2009 Honda Civic Competition

Table of Contents
2009 Honda Civic Review
2009 Honda Civic Prices
2009 Honda Civic Road Test

The 2009 Honda Civic will continue to face its biggest sales-volume challenge from the Toyota Corolla, while the Mazda 3 and Volkswagen Jetta remain among cars most-frequently cross-shopped by Civic buyers.

In general, Corolla takes the sensible-shoes approach to small-car design while Civic, Mazda 3, and Jetta express a little more spirit and style. Civic offers the only Hybrid model in this group, though the Jetta is available with a diesel engine. Customer satisfaction ratings are consistently highest for Corolla and Civic. Along with the Jetta, they enjoy higher resale values than the Mazda 3.

The redesigned 2009 Toyota Corolla went on sale in early 2008. Its looks and driving feel are similar to those of its 2003-2008 generation. Corolla is synonymous with soft-riding, user-friendly transportation. It comes only in a sedan body style, though the Toyota Matrix acts as a companion four-door wagon. The 2009 Corolla design won’t change drastically before model-year 2014 or so.

Today’s Mazda 3 design dates to model-year 2004. It’ll retain that basic engineering for 2009, but model-year 2010 should bring substantive changes to styling, engine power, and cabin décor. Release date for the 2010 Mazda 3 is mid-2009. The Mazda 3 offers four-door sedan and hatchback body styles.

The Volkswagen Jetta was new for the 2005 model year. It comes in sedan and wagon body styles and its base engine is a five-cylinder, though a diesel four-cylinder is newly available for 2009. Jetta arguably has the best all-around road manners in this group, though it tends to be the priciest of the lot with comparable equipment. Jetta has a hatchback counterpart in the VW Rabbit. Their next major change will come with introduction of a new design generation due for the 2010 or 2011 model year.