Civic vs. Corolla. I’d say it’s a rivalry as old as time. But here in the U.S., at least, such a rivalry never really existed. Honda’s buzzy Civic essentially birthed the American tuner movement back in the early-to-mid ‘90s and remains an icon to this day. Toyota’s sportiest Corolla – the AE86 – is a damn legend, but unfortunately didn’t catch on in the States until long after the Civic’s heyday.

Can today’s Civic and Corolla capture the magic of those decades-old platforms? To find out, I grabbed an all-new Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring and the current Toyota Corolla APEX sedan. On paper both cars offer similar power outputs, a similar FF drivetrain, and a six-speed manual transmission. These are the “sporty-ish” models, designed to be fun, but not as rowdy as something wearing a Type-R or GR badge.

And it’s here where I should do the “right” thing and disclose my personal biases. For the Toyota: it was the last vehicle I helped launch while working for Toyota’s ad agency, so talking about how good it is literally paid my mortgage (albeit that was two-plus years ago). For the Civic: I’m an unabashed Honda fanboy who still refuses to let go of his ‘90s-era Integra. (It’s got the “H” on the valve cover, so I consider it a Honda.) Do with that info what you will. Now, onto the cars.

Toyota Corolla XSE APEX Edition

Though advertising pays my bills, I’m still a journalist at heart. And when I first got word that the Corolla APEX was going to be a thing, I immediately started to think of all the possible stories I could tell. Let’s start with that name: APEX. Should I start crafting a narrative around the apex of a corner? Talk to handling characteristics? Or should I go full-on nerd and try to tie the lineage of this new car back to the legendary Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX?

Or maybe I could lean on the performance story? After all, the Toyota Corolla APEX does get a lowered suspension, beefier solid stabilizer bars, and lightweight flow-formed alloy wheels. In a world where the GR Yaris exists, these bits don’t sound like much, but the simple fact that Toyota was attempting to move the Corolla into the enthusiast space deserved a mention.

But instead, it was decided to make the Corolla APEX story a style-based one. So the focus would be on things like the bespoke body kit, gold accents inside and out, and the looks of those flow-formed wheels.

As an enthusiast, it pained me to gloss over the performance parts. But when seeing the Corolla APEX in person? Yeah, the style angle was the right call. This car simply looks good. That complete body kit adds the right amount of aggression without going overboard (looking at you, last-gen Civic). It’s more subdued in person versus what you see in photos. And even better, this Corolla boasts one of the best wheel fitments and stances I’ve seen from an OEM this side of Audi.

What’s more, it’s a Corolla. So you can pretty much beat on the thing and count on it to last until the inevitable heat death of the universe.

Engine: 2.0-liter inline 4 / Power: 169 hp, 151-lb-ft torque / MSRP: $28,360

Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Touring

As much as I love the FK8 Type-R, I have yet to warm to its looks. It’s way too over-styled and lacks the magic simplicity of the original EK9. Suffice it to say, I’m a fan of the new FL1 Civic hatch’s more simplified design.

That said, I’ll be the first to say that photos don’t do the design justice. This Civic’s got some bad angles, and it seems like the art directors in charge of the photography found them all. In person, the 11-gen Civic looks lower, wider, and sleeker. The design makes sense, versus feeling like a mishmash of shapes and surface details. For those of us who like to modify things, this newest Civic once again feels like a perfect blank canvas.

As this is an all-new platform, it goes without saying that this 2022 Civic has a whole host of improvements over the outgoing model. Its engine is more powerful. Its chassis is stiffer. New high-tech safety features are available. And in Touring guise, an all-digital gauge cluster now takes center stage.

Just as with the Corolla, the Civic is a known quantity. It, too, will last you until the end of time. But if something should go wrong, there’s a massive aftermarket ready to help.

Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-liter inline 4 / Power: 180 hp, 177-lb-ft torque / MSRP: $29,850

So, which one to buy?

Let it be said that both the Toyota Corolla APEX and Honda Civic Hatchback Touring Sport are excellent cars. No matter which one you buy, you will get a well-built, high-quality machine that will last as long as you do. Trying to determine which one is better is an exercise in splitting hairs to find the difference between good and great.

And the Civic is freakin’ great.

There’s a reason we all fell in love with the Civic in the ‘90s. And there’s a reason that cars like the Corolla APEX are designed to try to lure buyers away from the Civic. The Honda is simply that good.

Exterior design, granted, is subjective. But Honda put quite a bit more thought into its interior. Its greenhouse feels more open. The material selection – especially the stuff you touch – feels more premium. And the overall layout feels a lot more user-friendly.

Then there’s the drive, which again, is just that much better. There’s a refinement, and broader powerband, offered in the Honda’s turbocharged 1.5-liter that’s missing from the Toyota. Granted, the Corolla’s 2.0-liter engine is a known workhorse, but it lacks the spark you want in a sporty car.

Copy and paste the above for the 6-speed manual transmissions. Honda is known for its superb manuals, and the 6MT in this Civic is nothing short of excellent. The throws are short, positive, and smooth. The Toyota’s 6MT isn’t bad, but it lacks the finesse or even clutch feel of the Honda. The Honda’s shifter is a joy to use; the Toyota’s just gets the job done.

And so it goes. The Civic’s steering feels more communicative. Its handling, sharper. But where the Civic simply outclasses the Corolla is in ride comfort. That is to say, the Civic is comfortable; the Corolla APEX is not. Now again, I daily drive a 30-year-old slammed Honda, and I think the Corolla APEX is too stiff. It’s like someone in product planning thought “stiff equals sporty” and had the engineers slap on the stiffest springs from the parts bin. Driving the Corolla over even mild imperfections had me discovering that certain parts of my body do, indeed, jiggle, and that’s not what one wants from, well, anything.

Now, if this stiffness meant that the Corolla APEX outclassed the Civic in terms of handling, I’d be willing to let things slide. But the Civic corners just as quickly, and just as confidently, and it doesn’t give me any body-image issues while doing so.

So yeah, while the Corolla may be 95% the car the Civic is, it’s that last 5% that makes the Civic feel so incredibly special. And it’s not just Civic vs. Corolla – it’s Civic vs. any car, really. It’s a car that can just about do anything, and do it well. It proves why the Civic is beloved by enthusiasts, and the public at large. And a big part of me wants to buy one right now and drop it on a set of TE-37s. Hey – I need to drive something until the Type R finally becomes available.

2021 Toyota Corolla Hatchback XSE

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