jaje

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Some notes: Sentra placed pretty badly for being brand new. C&D preferred sportiness to overall package. I still think the Civic was the best all around car as it got the best gas mileage, was 2nd quickest, was a top handler, and had middle of the pack pricing. However the styling hit them badly as they didn't like stepped interior gauges. The Rabbit got good marks as a fun to drive but was expensive like the 3s.



2007 Toyota Corolla LE vs. 2006 Honda Civic LX vs. 2007 Hyundai Elantra SE vs. 2007 Mazda 3s Touring vs. 2007 Volkswagen Rabbit vs. 2007 Nissan Sentra 2.0S - Comparison Tests

Sixth Place: 2007 Nissan Sentra 2.0S

Highs: Six-speed gearbox, hushed powertrain on the interstate, room for big drivers.

Lows: Low-satisfaction clutch, tippy suspension motions, LCD gauges unreadable with polarized lenses.

The Verdict: What happened to the frisky compact we’ve come to expect of Nissan?

Fifth Place: 2007 Toyota Corolla LE

Highs: Lexus-sharp instrument cluster, quiet ride, very competitive price, perfect fake-wood dash trim.

Lows: Soulless driving, short-inseam pilot position, sounds frantic on the interstate.

The Verdict: The grandpa of the compacts, in both years and mood.

Fourth Place: 2007 Hyundai Elantra SE

Highs: Top-quality interior materials and details, sit-all-day seats, slick shifter and clutch, smooth ride.

Lows: Engine roars on the highway, tippy-floaty body motions, steering overresponds on turn-in.

The Verdict: If your car-pool passengers have a vote, you’ll drive this one.

Third Place: 2006 Honda Civic LX

Highs: Distinctive exterior proportions; light, sweet clutch and shifter; space-capsule feel of the cockpit.

Lows: Overly sculpted dash panel, near-and-far instrument layout, too many interior textures, road noise.

The Verdict: If astronauts were to have company cars, why anything but this?

Second Place: 2007 Mazda 3s Touring

Highs: Sportiest of the bunch, spirited interior style, suspension has good roll stiffness, plenty of oomph.

Lows: Tire tread screams on the interstate, ride motions too taut for some, red instrument markings.

The Verdict: Sporty for those who need it, too much so for those who don’t.

First Place: 2007 Volkswagen Rabbit

Highs: Liquid ride motions, traditional instruments, sweet-sounding five, best padding on the elbow rests.

Lows: Hopelessly inflationary speedo, inhospitable rear seat, throttle response complicates launch.

The Verdict: Your passengers won’t love it nearly as much as you will.

fastball

The new Civic is a great car, and I commend Honda for expanding their design horizons, but I just don't think the Civic was the car to do it with. The car will still sell like hotcakes because it's still a Civic.

I seem to remember the first generation Preludes had a similarly funky instrument cluster design.

ItsaHonda

Personally, I like the interior of the new Civic... it's at least entertaining to look at. In a world of same old generic cookie-cutter designs, it's nice to have a car that finally stands out from the rest. I was also a big fan of the 4th gen Prelude interior and much prefer it to the 5th gens, which just seem so 'basic' in comparison. When I first sat in a 1992 Prelude, it was like sitting in a future concept car. When I sat in a 5th gen in 97, it felt like a typical 'ole generic Honda. People bash Hondas for being boring and then turn right around and bash them for being too radical!

People like boring cars... hence why the 97-01 Camry was the best selling mid-size family sedan. By far, one of the most boring and appliance-like cars in the history of the motor car! Yet the Solara is getting axed next year due to less than stellar sales.

fastball

You have a good point. From a driver's standpoint however, nothing beats two large, dial gauges - one speedo, one tach - right next to each other, directly in front of you.

Ochdx

I hate the looks of the new civic. Fifth and sixth gen are the best looking Civics ever.

ItsaHonda

I liked my 2nd gen (81) Civic wagon. It had plenty of character!
And it was just a damn good running car.

iNteGraz92

:werd:
they're never satisfied

sherwood

the outsides of the civics are now good, the problem is the interior has the driver searching to find gauges.

a driver should be able to look down and grab as much information that they can in .xx seconds as possible.... i don't want to make 2 stops to get the same amount of information in twice the time.

mayonaise

have you driven a new civic? for how long? i was skeptical about the dash layout at first. but after driving one around for a couple days, i grew to like it quite a bit. granted, some will never get used to it, and it will take a little getting used to, but having the speedo up higher is actually pretty cool. it's easier to see while you're scanning the road, it's perfectly visible in sunlight, and you don't have to "search" to find the gauges. you'd have to be an idiot if you can't locate the gauges in your own car, even with the new civic's layout. i didn't find it any harder or more time consuming to read the speedo and the tach, simply because the speedo is positioned in such a way that you know what it says at all times, unless you're just not paying attention. you have to actually drive it for a while, tho. pictures don't do it justice.

i can understand that if you regularly track or auto-x your car, the tach might be more important. but for regular consumers, it makes perfect sense. it's sort of the next best thing to a heads up display. the euro civic's dash is much, MUCH better, tho.

ItsaHonda

As long as the guages aren't in the middle of the dash, I can usually adjust pretty easily to the different layouts. I absolutely hate center mounted guages.