each car was driven for about 20 mins, some my friends own so I get to see how they're doing as well after 3k miles. All the dealers were in the same area so I took the same course both freeway and city for all 3. I did hill, flat, curves, straight, turn radius, freeway back and forth. Mazda MPV minivan, light weight truck, and forgot my friends car mx-3 or something like that, its been a while since I've seen him. The Protege I didn't even have to take a look at and it went through a mass recall from what I hear (source is from 3 friends that each own one either directly or through family). The interior trim of the mazda3 gives you the whole metallic-y trim, console comes w/ more features, but the plastic covering it wasn't too great. The seats were firmer in the mazda3, but the material didn't seem as great as the corolla or civic. So you get more stuff for the buck, but quality wise its not really that much more. Hope I answered all your questions sufficiently.
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Replying to: ezpilze (Jan 31, 2007 11:06 am) Sounds like you give the test cars a good ride that should show off some of their strengths and weaknesses. Some drivers dismiss cars without test driving them. The 323/Protege/Mazda3 is probably Mazda's most popular and long running vehicle line. I've never heard of a recall since 2002 for the Protege/Mazda3. Consumer Reports continues to rate its reliability as top notch. |
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I recently bought a Corolla and at first i was getting 33 MPG (all city driving - no highway!) and now i am getting closer to 28 MPG. Not so cool..... i bought the Corolla instead of the Civic because of gas mileage. Other thoughts on this gas mystery / aggravation? Q - how long do you need to own a new car to get your moneys worth? (Loaded Q - I know)
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Replying to: jasmine5 (Feb 02, 2007 12:30 pm) Winter fuel is known for being a mixture which lowers mileage, sometimes by 5-10%. I've recently lost 2 MPG average in my Accord (well, since Nov.). Are you warming up the car extra than you did when you first bought it? Driving a little harder since break-in? To your second question, I'd say: When your car starts costing more to keep running than another new car payment would, I'd say yours is used up. Of course, it is up to you to decide when before this occurs you will sell/trade it in. My grandfather drove his brand new Civic Wagon (a 1987 model) until it had 255,000 miles, and the A/C died. He sold it for $1,000 and bought a 3-year old pickup with low miles. If anyone got his money's worth from a new car, it was him. 
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Replying to: jasmine5 (Feb 02, 2007 12:30 pm) If you purchased the car and own it, then you would try to keep it as long as possible to spread the cost of the car over a long period. The single largest cost of a new car is its depreciation (especially in its first year where many cars typically lose 15% to 20% of their value). For that reason alone, it does not make sense to me to sell a car before it is four or five years old. Another way of looking at it, the money you save not paying for a new car is earning interest in the bank. The car industry, of course, would prefer that we buy new cars as frequently as possible. To keep a car for this period (four years or more) is directly related to its long term reliability. That's one reason I think one could argue that Japanese cars are cheaper than American and European cars. And Corollas are great in that they hold their value especially well. |
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