2018 Honda Civic vs Subaru Impreza

What's the difference?

A comfortable and convenient daily driver that ticks all the safety and tech boxes, the VTi-LX is a compelling offering given it is better value than the RS, and not overpriced for its spec level. 

What it lacks in an interesting powertrain it more than makes up for with its huge cabin space and well sorted ride. Whether you choose it or not could very well come down to the looks…

If there's a small car that can reverse the SUV trend, it's the Impreza 2.0i-S. If feels solid, polished and well-equipped, and it's easy on the eye to boot. Who needs a tall-riding bus when you can enjoy driving one of these?

The look of the 10th-generation Civic is best described as polarising. There's a slew of hard angular edges pointing in all directions, which makes an overall design theme hard to pinpoint. The elegant curvature of the Mazda3, or the more conservative lines of the Hyundai Elantra and Subaru Impreza perhaps appeal to a wider audience.

As I mentioned earlier, the almost-as-well-equipped RS spec comes with some touches that could make all the difference here. The blacked-out bars across the RS’s front, side and rear compliment those angles a lot better, and the rear looks far more resolved with a spoiler (what are those rear light clusters pointing to?).

In comparison, the LX looks incredibly plain and, aside from those LED lights, it is honestly difficult to tell it apart from the VTi-L or even the base-model VTi. While subtlety might appeal to some, it’s an odd card to play for a flagship variant given the overall design of the Civic screams ‘look at me’.

The ‘Modern Steel’ grey colour of our test car rammed the plain-Jane look home. If it were my choice I’d go for the ‘Brilliant Sporty Blue’ as it suits the car’s angular aesthetic a little better. The only free colour is ‘Rally Red’.

The 17-inch alloys were also a topic of controversy in the office. Over my drive week I came to appreciate the milled-alloy with gloss-black highlight designs. Matt Campbell disagrees. I will concede they look smaller than 17-inches, likely due to the black highlights.

Inside is a better story. The angular design trend continues, but it’s all very ergonomic. None of the materials appear cheap or nasty, and there are more than a few soft finishes in the right places. It doesn’t have the symmetry of the Elantra’s interior, but I became very used to how comfortable it was.

Of particular note is the chunky, leather-bound steering wheel, and I have to give props to the low, sporty seating position.

Housed in the dash is a digital display which well laid-out, presents all the important information to the driver well, has a high frame-rate and seemed to never be subject to glare. It’s no premium bells & whistles experience like Audi’s Virtual Cockpit but is a nice addition nonetheless.

It’s a clean, polished and simple design, the Impreza, and we even think it's a rare case of the sedan looking better than the hatch.

Viewed front on, the combination of a stretched-looking grille and fog lights perched in the furthest lower corners gives the Subaru a low-and-wide look, while the big 18-inch alloys and side skirtings lend the Impreza a premium, Euro-style feel.

And while plenty of Japanese manufacturers take a decidedly busy approach to interior design, the Impreza’s cabin is refreshingly understated, with a handful of design flourishes (a layered effect on the glovebox, the mix of materials used on the dash, the faux-carbonfibre splashes on the door trims) tempered by a simple, clean and functional interior design. 

The twin-screen setup looks fantastic, with the main screen dedicated to controlling your phone and key functions, and a second, smaller screen perched above that can handle navigation instructions or the car’s safety systems.

Does the Civic sedan look a little… big to you? That’s because it is. It’s massive inside. But somehow, it shares a wheelbase with the hatch.

It’s kind of magic, but that’s one of Honda’s fortes. Big practical interiors with some hidden surprises.

What surprised me the most though, is the ridiculous rear legroom. I had leagues of space behind my own driving position. How can this be if it has the same wheelbase as the hatch? 

Well, some investigation revealed that despite its near-identical looks, the sedan's cabin is physically different from the hatch, and an additional 34 millimetres of legroom is granted in the back. It doesn’t sound like much but makes a world of difference.

It legitimately has far more legroom than even some ‘large' sedans I’ve driven and ridden in, and the centre seat could fit an adult-sized human in decent comfort for a long-distance drive. Impressive.

The boot is also close to largest in the class. With the seats up, there’s 517 litres (VDA) of space on offer, which compares very well with the Mazda3 (408L), Elantra (458L) and Impreza (460L) but is just barely eclipsed by the new Kia Cerato (520L).

In the cockpit too, there’s plenty of stowage space under the centre console including two large movable cupholders (although without those little variable edges, so a tilt-risk for small stuff) plus some smallish cubbies in the doors for front and rear passengers. These won’t hold larger belongings or bottles, but they’re sufficient for smaller objects like wallets, books or keys.

Everything is also very easy to reach, but the sunroof eats a little headroom which could be a challenge for those over 182cm tall. I also had to question the choice of not including a dial for volume control. There are wheel-mounted buttons and a touch interface on the screen itself. But that’s kind of clunky when you need volume down in a hurry.

The Impreza - like the Mazda3 and the Hyundai i30 - asks some hard questions of the small SUV crowd, serving up more interior space and practicality perks than its smaller, high-riding competition.

Inside, the front seats are big, wide and comfortable, and two power sources and a total four USB points (two in the central bin, two more in the storage space under the main screen), make for simple phone connections. There’s two cupholders up front, as well as room for bottles in each of the front doors. 

There’s plenty of space for backseat riders, too, with at least 20cm of clear air between my knees and the seat in front (behind my own 5ft-8-inch driving position), and there’s ample head room on offer.

A pulldown seat divider that separates the backseat is home to two cupholders, and there's bottle storage in the rear doors. Sadly there are no rear vents, and with no USB or power outlets, you'll be plugging your phones into the central storage bin. 

The boot opens to reveal a 460-litre space, with a space-saver spare hidden beneath a flat-load shelf.

The most expensive version of Subaru’s Impreza - the 2.0i-S - will set you back a not-insignificant $33,050 in sedan guise, with the hatch version costing $200 more.

That’s about on-par with the more premium members of the small-car segment (the top-spec Mazda3, for example, hovers around $35k), and you predictably want for little in the Impreza 2.0i-S.

Outside, expect 18-inch alloy wheels, a powered sunroof, auto-wipers, proximity unlocking and LED self-levelling headlights. Inside, you’ll find leather seats, push-button start, sat-nav and dual-zone climate control.

On the tech front, an Apple CarPlay/Android Auto-equipped 8.0-inch LCD touchscreen pairs with a six-speaker stereo, plus there’s the usual swag of Bluetooth and voice control features.

There’s also an impressively comprehensive safety suite on offer, but we’ll drill down on that  under the Safety sub-heading.

Up this end of the Civic hierarchy, there’s just the one drivetrain. A 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine, producing 127kW/220Nm, mated only to a CVT auto. The Civic is front-drive only and, much to the dismay of old-school Civic fans, there's no manual option in sight.

That engine puts it middle of the pack compared to small sedan competitors. The enthusiast’s choice may be either the Mazda3 SP25 with a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre (138kW/250Nm) or the Hyundai Elantra SR Turbo which has an impressive 1.6-litre turbo (150kW/265Nm). Both of those can be had with a six-speed auto or DCT respectively (or, better yet, a six-speed manual option on either).

But the Civic still outshines the Cerato’s ordinary-all-round 112kW/192Nm 2.0-litre offering (which is also a bit thirsty) and Subaru’s infamously underpowered 115kW/196Nm non-turbo 2.0-litre engine which is also asked to pull a much heavier AWD layout.

A 2.0-litre four-cylinder "boxer" engine (meaning the cylinders are horizontally opposed, like two boxers arms going at it) produces 115kW at 6000rpm and 196Nm at 4000rpm. It pairs with a CVT automatic and sends its power to all four wheels (all-wheel drive is a Subaru trademark).

Honda’s smaller engine choice and CVT is designed to be frugal. On the combined cycle, Honda claims the VTi-LX will drink 6.0-litres to 100km. There’s not too much variation in the field with Mazda also claiming 6.0 for the SP25 Astina, and at the other end of the scale, there’s Kia’s Cerato which is touted to drink 7.4L/100km.

After a week of driving over a tank of petrol I scored 7.7L/100km which is closer to (but surprisingly less than) Honda’s urban estimate of 8.0L/100km.

Despite being turbo'd the VTi-LX will happily drink bargain-basement 91 unleaded, and the tank holds 47 litres.

Subaru claims 7.2 litres per 100km fuel use on the combined cycle. Emissions are pegged at 163g/km of C02.  The Impreza sports a 50-litre fuel tank, and will sip cheaper 90RON fuel.

The Civic presents a strange dichotomy between the luxury spec and its sporty frame. As mentioned earlier, you sit nice and low in the Civic, and you have this chunky, well weighted steering wheel, giving you the illusion of sportiness at the helm.

It lives up to that by feeling nicely planted in the corners. This is largely due to all Civics having a more sophisticated independent rear suspension. Thankfully, it’s not a stiff tune either. It’s well sorted over bumpy stuff, there’s not a rattle to be heard in the cabin, and you don’t have to cringe every time you spot an incoming car park speed bump or unfortunately-positioned pothole.

The engine won’t exactly have you setting lap-times, however, and it’s a tad noisy in the cabin when it comes to really getting the power down somewhere past 2500rpm. 

Then, there’s the CVT. It truly isn’t the worst CVT I’ve ever driven (I’m looking at you, 1998 Nissan Micra…) and in terms of actual driving the experience isn’t dulled much. You should know it creates a slightly unpleasant rubbery characteristic, where your inputs feel delayed because it takes time for the CVT to react to changes through the driveline. 

For example, when laying off heavy acceleration, it will keep accelerating for half a second after you’ve taken your foot off. It’s a minor issue, but a noticeable one.

It also produces an annoying high-pitched whining sound at low speed and when you come to a full stop. You won’t be bothered by this if you drive around with the (actually great) 10-speaker stereo on most of the time, but you shouldn’t have to rely on it.

In terms of your ability to alter the engine’s characteristics, there’s an ‘Eco’ button which seems to make the CVT fight you as you try to extract revs out of it, and a sport mode on the transmission which seemed to make the accelerator a little more responsive and forced the CVT to act a bit more like a traditional auto.

Paddle-shift appears on the VTi-LX and RS grades but while the ‘gear changes’ they trigger didn’t have a long delay on them, they proved unsatisfying anyway.

While the fake watchmakers of the world can perfect almost every tiny detail of that $20,000 Rolex you can pick up for $50 in Thailand, there’s one thing they can’t replicate easily; the weight. Buyers know that heaviness equals quality, and so the watchmakers insert useless pieces of steel hidden behind the watch face so it feels heavy in a buyer’s hand.

Your first impression of the Impreza is one of weighty quality, too, and it doesn’t feel faked. The doors make a satisfying clunk when you shut them (which hasn't always been the case with this car), there’s a heft to the steering and a general sense of quality around the cabin.

The Impreza feels so sorted, so mechanically sound, that you expect it to pounce from the lights with the ferocity of a slightly toned-down WRX. And so it's a little surprising when it plods away from the line, not slow, necessarily, but methodical - a sensation not improved by the slurring CVT gearbox.

And I know that all sounds harsh, but it's also the only real letdown behind the wheel of the Impreza, which feels perfectly put together, with nicely weighted and responsive steering, and a ride that makes you feel constantly connected to what's happening beneath the tyres and is rarely uncomfortable, clanging only over the worst of bumps.

The safety story starts with seven airbags (dual front, front-side, curtain and a driver’s knee bag) and a reversing camera, along with Subaru’s AWD system and the usual suite of traction and braking aids. 

The Impreza 2.0i-S also gets the best of Subaru’s safety technology, including blind-spot monitoring, lane-change assist, rear cross-traffic alert and reverse automatic braking.

Subaru’s EyeSight Assist is also standard fit, which adds adaptive cruise, lane-departure warning, lane-sway warning and AEB that works in both forwards and reverse.

The Impreza scored the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating when crash tested in 2016.

Honda offers a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty across its range. This is great but should be the minimum.

It compares well in this segment to fellow Japanese competitors, the Mazda3 and Subaru Impreza, which fall behind with outdated three year/unlimited kilometre warranties. 

Hyundai is bang-on par with a similar five year/unlimited kilometre warranty, but the bar to beat, as ever, is Kia with its seven-year/unlimited kilometre promise on the Cerato.

Like all Subarus, the Impreza is covered by a three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, and the 2.0i-S will require a trip to the service centre every 12 months or 12,500km.

Subaru also offers capped-price servicing for the first three years of ownership, totalling $1298.