Audi A3 vs Honda Civic

What's the difference?

Producing a car that takes the end result beyond appliance status is no given in a world car-park dominated by SUVs. But Audi has, over the last few decades, shown it is very good at doing just that and the latest incarnation of its A3 stalwart backs that up.

While it might take a bit of mental gymnastics to understand why the base model gets the hybrid driveline, or why the more expensive variant costs more to option with adaptive cruise-control, the fact remains these are driver’s cars from a company that understands that concept.

Yes, the A3 is a relatively expensive way to arrive at a compact hatch or sedan, but if you value the journey as much as the destination, it will all make sense.

While the technical aspects of the 35 TFSI are interesting, the extra power and all-weather grip of the AWD 40 TFSI seem to be worth the additional dollars to us. The A3 has always been a sporty alternative, meaning the sportiest version is the one for us.

CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.

In the realm of factory-built performance road cars for less than six-figures, the track capability offered by the Civic Type R is hard to rival.

The way it communicates and encourages smooth driving is impressive. Its mechanical grip limits are clear well before you reach them and the car is very forgiving with small slides and gentle lift-off oversteer. It lets you know you’re approaching the limits well before you hit ‘em.

Performance hatchbacks from Volkswagen, the Golf GTI and R, are arguably more useable day to day, but don’t come close dynamically. The Hyundai i30 N is wicked fun and deceptively capable for its lower price, but lacks the Type R’s high-shine polish.

Is the FL5 Type R pricey? Yes. Is it worth it? Maybe.

Is it probably the last time a purely combustion-powered hot hatch is going to be this good? Almost certainly.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

It’s actually refreshing in 2022 to see a carmaker putting such an effort into something that isn’t an SUV.

That Audi has bothered with two distinct bodies and two equally distinct drivelines is also one for the books, really.

Technically, the mild-hybrid driveline as seen in larger Audis in recent years is probably the highlight of the new A3, and even though it doesn’t compare with a conventional petrol-electric hybrid, it demonstrates Audi’s attention to detail.

The same goes for the digital instruments which allows the driver to tailor the information displayed at any given time. Need a city map more than you need a tachometer at a particular point in you journey? That’s where this technology comes into its own.

The last Type R was divisive to say the least - rather sharp and aggressive styling reminiscent of a robot from a 1990s anime, with plenty of design details and enough black trim to give white CTR’s that Star Wars stormtrooper vibe.

It was loved and hated, and there seemed to be few who found their opinion in the middle of those.

This generation changes that.

Much softer styling and a more restrained approach to detail makes this Type R look much more mature - for better or worse, depending on your view - than the last, though it hasn't lost much of its ‘look at me’ factor.

Sleeker headlights, softer lines in both body panels and in places like the grille, as well as a smaller hood vent are all clear.

Aerodynamics played a big part in the design of this car, with Honda Australia’s tech team telling us the time it spent in the wind tunnel during development was so long they wanted to get press photography done there.

The small flick or canard ahead of the rear wheel, for example, directs air into the rear wheel to cool the brakes.

Of course, there’s still a great big wing mounted to the rear. How else are you going to know it’s a Type R? For that, you could also look down to the tri-exit exhaust, we suppose.

Although it’s a compact car externally, clever packaging means there’s ample space inside. Even a tall-ish rear-seat passenger can sit behind a tall-ish driver, and the sculpted rear seat-backs help make that possible.

The only complaint would be that the dark headlining material makes the interior a bit of a cave at times.

Paying more for the 40 TFSI gets you extra cargo nets on the front seat backrests and luggage area, 12-volt sockets in the rear seat and boot. Both versions get floor mats and a centre arm-rest front and rear.

The rear seat in either is split 40/20/40 for a range of possibilities, with the Sportback offering 325 litres (VDA) for the Sportback quattro models, and 380L (VDA) for the 2WD models and its boot capacity is increased to 1145L (VDA) with the rear seat folded flat. The luggage space in the sedan is 390L (VDA) for the quattro AWD version, and a more capacious 425L (VDA) for the FWD model.

The Civic Type R is a four-seat hatchback, so if you were looking to cart four of your nearest and dearest around regularly, you may need to look elsewhere.

However, for a car that holds front-wheel drive lap records at circuits like Mount Panorama and indeed The Bend, it’s a pretty convenient thing.

Its tech behind the 9.0-inch multimedia screen is a little dated, but it’s still functional and most will use phone mirroring often enough that the native system is an occasional necessity.

In terms of the physical practicality, it benefits from the glow-up the standard Civic has undergone.

Physical controls for the climate remain (good!) and there are two very useable cupholders and a relatively well-sized storage bin under the elbow rest.

The seats are well-bolstered and comfortable in the front, providing the duality of a car that will hold you stable during track driving and be plush enough to keep you comfy on the drive home.

In the back, only two passengers can sit in the Type R despite the car being spacious enough for a third seat to at least be an option. Instead there’s a permanently accessible cupholder, but no armrest.

It is very spacious, with ample knee room and possibly even enough headroom for rear passengers to wear helmets if the idea of a four-up track lap takes your fancy.

Behind that, 411 litres of boot space is impressive for the segment, though the boot’s lip is fairly high and rounded at the sides.

Honda’s relatively new retail business structure means some sting is taken out of the Civic Type R’s $72,600 price tag as it’s drive-away. No on-road fees.

But it’s still well north of the $50,990, before on-roads, the previous generation FK8 version started from, and there’s not a huge list of additional features you’ll find in the cabin.

Dual-zone climate control, a wireless smartphone charger, 9.0-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay, ambient lighting, all features that didn’t garner much attention at 200km/h down The Bend’s main straight.

However, the Type R’s impressive 'LogR' track day telemetry and lap timing software, bright red bucket seats and Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel, aluminium pedals and gearshift knob made of the same were all put to proper use.

The LogR app for your smartphone allows you to take the data recorded by the CTR on track and analyse it, compare your lap with others (even from other drivers) at the same track, and can even automatically score and give feedback on your laps.

Personally, I wasn’t particularly upset to find out I was significantly slower than 2022 TCR Champion and general Australian motorsport veteran Tony D’Alberto.

There’s no sunroof, leather trim, seat heating or ventilation, no head-up display or even power-adjust for the driver’s seat. But more expensive (and sometimes less capable) sports cars are sold for more money with fewer mod-cons.

While both versions of the A3 use a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (no manual gearbox will be offered) there’s not a lot of commonality beyond that.

So let’s start with the 35 TFSI’s mild-hybrid running gear. To begin with, mild-hybrid in this sense refers to a starter motor/alternator unit that is linked to a 48-volt battery (the car also has a conventional 12-volt electrical system).

When coasting, the engine can shut off and the starter switches to alternator mode and harvests the otherwise lost energy to charge the 48-volt battery. This 48-volt system also powers the car’s functions when the engine is switched off.

When the car needs to restart (when the traffic-light goes green) the starter kicks in, using that harvested voltage. There’s also a regenerative braking function, saving the car’s actual brakes for more severe stops.

Unlike a 'normal' hybrid system, there’s no electric motor to help drive the car, but Audi claims a potential fuel saving of 0.4 litres per 100km from the set-up. Any benefit will be most noticeable in urban running where the car is speeding up and slowing down regularly.

The rest of the 35 TFSI is technically interesting, too, with the 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine featuring cylinder-on-demand where it can shut down individual cylinders during cruise conditions to save fuel.

When firing on all four, however, the engine is good for 110kW of power and 250Nm of torque, figures which have become almost an industry standard in this sized vehicle.

The 40 TFSI, meanwhile, ditches the hybrid gear for a conventional 2.0-litre powerplant with a turbocharger and 140kW of power. Torque is a handy 320Nm and is developed over a wide range of engine speeds (anywhere from 1500 to 4100rpm).

The other big difference is in the driveline. The 35 TFSI is a front-wheel drive platform while the 40 TFSI uses Audi’s Quattro AWD as it applies to Audis with an east-west engine layout.

That means the car behaves as a front-drive vehicle until the electronics decides more power should be sent to the rear wheels. At that point, anything up to 99 per cent of the available torque can be transferred rearwards via an electronically-controlled multi-plate clutch housed at the rear of the car, just in front of the rear axle.

Like the last Type R, this hot hatch boasts a highly-strung turbocharged 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder engine under the bonnet, complete with red engine cover and Type R badging.

The new iteration of this engine makes 235kW at 6500rpm and 420Nm between 2600 and 4000rpm, with much of the 7.0kW/20Nm increase over the last car making itself known all the way through the rev range.

For changing gears, a six-speed manual gearbox with auto-rev matching - should you choose to keep it active - is the only option. That gearbox transfers power to the front wheels only, as is traditional.

The drivetrain can be adjusted for intensity via the drive modes, 'Comfort', 'Sport', '+R' (which saw plenty of use on this test) and 'Individual'.

With all its cylinder shut-off, hybrid tricks and small capacity, the 1.5-litre engine boasts a 5.0 litres per 100km combined cycle fuel economy figure.

Combined with its 50-litre tank, that’s a potential for 1000km between service-station visits. It’s also commendably close to the numbers you’d expect from a similarly sized vehicle with a turbo-diesel engine.

The more conventional 2.0-litre A3 variant, meanwhile, boasts a still-credible 6.7 litres per 100km for the same test. To counter its greater thirst, Audi has fitted a slightly bigger, 55-litre fuel tank.

The headline act, of course, is the base-model’s highway figure which, thanks to the small capacity engine and its reduced pumping losses at small throttle-openings, can get right down into the low-fives (5.0 litres per 100km) in the real world at real highway speeds.

With a tail-wind, you might even see a number starting with four. This is why you don’t need a diesel engine any longer.

Expect the 40 TFSI to use roughly a litre more across every 100km travelled. And in either case, you are stuck with paying for 95-RON premium unleaded.

Honda says the Type R’s official combined cycle fuel consumption figure is 8.9L/100km, the last-gen car’s figure was 8.8L/100km.

Of course, we didn’t get to test fuel efficiency on the track and if we did, we can’t imagine it would have been incredible. The car's 47-litre tank needed a refuel during our session.

But last time we drove the Type R, we spent a week and about 500km testing the hot hatch and found it used 11.5L/100km, not too far from the claim and reasonable for a car of this performance pedigree.

Let’s start with the less powerful 35 TFSI, if only because - even though we know better in 2022 - there’s a temptation to think a 1.5-litre engine will be underdone. The reality, however, is that you’re not going to drive this car and judge it as anything other than very resolved.

While it’s true the peak power of 110kW isn’t startling, it’s the way it’s delivered (along with the 250Nm of torque) that sets the mood here.

Like many late-model Audis, this one has an engine with a fizzy, zingy feel that makes you want to rev it just to hear and feel it. And when you do, it pays off with plenty of flexibility and a sophisticated, refined feel.

Whether the mild hybrid driveline is adding anything to the formula is debatable, because the technology is so seamless you won’t pick what it’s doing other than the engine stop-start function, which is one of the better ones we’ve sampled.

Move from the 35 into the 40 TFSI and you immediately notice the extra power and torque on tap. And although it’s still not a hot-hatch by modern standards, there’s always enough urge to make the 40 TFSI a convincing driver’s car.

Again, the power delivery is the key to it all, making more of what the engine has to offer by actively encouraging you to use it. The seven-speed dual-clutch transmission is your friend here.

The extra driveline functionality of the 40 (namely the AWD system) actually means less than you might imagine in day-to-day life. We didn’t get to drive the car in the wet, but it’s fair to say that those conditions (or a loose, gravel road) are really the only ones likely to make a difference to the way the basic platform feels.

That’s for two reasons; the first being the all-wheel-drive is fundamentally on demand anyway and, secondly, the basic platform is so composed and balanced in the first place, that the Quattro system will spend a lot of its time hiding in the background.

The 40 TFSI also get the selectable drive modes which break with tradition by actually making a difference to the way the car feels.

But the reality is that if you took the best bits of every other setting (Comfort, Dynamic and Efficiency) and loaded them into the Individual button, you’d probably wind up with something very close to what the non-adjustable 35 TFSI offers in the first place.

You have to admire the way Audi has made a front-drive car in the A3 steer, handle and talk to the driver in such a clear, precise way.

Yes, the 40’s selectable modes add another layer to that, but only if you can be bothered. Even more than that, the A3 in either form feels like its ultra-stable and safe, while the levels of feel and feedback give the impression they were decided upon by people who enjoy driving.

This is the bit you want, yeah? What’s it like behind the wheel of the new Civic Type R when road surfaces are at their best and a speed limit isn’t of concern?

Having spent plenty of time behind the wheel of the last CTR, two key words come to mind... familiar and refined.

Where the last generation at times felt on the sharp, tense edge even without sacrificing ability, the new Type R smooths out a lot of the minimal shortcomings of the last generation, just as it has for the exterior styling.

Its setting is relatively firm and direct, but not too heavy for track stints, with good communicative feedback for steering inputs. 

It allows for smoother steering and a sense of how hard you can steer without over-shifting weight. Which in itself is another impressive aspect of the CTR, how smoothly you’re able to transfer weight not only in cornering but under braking and acceleration.

The 1429kg hot hatch will only complain gently with some tyre noise if you’re approaching it's fairly lofty limitations, the car’s inherent mechanical grip working well with the Michelin Pilot 4Ss.

For a front-drive car, its rear feels impressively planted, a trait the FK8 surprised many with, to the point that a regular comment from media and professional drivers is that it’s hard to believe the CTR is FWD.

Under hard braking, the rear stays steady, allowing plenty of control if you come in too hot for a corner. The pads and rotors seemed to hold up with a lot of track time, too.

Power and torque delivery feel familiar if you’ve spent time in an FK8, even pulling out of tight-ish corners in third acceleration doesn't disappoint.

Its gearbox, too, might be one of the best feeling shifters around at the moment.

With or without rev-matching, a downshift in the FL5 feels smooth, visceral, and results in an engine whine that makes you feel like this car is more at home on a circuit than a boulevard.

The FL5’s abilities are on show in a smoother manner than its predecessor, and it makes the car more encouraging to drive quickly and smoothly.

While rough inputs will still yield impressive results, the FL5 CTR’s a surprisingly comfortable thing to drive rapidly through bends and under hard braking.

Handling, acceleration (a claimed 0-100km/h in 5.1sec and we don’t doubt it), grip and cornering, braking, and now more than ever, comfort. At the risk of gushing, it’s hard to fault the Type R on track.

This might be the best front-wheel drive performance car of all time.

ANCAP hasn’t crash-tested the current generation Honda Civic, though its European counterpart Euro NCAP has, awarding it a full five stars.

It scored relatively well for occupant safety (89 per cent for adults and 87 per cent for children) while being adequate in terms of pedestrian (82 per cent) and active safety assist (83 per cent).

While it’s possible the Type R would have minor differences, it’s safe to take the results of that test as a relatively accurate measure of the CTR’s safety performance.

It features eight airbags, including front, front knee, and rear passenger-side impact, and full-length curtain airbags.

In terms of active and intervention safety, there’s Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), lane keep assist and departure warning, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, parking sensors and a reversing camera, plus traffic sign assist and driver monitoring.

Audi recently improved its factory warranty from three years to five years and unlimited kilometres. Any new Audi (including this one) sold after January 1 this year is the beneficiary of that change.

Audi specifies service intervals of 15,000km or 13 months.

There’s also the option of a fixed-price servicing program for the first five years of A3 ownership, and that will cost you $2250, for an annual average of $450.

The Type R is covered by the same warranty and servicing as any other Civic, which is a huge score when it comes to high-performance cars and the costs usually associated with them.

Honda’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty is fairly standard these days, but it includes roadside assistance. 

Servicing is a flat fee of $199 per interval for five years, which come in every 12 months or 10,000km.