which car? (1 Viewer)

[breaking]

hay guys
so i went test driving today... drove the civic and corolla.
hopped in the astra but the interior just seemed kinda shit. so didn't bother with it. both cars have a very nice interior, corolla i think is better quality but civic has more of a "wow" factor (but still seems decent quality)
i liked the civic much more overall.... feels much bigger than it actually is and seemed like a bit more of a smooth ride. so, so far it's the civic but i'm gonna test drive the golf tomorrow and see what that's like.

 

[seremify007]

hay guys
so i went test driving today... drove the civic and corolla.
hopped in the astra but the interior just seemed kinda shit. so didn't bother with it. both cars have a very nice interior, corolla i think is better quality but civic has more of a "wow" factor (but still seems decent quality)
i liked the civic much more overall.... feels much bigger than it actually is and seemed like a bit more of a smooth ride. so, so far it's the civic but i'm gonna test drive the golf tomorrow and see what that's like.

Cool. I suggest you consider the VTi-L actually... whilst I never realised this until now, after riding in my mate's VTi, little things like the climate control, steering wheel audio controls, 6 stacker mp3/wma cd, split fold rear seat, etc... do become more noticeable. Subtle or unimportant things like alloys, slightly nicer interior trim (there's a silver lining on VTi-L over the VTi), and then the slightly improved safety do make it worth a consideration but see how much the premium is and if you value those features.

 

[mr_brightside]

Cool. I suggest you consider the VTi-L actually... whilst I never realised this until now, after riding in my mate's VTi, little things like the climate control, steering wheel audio controls, 6 stacker mp3/wma cd, split fold rear seat, etc... do become more noticeable. Subtle or unimportant things like alloys, slightly nicer interior trim (there's a silver lining on VTi-L over the VTi), and then the slightly improved safety do make it worth a consideration but see how much the premium is and if you value those features.

Options are where car salesmen make there margins.
They're nice and all, but they don't add much (....anything?) to resale values.

 

[seremify007]

Options are where car salesmen make there margins.
They're nice and all, but they don't add much (....anything?) to resale values.

I think there's a difference between Options you're talking about (e.g. when BMW charges $6k for satnav) and the Spec-level which I'm referring to which aren't really options but rather; the three spec levels (VTi, VTi-L and Sport). And whilst I agree that VTi-L's resale value will probably not be much more than the VTi, some of the features such as steering wheel audio are hard to go by if you spend alot of time listening to music on the 6 stacker.

Anyway, to emphasise my point re: Corolla interior. Here are some dodgy photos I took at castle towers today (they have the corolla on display) which compares the normal model with the premium model's interior. Sorry for quality of photos- they are with my cameraphone in a not so well lit environment. Key areas to look at are the headunit on the stereo, the gear shift and the uber-cool handbrake on the premium model (Levin ZR).


... but either way, neither of these have anything on the $25k Civic interior. Sure the Zetec has a few nice "artistic" elements but it doesn't feel that consistently integrated; the base model feels like a typical Corolla or basic car... nothing stands out at all.

PS. That white thing in the second pic near the gearshift is the guide to using the Engine start/stop button (the whole depress brake pedal, wait for light, then press start, etc..)

 

[mr_brightside]

..wow that's quite a difference in interior for the same type of car.
I take back most of what I said.

 

[wheredanton]

um...The hatch and the sedan corolla have different interiors.

All hatches have the flying buttress type console with the fancy handbrake,

All sedans have the more traditional console.

Upper models for both hatch and sedan have fancy optitron instruments.

I find Honda's attitude to safety on on the Civic deplorable. No (life saving) curtain or side airbags on the base model is piss poor (not even as an option) and no curtain airbags on the mid level model, also piss poor. Safety should not a luxury feature. A full complement of airbags is available on the base Corolla for a very reasonable $750 and Mazda 3 for similar money.

With the number of 4wd's out there, the noses of which are at head hight, I don't think I could buy a car without curtain airbags.

IIHS Civic with full complement of airbags. You don't want to see really see the result without head airbags.

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=605

 

[seremify007]

um...The hatch and the sedan corolla have different interiors.

All hatches have the flying buttress type console.

All sedans have the more traditional console.

Oh... ok my mistake then. I guess I'll have to look more closely next time- but in all fairness, they had a base model sedan and the flagship $33k hatch open at the time! Not like I had anything else to compare with

 

[seremify007]

I find Honda's attitude to safety on on the Civic deplorable. No (life saving) curtain or side airbags on the base model is piss poor (not even as an option) and no curtain airbags on the mid level model, also piss poor. Safety should not a luxury feature. A full complement of airbags is available on the base Corolla for a very reasonable $750 and Mazda 3 for similar money.

I agree at that omission but you make it sound as if it's impossible to get better safety on the base model. The mid-range model (VTi-L) is a $3.5k premium over the base VTi offers the side airbags (along with the stacker, steering wheel controls, alloys, climate control) so it's not like it's lightyears away, but I do agree that there should've been more consideration. What I do find a bit odd is the lack of stability control on the Civic- something which strikes me because the JDM/Asian spec models have it on the 2.0L model (and this is also evidenced in the manual). Interesting to note is that Asia, particularly in countries which charge road tax based on engine capacity (e.g. Malaysia), there's a 1.6L engine available but that's not what we're talking. Nonetheless though, with regards to safety, the thickness/build quality of the Civic isn't something which will make you feel too concerned compared to the rivals which offer flimsy doors which don't shut, or even our dear Proton Gen2!

Anyway, with regards to interior, I went back and took a bunch more photos. The easiest way to tell sedan from hatch from what I can tell is the hatch has the transmission module raised a bit and looking a little bit snazzier; whereas in the sedan it looks very old and.. well ugly. (ps. apologies again for crappy photo quality... 'twas cameraphone)

Corolla Ascent Hatch


Also note, the sedan interior is a shocker; so if you were comparing like and like (sedan vs sedan), Civic clearly wins this one. The hatch is considerably more upmarket but IMO is still incomparable to the Civic; and in the premium Zetec hatch, it doesn't come close to Civic Sport w/ leather... but this is subjective. The build quality seemed pretty good though in the hatch.

Corolla Ascent Sedan


Corolla Conquest Sedan


http://img176.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hondaciviclargehp4.jpg

 

[seremify007]

.... and for comparisons sake; Honda Civic VTi-L... don't mind the toys, neons (which I added) and the dusty interior!