carguy101

Thought that this was an interesting comparo. Actually a more useful comparo for the average car shopper (especially in this class), since the comparo was done by "everyday people", not by mag testers driving these cars like they're Mario Andretti.

Interestingly, the car for the masses (i.e., Corolla) came in last in every instance except one.

And every consumer tester felt that the Civic was superior to the Corolla.


http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpconta...nsumertest.0.*

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Wow, Civic won every time and Corolla at the bottom by almost all the reviewers.

No surprise here! Amazing the Corollla sells so well.

ffpowerLN

iTrader: (1)

A more meaningful comparison for these compact sedans would be tossing the keys to the testers and just let them drive around metro LA for a whole day...

Compact sedans on SOW, what are they thinking!! I can't believe Edmunds actually pulled this off with a straight face. Last time I was at that place (Street of Willow, see my avatar) the most out of place car appeared to be mine and I have an IS350...

pbm317

The Civic generally has the sportier dynamics that reviewers and car mags and the sort like. But the Corolla maintains its appeal to the everyday drivers that want something like that to drive and commute with. Also why the Camry outsells the Accord, etc.

carguy101

But this review was done by "everyday drivers".

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Everyday drivers want sport.

Everyday drivers buy comfort.

LexFather

I love the 3 and can't even consider the other two. For one I can be seen in a 3, the Civic is very "different" and the Corolla continues to be way to tall and thin and just has awful proprotions.

The Civic interior again is "different", the Corolla is nice and the 3 is right between the two.

The 3 honestly reminds me of a very baby GS with the short hood, rounded roof and short deck. I love it!

Toyota seems to have done a 1999 Camry with this version of the Corolla. It will still sell to sheep though!

Threxx

I prefer the current Civic by a long margin over the previous generation Corolla and previous generation Mazda 3. I have not driven the current generation of the Corolla or 3, though... so no comment there, but I find the civic very livable from day to day. Not quite boring, but still comfortable, modern, good quality materials and good assembly (especially for the price), I like the looks inside and out, and great economy. I think it's a very likely choice for what I will replace my 335i with (I'm going to go with a cheaper car this time around... at least I'm pretty sure I will).

EZZ

Isn't this the first generation of the 3 (I thought the previous generation was the protoge)? Anyway, test drive the top of the line Civic (Si) and the Mazdaspeed 3 and I can't believe anyone would pick the Civic. The MS3 is the best value per speed money can buy and the driving dynamics are wonderful (torque steer and all! ).

Threxx

Oops... you're correct. I thought they were testing the new one (the 2009) but I guess that's still not out yet. Guess I wasn't paying close enough attention. So yeah I have driven the current 3.

-J-P-L-

I actually just read this article yesterday. No surprises here. It's a shame that Toyota really screwed up buy barely changing the Corolla that was 6 years old. The '09 should have been hugely different just as the '06 Civic was light years ahead of the '05.

There is no better small car than the Civic.

TRDFantasy

A "useful" comparo? Hardly.

Despite the fact that these were done by "everyday people", Edmunds methodology was seriously flawed. First off, people were not randomly chosen, but they had to write and submit and essay in order to be chosen. Naturally, this would automatically fail to take into account a lot of people as enthusiast-minded people would be most likely to submit an essay for a car comparison test.

The comparison itself was ridiculous and pretty much irrelevant. Everyday people were testing these compact economy cars on a RACE track wearing helmets!? What a joke . That right there invalidates any conclusions from this comparison test, especially any conclusions about headroom.

I agree with ffpower that Edmunds actually pulled off this comparison with a straight face. Even worse, they tested a Corolla XLE! For all the criticisms of the lack of sportiness in the XLE, Edmunds could have easily brought a Corolla S. The Corolla S has more supportive seats than the XLE and the exterior looks better thanks to the S appearance package.

It's also pretty funny reading some of the comments from the "everyday people". For instance, one of them admits she has a Honda bias, then goes on to criticize the Corolla's Camry-like ride even though she herself owns a Camry. If she criticized the Corolla for it, why does she own a Camry then? It makes no sense.

It's amazing how so many enthusiasts consistently fail to understand why the Corolla DOES sell so well. Even on CL where there are plently of intelligent posters, every several weeks an argument arises as to why the Corolla sells so well. It's not rocket science here, it's fairly straight-forward as to why the Corolla sells so well.

carguy101

Lol. Aww, poor Corolla. It loses another "flawed" comparo.

TRDFantasy

Notice I mentioned nothing about the "Corolla losing". Are you trying to bait people with your comments, just curious?

Threxx

It seems some people continue to believe Toyota can do no wrong, and thus this test must by default be flawed based on the results. If the Corolla was the consistent top pick for this test I absolutely promise you this thread would contain a tiny fraction of the criticism for the testing parameters that it does right now.

They did a simulated city driving course, actual highway driving, PLUS the race track. So they definitely included real world driving as a significant part of their testing loop.

Also, why would they test the Corolla S if they didn't also test the Civic Si and whatever the sportier version of the Mazda is called? That wouldn't be apples to apples.

While I don't think that the results of this test are the final word on any of those cars, it is still very relevant to see the opinion of every day drivers that aren't jaded by the industry.

It sounds to me like the Corolla does have a good target audience that will enjoy the car - people that see cars as only an appliance... nothing more... and only care about getting there reliably and comfortably. Those people, however, are NOT the people that are going to be reading Edmunds.com, so why should a car publication target a test toward the tastes of people that almost never visit their site?